Microphysics of premonsoon and monsoon clouds as seen from in situ measurements during the Cloud Aerosol Interaction And Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX)

Thara V. Prabha*, A. Khain, R. S. Maheshkumar, G. Pandithurai, J. R. Kulkarni, M. Konwar, B. N. Goswami

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

129 Scopus citations

Abstract

Analysis of the microphysical structure of deep convective clouds using in situ measurements during the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX) over the Indian peninsular region is presented. It is shown that droplet size distributions (DSDs) in highly polluted premonsoon clouds are substantially narrower than DSDs in less polluted monsoon clouds. High values of DSD dispersion (0.3-0.6) and its vertical variation in the transient and monsoon clouds are related largely to the existence of small cloud droplets with diameters less than 10 μm, which were found at nearly all levels. This finding indicates the existence of a continuous generation of the smallest droplets at different heights. In some cases this generation of small droplets leads to the formation of bimodal and even multimodal DSDs. The formation of bimodal DSDs is especially pronounced in monsoon clouds. Observational evidence is presented to suggest that in-cloud nucleation at elevated layers is a fundamental mechanism for producing multimodal drop size distribution in monsoon clouds as well as in most deep convective clouds. These findings indicate that inclusion of continued nucleation away from the cloud base into numerical models should be considered to predict microphysics and precipitation of clouds in monsoons and other cloud-related phenomena.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1882-1901
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of the Atmospheric Sciences
Volume68
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2011

Keywords

  • Asia
  • Cloud droplets
  • Cloud microphysics
  • Clouds
  • Drop size distribution
  • Field experiments
  • In-situ observations

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