High Free-Tropospheric Aitken-Mode Aerosol Concentrations Buffer Cloud Droplet Concentrations in Large-Eddy Simulations of Precipitating Stratocumulus

A new Aitken mode aerosol microphysics scheme is developed for a large eddy simulation model in order to better investigate cloud-aerosol interactions in the marine boundary layer and to study the Aitken buffering hypothesis of McCoy et al. (2021), . This scheme extends the single-mode two-moment prognostic aerosol scheme of Berner et al. (2013), . Seven prognostic variables represent accumulation and Aitken log-normal aerosol modes in air and droplets as well as 3 gas species. Scavenging of interstitial and other unactivated aerosol by cloud and rain drops are treated using the scheme described in Berner et al. (2013), . The scheme includes coagulation of unactivated aerosol and a simple chemistry model with gas phase H2SO4, SO2, and DMS as prognostic variables to capture basic influences of sulfur chemistry on the model aerosols. Nucleation of H2SO4 aerosol particles from gas-phase H2SO4 is neglected. A deep, precipitating stratocumulus case (VAMOS Ocean Cloud Atmosphere Land Study RF06) is used to test the new scheme. The presence of the Aitken mode aerosol increases the cloud droplet concentration through activation of the larger Aitken particles and delays the creation of an ultraclean, strongly precipitating cumulus state. Scavenging of unactivated accumulation and Aitken particles by cloud and precipitation droplets accelerates the collapse. Increasing either the above-inversion Aitken concentration or the surface Aitken flux increases the Aitken population in the boundary layer and prevents the transition to an ultraclean state.

Automated summary

A new Aitken mode aerosol microphysics scheme is developed to investigate cloud-aerosol interactions in the marine boundary layer and test the Aitken buffering hypothesis. The scheme includes seven prognostic variables and treatment of scavenging and coagulation processes. Testing with a deep stratocumulus case shows that the presence of the Aitken mode aerosol increases cloud droplet concentration and delays the formation of an ultraclean, strongly precipitating cumulus state.