Cloud microphysical relationships and their implication on entrainment and mixing mechanisms for marine and continental stratocumulus clouds

Abstract:

Cloud microphysical data obtained from aircraft measurements of stratocumulus clouds over the southeastern pacific during the VOCALS-Rex field campaign and over the Great Plains region in Oklahoma during the RACORO field campaign were analyzed for evidence of entrainment mixing of air from above cloud top. Mixing diagram analysis was made for the horizontal flight data recorded at various rates (1 Hz, 10 Hz and 40 Hz). For the maritime stratocumulus clouds, the dominant observed feature, a positive relationship between cloud droplet mean volume (V) and liquid water content (L), suggested occurrence of homogeneous mixing. On the other hand, estimation of the relevant scale parameters (i.e., transition length scale and transition scale number) consistently indicated inhomogeneous mixing. Importantly, the flight altitudes of the measurements were significantly below cloud top. We speculate that mixing of the entrained air near the cloud top may have indeed been inhomogeneous; but due to vertical circulation mixing the correlation between V and L became positive at the measurement altitudes in mid-level of clouds, because during their descent, cloud droplets evaporate, faster in more diluted cloud parcels, leading to a positive correlation between V and L regardless of the mixing mechanism near the cloud top. For the continental stratocumulus clouds, the positive relationship between V and L was even more pronounced while the scale parameters were less indicative of inhomogeneous mixing. Finding evidence for vertical circulation mixing was difficult for these clouds because flight plans in this campaign were not designed to investigate such process.