Formation of cloud microstructure during hygroscopic seeding

The evolution of cloud microstructure initiated by hygroscopic seeding is studied on the basis of numerical simulation of cloud formation in the initial stage of condensation. The influence of both physicochemical properties of atmospheric aerosol and atmospheric conditions controlling the cloud type on the microstructure of a developing cloud (without hygroscopic seeding) is analyzed. It is shown that cloud seeding with additional particles whose sizes exceed the characteristic size of atmospheric condensation nuclei leads to a decrease in the concentration of cloud droplets and an increase in their sizes. This result of cloud seeding represents a positive effect for stimulation of precipitation from convective clouds. It is shown that this positive effect is achieved if there are some relationships between the parameters characterizing the hygroscopic particles and the atmospheric conditions. In particular, the maximum effect of action can be achieved at some optimal concentration of seeded particles. The decrease in the concentration of cloud droplets because of hygroscopic seeding is compared to the results of numerical simulations performed by other authors with allowance for coagulation processes in clouds. It is shown that this decrease can serve as an estimate for the effectiveness of hygroscopic seeding as a means for artificial intensification of precipitation from convective clouds.     

Study of the possibility of stimulating precipitation from warm convective clouds by hygroscopic particles from numerical simulation

We present the results of numerical simulation of the action of hygroscopic particles on a convective cloud for obtaining additional precipitation. The correspondence of vertical profiles of cloud parameters to those actually observed under natural atmospheric conditions is achieved within a one-dimensional numerical model by parametrization of the process of heat and moisture entrainment into the upward air flow forming the cloud. The model describes in detail microphysical processes in a cloud with the use of the kinetic equation for the size distribution of cloud droplets. The processes of forming precipitation in convective clouds with a vertical thickness of 3–4 km during their natural development and during the introduction of hygroscopic particles are analyzed using numerical calculations. It is shown that it is actually possible to obtain additional precipitation from convective clouds of continental type under the action of hygroscopic particles with sizes of 1–1.5 μm. The results of calculating the intensity and total amount of precipitation as functions of the vertical thickness of a cloud and the parameters of particles introduced into it are presented. The conditions necessary for obtaining the maximum positive effect are elucidated.     

Investigation of the action of hygroscopic particles on a warm convective cloud from the results of numerical simulation

The results of a numerical simulation of the action of hygroscopic particles on a warm convective cloud with the purpose of obtaining additional precipitation are presented. The one-dimensional numerical model considered in this work describes the evolution of the cloud medium in the central part of an axisymmetric convective cloud at the specified height-variable velocity of the upward air flow which forms the cloud. Our model comprehensively describes microphysical processes in the cloud medium with the use of the kinetic equation for the size distribution of cloud droplets. This model makes it possible to obtain the spatiotemporal pattern of the cloud formation and development and to analyze regular features in the cloud evolution under the action of hygroscopic reagents. The cloud characteristics calculated with the use of this model correspond to the cloud parameters observed in natural conditions of the atmosphere. The process of precipitation stimulation by hygroscopic particles in convective clouds with vertical thicknesses of 2.5–4.5 km was analyzed on the basis of the results of numerical calculations. The results of calculations of the dependence of the intensity and total amount of precipitation on the vertical cloud thickness and parameters of particles introduced into the cloud are presented. It is shown that hygroscopic particles with root-mean-cube radii of 1–1.5 μm are the most effective for acting on warm convective clouds with the purpose of obtaining additional precipitation. In this case, the required reagent expenditure is 100–200 kg/km². The conditions necessary for obtaining the maximal positive effect of the action are elucidated.     

