Turbulence-induced droplet grouping and augmented rain formation in cumulus clouds.

ABSTRACT: This paper provides the first observational analysis of how droplet separation is impacted by the flinging action of microscale vortices in turbulent clouds over a select radii range and how they vary over cloud cores and along the peripheral edges. It is premised that this mechanism initiates droplet separation within a cloud volume soon after condensational growth, largely in the cloud core, and operates until the cloud droplet radii exceed 20-30 µm when this effect fades rapidly. New observations are presented showing how microscale vortices also impact the settling rates of droplets over a critical size range (6-18 µm) causing them to sediment faster than in still air affecting swept volumes and thereby impacting the rain initiation and formation. Large-scale atmospheric models ignore

SUBMITTER: Gumber S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11636904 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature