Effects of hygroscopic seeding on raindrop formation as seen from simulations using a 2000-bin spectral cloud parcel model

Y. Segal; A. Khain; M. Pinsky; D. Rosenfeld

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2004.03.003

Effects of hygroscopic seeding on raindrop formation as seen from simulations using a 2000-bin spectral cloud parcel model

Y. Segal, A. Khain^*, M. Pinsky, D. Rosenfeld

^*Corresponding author for this work

Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

55 Scopus citations

Abstract

A 2000-bin cloud spectral parcel model is used to investigate the effect of hygroscopic seeding on warm rain formation under different thermodynamic conditions. Simulations show that utilization of commercial hygroscopic flares ("French", "South African", New AI and D383) increases raindrop production in those cloud parcels where the natural warm rain process is inefficient. The most effective flare was found to have a maximum fraction of large seeding cloud condensational nuclei (SCCN). An optimum seeding particle radius, which provides the maximum raindrop production under a given mass of the seeding reagent varies from 1.5 to 2.5 μm and slightly depends on the reagent mass, as well as on the dynamic properties of cloud parcels. The existence of the optimum size of seeding particles is important from both a business perspective and an environmental perspective. In the presence of natural, large CCN, the seeding effect decreases due to the efficient collision process initiated by them. The decrease depends on the concentration of large, natural CCN. Thus, to evaluate the effects of hygroscopic seeding one needs to know the properties of large, natural CCN in the region of seeding activity. It is shown that, when a reagent consisting of CCN of the optimum radius is used, a significant increase in the raindrop production can be achieved even when large, natural CCN are present as well.Owing to the limitations of warm rain cloud parcel models in representing the microphysical and dynamical properties of real clouds, the results presented in this study should be verified using more complicated multidimensional models with spectral microphysics.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3-34
Number of pages	32
Journal	Atmospheric Research
Volume	71
Issue number	1-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2004.03.003
State	Published - Jul 2004

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the grant WT/0403 from the Israel Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport, and the Forchungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK), Germany; the Israel Space Agency, as well as by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (grant 143/99).

Keywords

Droplet spectrum formation
Rain enhancement
Simulation of hygroscopic seeding

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10.1016/j.atmosres.2004.03.003

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title = "Effects of hygroscopic seeding on raindrop formation as seen from simulations using a 2000-bin spectral cloud parcel model",

abstract = "A 2000-bin cloud spectral parcel model is used to investigate the effect of hygroscopic seeding on warm rain formation under different thermodynamic conditions. Simulations show that utilization of commercial hygroscopic flares ({"}French{"}, {"}South African{"}, New AI and D383) increases raindrop production in those cloud parcels where the natural warm rain process is inefficient. The most effective flare was found to have a maximum fraction of large seeding cloud condensational nuclei (SCCN). An optimum seeding particle radius, which provides the maximum raindrop production under a given mass of the seeding reagent varies from 1.5 to 2.5 μm and slightly depends on the reagent mass, as well as on the dynamic properties of cloud parcels. The existence of the optimum size of seeding particles is important from both a business perspective and an environmental perspective. In the presence of natural, large CCN, the seeding effect decreases due to the efficient collision process initiated by them. The decrease depends on the concentration of large, natural CCN. Thus, to evaluate the effects of hygroscopic seeding one needs to know the properties of large, natural CCN in the region of seeding activity. It is shown that, when a reagent consisting of CCN of the optimum radius is used, a significant increase in the raindrop production can be achieved even when large, natural CCN are present as well.Owing to the limitations of warm rain cloud parcel models in representing the microphysical and dynamical properties of real clouds, the results presented in this study should be verified using more complicated multidimensional models with spectral microphysics.",

keywords = "Droplet spectrum formation, Rain enhancement, Simulation of hygroscopic seeding",

author = "Y. Segal and A. Khain and M. Pinsky and D. Rosenfeld",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by the grant WT/0403 from the Israel Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport, and the Forchungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK), Germany; the Israel Space Agency, as well as by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (grant 143/99).",

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AU - Rosenfeld, D.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by the grant WT/0403 from the Israel Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport, and the Forchungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK), Germany; the Israel Space Agency, as well as by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (grant 143/99).

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N2 - A 2000-bin cloud spectral parcel model is used to investigate the effect of hygroscopic seeding on warm rain formation under different thermodynamic conditions. Simulations show that utilization of commercial hygroscopic flares ("French", "South African", New AI and D383) increases raindrop production in those cloud parcels where the natural warm rain process is inefficient. The most effective flare was found to have a maximum fraction of large seeding cloud condensational nuclei (SCCN). An optimum seeding particle radius, which provides the maximum raindrop production under a given mass of the seeding reagent varies from 1.5 to 2.5 μm and slightly depends on the reagent mass, as well as on the dynamic properties of cloud parcels. The existence of the optimum size of seeding particles is important from both a business perspective and an environmental perspective. In the presence of natural, large CCN, the seeding effect decreases due to the efficient collision process initiated by them. The decrease depends on the concentration of large, natural CCN. Thus, to evaluate the effects of hygroscopic seeding one needs to know the properties of large, natural CCN in the region of seeding activity. It is shown that, when a reagent consisting of CCN of the optimum radius is used, a significant increase in the raindrop production can be achieved even when large, natural CCN are present as well.Owing to the limitations of warm rain cloud parcel models in representing the microphysical and dynamical properties of real clouds, the results presented in this study should be verified using more complicated multidimensional models with spectral microphysics.

AB - A 2000-bin cloud spectral parcel model is used to investigate the effect of hygroscopic seeding on warm rain formation under different thermodynamic conditions. Simulations show that utilization of commercial hygroscopic flares ("French", "South African", New AI and D383) increases raindrop production in those cloud parcels where the natural warm rain process is inefficient. The most effective flare was found to have a maximum fraction of large seeding cloud condensational nuclei (SCCN). An optimum seeding particle radius, which provides the maximum raindrop production under a given mass of the seeding reagent varies from 1.5 to 2.5 μm and slightly depends on the reagent mass, as well as on the dynamic properties of cloud parcels. The existence of the optimum size of seeding particles is important from both a business perspective and an environmental perspective. In the presence of natural, large CCN, the seeding effect decreases due to the efficient collision process initiated by them. The decrease depends on the concentration of large, natural CCN. Thus, to evaluate the effects of hygroscopic seeding one needs to know the properties of large, natural CCN in the region of seeding activity. It is shown that, when a reagent consisting of CCN of the optimum radius is used, a significant increase in the raindrop production can be achieved even when large, natural CCN are present as well.Owing to the limitations of warm rain cloud parcel models in representing the microphysical and dynamical properties of real clouds, the results presented in this study should be verified using more complicated multidimensional models with spectral microphysics.

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Effects of hygroscopic seeding on raindrop formation as seen from simulations using a 2000-bin spectral cloud parcel model

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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