On the use of poorly soluble hygroscopic substances for modification of warm clouds and fogs

From analysis of the relationships between the equilibrium state of condensation nuclei and the relative humidity, a conclusion is made concerning the preferred use of poorly soluble substances for the generation of artificial condensation nuclei (ACN) designed for modification of warm clouds and fogs with the purpose of their dissipation and precipitation formation. The advantage of poorly soluble substances over commonly used soluble salts is that the finely dispersed part of the spectrum of the poorly soluble ACN does not deliquesce and so is not involved in the formation of cloud droplets. For experimental testing of the conclusions, preference was given to cement, whose main soluble substance is calcium oxide with a solubility of about 1 g/l. The spectrum of dispersed cement particles was measured and compared with the spectra of pyrotechnic flares widely used for modification at present. The process of formation of the cloud droplet spectra was simulated in the aerosol chamber of the Institute of Experimental Meteorology by decreasing the preliminarily generated excess pressure. It was found in these experiments that, compared to the spectra of particles formed on background condensation nuclei, the introduction of dispersed cement leads to the broadening of spectra and to a decrease in the concentration of droplets. Even at the early stage of condensation, droplets with radii of ∼20 μm appear. In this case, no “overseeding” phenomenon is observed, which, for soluble substances, manifests itself in an increase in the concentration of cloud droplets with a large ACN concentration. These effects indicate that, according to the existing concepts about the mechanism of warm-cloud modification with hygroscopic substances, the introduction of poorly soluble ACN (in particular, dispersed cement) below the base of cumulus clouds should stimulate coagulation processes and accelerate rain-formation processes. Considerations are given that the introduction of poorly soluble ACN into the already existing cumulus or stratocumulus clouds or fogs should also result in the acceleration of precipitation-formation processes or cloud dispersal. Comparison of cement powder with the well-known means of warm-cloud and fog modification is carried out. Original Russian Text ? N.P. Romanov, A.S. Drofa, N.S. Kim, A.V. Savchenko, G.F. Yaskevich, 2006, published in Izvestiya AN. Fizika Atmosfery i Okeana, 2006, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 80–91.     

Modeling aerosol dynamics during forest fires

A hydrodynamic model is used to reproduce the atmospheric circulation during forest fires. The dynamics is simulated with an improved model of free convection with allowance for heat flux emission from the fire area. Against the background of the atmospheric circulation patterns obtained, the problem of aerosol evolution and size distribution due to the forest’s combustible materials from the fire area was solved. The evolution of soot particles is described by solving the kinetic equations of condensation and coagulation. The results of numerical experiments to develop a process that considers water-vapor condensation in a moist atmosphere are presented.     

Asymmetry parameter of the optical scattering phase function of a mixed-phase cloud

Basic characteristics of optical scattering in a mixed-phase cloud (asymmetry parameter of the scattering phase function and efficiency scattering factors and scattering coefficients) are considered. Theoretical consideration is based on the mixed-phase cloud model in the form of a uniform mixture of ice crystals and water droplets. Expressions allowing calculation of asymmetry parameter of the mixed-phase cloud scattering phase function are obtained as functions of the cloud temperature, average size of cloud particles, and ratios of the number densities of differently shaped ice crystals. Data calculated for the asymmetry parameter of infrared scattering in a mixed-phase cloud layer at its given temperature are presented.     

Structure and optical properties of soot aerosol in a moist atmosphere: 1. Structural changes of soot particles in the process of condensation

A laboratory setup and a procedure for measuring the volume coefficients and mean cross sections of extinction, scattering, and absorption of soot particles in the medium of saturated water vapor are described. A method for hydrophilization of the surface of soot particles, which makes it possible to obtain model objects with specified hygroscopic properties, is presented. The processes of transformation of soot particles are analyzed with the use of data of electron-microscopic investigations on the basis of the fractal approach. The structural parameters of hydrophobic soot are shown to depend on the conditions of moistening, whereas hydrophilic particles are subject to substantial structural changes indicative of their watering. Investigation of the coagulation of soot particles with drops shows that hydrophobic particles form a weakly bound system; they coagulate on the surface of drops and cause no changes in the structure of soot aggregates. During the coagulation, hydrophilic soot particles penetrate inside a drop and irreversibly form a mixed system.     

Experimental investigations of the effect of cloud-medium modification by salt powders

The results of experimental investigations into the action of polydispersion salt powders on model cloud media are presented. The results of experiments show a considerable positive effect of the modification of convective clouds by salt powders in order to obtain additional precipitation. The introduction of polydispersion salt powder into a forming cloud medium leads to the appearance of large cloud droplets and to the droplet-spectrum broadening. This result is a positive factor for the stimulation of coagulation processes and further precipitation formation. No “overseeding” phenomenon (when, instead of the enlargement of droplets, their sizes decrease and the concentration of cloud droplets increases) is observed at rather high mass concentrations of the introduced powder.     

Dynamics of trace gases and aerosols in the atmosphere with consideration for heterogeneous processes

A combined mathematical model has been developed to reproduce space and time variations in the concentrations of multicomponent gas constituents and aerosols in the atmosphere on both regional and urban scales. This model contains blocks of transport of gas constituents and aerosols in the atmosphere with consideration for homogeneous binary nucleation, the kinetic processes of condensation/evaporation and coagulation, chemical processes occurring in both gas and liquid phases, and the processes of mass exchange during the gas-droplet (particle) interaction. A nonhydrostatic model of atmospheric mesoscale processes is used to calculate the fields of meteorological elements and turbulent characteristics. The generation of new-phase particles from precursor gases by the mechanism of homogeneous binary nucleation and their interaction with background aerosol are considered. The results of numerical experiments are compared with the data obtained from field observations of both space and time variations in the concentrations of gas constituents and aerosols and in the ionic content of aerosol particles over the Baikal region under the influence of emissions from powerful industrial sources.     

Efficiency of stimulating precipitation from convective clouds using salt powders

Comparative estimates of the efficiency of hygroscopic reagents for the seeding of convective clouds to obtain additional precipitation are performed based on numerical simulation. It is shown that the use of polydisperse salt powders has many benefits over other known hygroscopic reagents. The effect of seeding with salt powders manifests itself at mass concentrations of hygroscopic particles an order of magnitude less than when pyrotechnic flares are used. With salt-powder seeding, it is possible to obtain precipitation from warm convective clouds of moderate thickness from which precipitation does not typically fall. In this case the effect of “reseeding” of clouds, which can be observed in seeding with hygroscopic reagents having narrow size distributions of particles, does not reveal itself.     

台风“莫拉菲”潜热的数值模拟研究

WRF天气研究和预报模式是新一代中尺度数值预报模式,本文采用最细2公里的网格距对台风“莫拉菲”内核的宏观、微观以及潜热过程进行数值模拟。通过对台风路径、风速大小、降水形态以及内核热力和动力结构的验证,证实了单向六参数WSM6方案的合理性。本文通过计算台风过程中的潜热加热率,揭示了总潜热主要来源于0℃层以下的凝结潜热和0℃层以上的凝华潜热。证实了与霰有关的云微物理过程是对总潜热贡献最重要的因子。除此之外,在本次台风“莫拉菲”的模拟中,其他重要的潜热贡献因子分别是水汽凝结成云水、云冰的凝华增长、雪的凝华增长、云冰的初始化、霰的凝华增长、云水被雪和霰收集、云水和雨水的蒸发、雪的升华、霰的升华、霰的融化以及云冰的升华。总体而言,本文模拟的潜热加热率廓线和TRMM卫星的廓线基本一致,尽管具体数值略有不同。     

Influence of chemical composition and microstructure on the hygroscopic growth of pyrogenic aerosol

The hygroscopic properties of a model smoke aerosol series including ammonium sulfate, levoglucosan, and oxalic and humic acids were investigated. The condensation growth of particles and the relative humidity of direct and inverse particle-droplet phase transitions were measured with a tandem differential mobility analyzer. The data were obtained in the range of relative humidity from 4 to 95% at 298 K. Experimental growth factors were compared to the results of Koehler theory by using contemporary models of water activity in particles. It was shown that the hygroscopic properties of the aerosols were substantially different from the hygroscopic properties of the corresponding bulk phases. It was found that a complex microstructure of nanoparticles resulted in excess volume absorption of water, in some cases causing their full deliquescence at lower relative humidities than in macrosystems of identical composition. From the measurement data, a parametrization of hygroscopic particle growth was performed. The results of parametrization can be used to construct refined models of a smoke aerosol.     

Internal mechanism of metastable liquid water crystallization and its effects on intracloud processes

Specific features of an internal freezing (crystallization) mechanism for both ordinary supercooled water and amorphous water (A-water) are considered. Amorphous water plays the role of an intermediate phase in condensation ice formation and is capable of metastable existence in the form of cloud drops. It is demonstrated that, after passing the crystallization front, the ice phase takes the liquid-phase volume and the excessive water mass is detached from the front in the form of free molecules, which escape through the liquid into the gaseous medium. The released energy of the phase transition is removed with these molecules, so that the formed ice retains the initial temperature of the liquid. A high-rate vapor outflow from the freezing drop generates (around the drop) a zone of microscale turbulence, which accelerates the mass exchange between cloud particle and vapor. Since the freezing frequency of drops in a cloud increases with their size, the effects of their freezing develop initially in time. At the same time, these effects initiate such processes that end in a complete evaporation of supercooled water drops and in a sharp enlargement of A-water and ice particles, i.e., in cloud transition to such a phase-mixed state where the liquid disperse phase consists of A-water drops. A reduction in the duration of the initial (fine-dispersed) stage of the evolution of clouds with their temperature lowering can be explained only by the development of microscale disturbances as a result of the freezing of drops.     

Initial sedimentation of particles from a line source in 1-D homogenous current fields

On the basis of the study of initial sedimentation of suspended participates discharged from a continuous point source, the mode of dispersion, descension and deposition of the suspended particulates which are released from a line source is derived. By use of puff model, the semi-analytical solution to the problem of initial sedimentation of suspended particulates discharged from a continuous line source in one-dimensional homogenous current fields, of which water depth is constant, is presented, some computations and analyses for long-term distribution of sedimentation are carried out under various sets of parameters. And the comparisons between the sedimentation results of the line and point source are conducted. The results show that the higher the initial height,and the smaller the fall velocity of the particles ,the closer the sedimentation distribution results of the line source to that of the point source.     

黄河三角洲海底土波致再悬浮研究

在现代黄河三角洲采集土样,制备室内水槽试验的底床,施加波浪作用,观测波致悬沙含量的变化规律,分析不同波高、作用时间对单位面积底床再悬浮量的影响,及波浪停止作用后悬浮泥沙的静水沉降规律。研究发现,在水深一定条件下底床再悬浮量呈现随波高增大而增大的特性,两者线性拟合的相关性很好;在一定波高的波浪连续作用下,约5 000~6 000个波周期底床再悬浮过程完成;在波浪作用初始阶段底层悬沙含量与中上层的相差很大,悬沙含量垂线结构呈斜线型,稳定阶段的悬沙浓度垂向结构呈准直线型,底层与表层含沙量比值为0.98~1.25,整个水层含量分布均匀;静水沉降过程中当悬沙含量大于1 g/dm3,悬沙含量(SSC)呈现出随时间指数衰减的规律,悬沙浓度与沉降通量呈线性关系。研究结果对认识黄河水下三角洲泥沙运移规律具有一定的科学意义。     

Effect of coagulation on a model planktonic food web

Observations have shown that aggregates (“marine snow”) are an important fraction of the organic matter vertical flux in the ocean. There has been a separation in biological models describing this flux, with coagulation models focused on phytoplankton blooms for which particle concentrations are high and grazing is low and neglectable and with plankton models focused on food web interactions neglecting coagulation dynamics. This separation has partly resulted from the difficulty in describing the interactions among the multiple particle sources using a coagulation model for a food web. New approaches for describing particle dynamics now make it possible to do so. The present study examines the effect of combining the food web model of Fasham et al. (1990. Journal of Marine Research 34, 591–639) with a coagulation dynamics model and applying the combined model to describe the annual cycle of an oligotrophic plankton system. As part of the model formulation, the coagulation kernels had to be altered to include both the case of fractal particles interacting and the case of smaller particles being faster settling. Results show that coagulation can have an important effect on particle flux even in the low particle concentration oligotrophic environment by increasing average particle settling speed and by increasing the ratio of maximum to minimum daily vertical flux over the course of a yearly cycle. As part of this, coagulation forms large, rapidly sinking particles. Grazing and the accompanying formation of fecal pellets can compete with coagulation for particles, but the fecal pellets can also participate in the formation of large aggregates. Among the variables that can influence export rates are phytoplankton size and concentration as well as depth of the surface mixed layer. The results provide evidence for the importance of coagulation processes in enhancing particle export even in central ocean regions.     

