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Cloud Coverage Enhancement and Nocturnal Drizzle Suppression in Stratocumulus by AerosolsRecent satellite observations of ship tracks surprisingly indicate that cloud water decreases with increasing droplet concentrations. However, we find by analyzing detailed simulations of stratocumulus that the reported trend is likely an artifact of sampling, only overcast clouds. The simulations instead show cloud coverage increasing with droplet concentrations, accounting for 25% of cloud albedo increase at moderate droplet concentrations. Our simulations also show that increases in cloud water from drizzle suppression (by increasing droplet concentrations) are favored only at night or at extremely low droplet concentrations, suggesting that the indirect aerosol forcing is overestimated in climate change projections by many general circulation models.
Document ID
20020074594
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Ackerman, Andrew S.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Toon, Owen B.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO United States)
Stevens, David E.
(Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Livermore, CA United States)
Coakley, James A., Jr.
(Oregon State Univ. Corvallis, OR United States)
Gore, Warren J.
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2002
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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