Cloud fraction response to aerosol driven by nighttime processes.

ABSTRACT: Aerosol-cloud interactions remain one of the largest uncertainties in the anthropogenic forcing of the climate; a significant contribution to this is due to the aerosol effect on the development of cloud fraction and liquid water path in stratocumulus clouds. Stratocumulus are strongly modulated by the diurnal cycle, but many previous observational studies have primarily focused on the daytime behavior of these clouds. In this work, a Lagrangian framework is used to characterize the day-night variation in the cloud sensitivity to aerosol. It is shown that the cloud fraction response to aerosol is driven by nighttime processes, whereas aerosols play a lesser role in daytime cloud fraction breakup. The liquid water path response reveals that aerosols act to thin the cloud during the daytime;

SUBMITTER: Pugsley G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12663974 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature