Worldwide Data Sets Constrain the Water Vapor Uptake Coefficient in Cloud Formation

Author
Raatikainen,Tomi
Nenes, Athanasios
Seinfeld, John H.
Morales, Ricardo
Moore, Richard H.
Lathem, Terry L.
Lance, Sara
Padro, Luz T.
Lin, Jack J.
Cerully, Kate M.
Bougiatioti, Aikaterini
Cozic, Julie
Ruehl, Christopher R.
Chuang, Patrick Y.
Anderson, Bruce E.
Flagan, Richard C.
Jonsson, Haflidi
Mihalopoulos, Nikos
Smith, James N.
Date
2013-03Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Cloud droplet formation depends on the condensation of water vapor on ambient aerosols, the rate of which is strongly affected by the kinetics of water uptake as expressed by the condensation (or mass accommodation) coefficient, αc. Estimates of αc for droplet growth from activation of ambient particles vary considerably and represent a critical source of uncertainty in estimates of global cloud droplet distributions and the aerosol indirect forcing of climate. We present an analysis of 10 globally relevant data sets of cloud condensation nuclei to constrain the value of αc for ambient aerosol. We find that rapid activation kinetics (αc > 0.1) is uniformly prevalent. This finding resolves a long-standing issue in cloud physics, as the uncertainty in water vapor accommodation on droplets is considerably less than previously thought.
Description
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Ed. M.H.Thiemens.
The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1219591110
Record includes supporting information
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Aerosol number-to-volume-relationship and relative humidity in the eastern Atlantic
Hegg, Dean A.; Jonsson, Haflidi (2000);Measurements acquired from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Pelican research aircraft during the second Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE 2) are analyzed to derive values for the dry (RH = 40%) aerosol number‐to‐volume ... -
Characterization of ambient aerosol from measurements of cloud condensation nuclei during the 2003 Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Aerosol Intensive Observational Period at the Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma
Rissman, T. A.; VanReken, T. M.; Wang, J.; Gasparini, R.; Collins, D. R.; Jonsson, H.H.; Brechtel, F. J.; Flagan, R. C.; Seinfeld, J. H. (2006);Measurements were made by a new cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) instrument (CCNC3) during the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program’s Aerosol Intensive Observational Period (IOP) in May 2003 in Lamont, Oklahoma. ... -
Evaluation of factors affecting repeatability and accuracy of turbine rig test results.
Eargle, Terry Paul (1980);An experimental study was carried out to resolve anomalies and to determine the sources of inaccuracies which had hitherto been present in results from the Turbine Test Rig at the NPS Turbopropulsion Laboratory. ...