Parameterization of key optical and radiative characteristics of homogeneous layers of mixed phase clouds

Key optical characteristics of radiation scattering in clouds (mean cosine of the scattering phase function, averaged factors and indices of scattering efficiency, and single-scattering albedo) and integral characteristics of homogeneous cloud layers (cloud-layer albedo and transmission factor) have been calculated with the use of the earlier suggested model of the microstructure of mixed phase clouds, where ice crystals and water droplets are homogeneously mixed over the volume, for individual wavelengths in the range from 0.6 to 10.6 μm. An approach is elaborated for statistically valid parameterization of the above characteristics versus the mean temperature of a mixed layer only under the availability of reliable information about the temperature dependence of the characteristic sizes of particles of different fractions and their concentrations in the cloud.     

Carbonaceous aerosols of aviation and shipping emissions

This is a study of the physical and chemical properties of carbonaceous aerosols emitted by transport systems (namely, by aircraft gas turbine engines and large ship diesel engines) into the atmosphere. A comparative analysis of the morphology, size, elemental composition, and surface chemistry between aviation and diesel soot particles reveals the general and characteristic features of emissions from each source. The high pollution rate of diesel soot particles, considerable fraction of metal admixtures, and availability of char particles characterize the specific features of the formation of particles of this type. The main characteristics characterizing the interaction between aviation and shipping emission aerosols in the moist atmosphere (the composition of organic and water-soluble fractions at the surface) have been obtained. Due to high hygroscopicity, the microparticles can generate cloud condensation nuclei and initiate contrails and additional tropospheric cloudiness.     

Experimental study on settling velocity of soil particles in dredged slurry

Studying sedimentation and consolidation of dredged slurry has significant implications to the design of storage yard and subsequent ground improvement. In this study, settling velocity of soil particles in dredged slurry during sedimentation and consolidation processes was investigated using an improved multilayer extraction sampling (MES) method. A series of sedimentation column tests were performed on dredged slurry with three different initial water contents. Distributions of volume of soil particles and density of dredged slurry were first obtained by the MES method, settling velocity of soil particles was then calculated by volume flux function approach. It was found that the density and velocity inflection points can be used to distinguish the settling zone and the consolidation zone. The experimental results reveal that the velocity of soil particles was quite low and monotonically decreased with sedimentation height at low initial water content throughout the whole test period, whereas it was increased at 0–1 hours and almost remained constant at 1–7 hours in the settling zone at high initial water content. The effects of initial water content on sedimentation and consolidation mode of dredged slurry and the settling velocity of soil particles were discussed. The relationship between settling velocity of soil particles and particle diameter was also studied. It is indicated that the measured velocity of soil particles was much lower than that calculated by the Stokes equation, and it was related to 0.4881–0.5906 order of particle diameter at 0–1 hours and 0.1117–0.1825 order of particle diameter at 1–7 hours for the test slurries.     

Numerical modeling investigation on turbulent oscillatory flow over a plane rough bed composed by randomly arrayed particles

A three-dimensional numerical model is established to simulate the turbulent oscillatory boundary layer over a fixed and rough bed composed by randomly arrayed solid spheres based on the lattice Boltzmann method and the large eddy simulation model.The equivalent roughness height,the location of the theoretical bed and the time variation of the friction velocity are investigated using the log-fit method.The time series of turbulent intensity and Reynolds stress are also investigated.The equivalent roughness height of cases with Reynolds numbers of 1×10~4–6×10~4 is approximately 2.81 d(grain size).The time variation of the friction velocity in an oscillatory cycle exhibits sinusoidal-like behavior.The friction factor depends on the relative roughness in the rough turbulent regime,and the pattern of solid particles arrayed as the rough bed in the numerical simulations has no obvious effect on the friction factor.