Publication Date

11-16-2020

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Geophysical Research Letters

Volume

47

Issue

21

DOI

10.1029/2020GL090513

Abstract

Stratocumulus cloud top entrainment has a significant effect on cloud properties, but there are few observations quantifying its impact. Using explicit 0-D parcel model simulations, initialized with below-cloud in situ measurements, and validated with in situ measurements of cloud properties, the shortwave cloud radiative forcing (SWCF) was reduced by up to 100 W m−2 by cloud top entrainment in the Southern Ocean. The impact of entrainment-corrected SWCF is between 2 and 20 times that of changes in the aerosol particle concentration or updraft at cloud base. The variability in entrainment-corrected SWCF accounts for up to 50 W m−2 uncertainty in estimating cloud forcing. Measurements necessary for estimating the impact of entrainment on cloud properties can be constrained from existing airborne platforms and provide a first-order approximation for cloud radiative properties of nonprecipitating stratocumulus clouds. These measurement-derived estimates of entrainment can be used to validate and improve parameterizations of entrainment in Global Climate Models.

Funding Number

1642291

Funding Sponsor

National Science Foundation

Keywords

aerosol, clouds, entrainment, parcel model, shortwave forcing

Comments

This is the Version of Record and can also be read online here.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Meteorology and Climate Science

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