Studying the effects of severe aerosol pollution of the atmosphere on the dynamics of cumulonimbus cloud charge structure by numerical modeling

Studied are the effects of severe aerosol pollution of the atmosphere on the parameters of a cumulonimbus cloud (including its charge structure) and on precipitation. Considered is the example of the cloud that developed on May 11, 2009 near the town of Kharagpur (India) under conditions of severe aerosol pollution of the atmosphere due to dust transport from the desert. The in situ observations of the evolution of the cumulonimbus cloud of large vertical and horizontal extent and of its electric conditions were carried out on that day. It is found that the distribution of electric charges in the cloud was characterized by inverted polarity (i.e., the main positive charge is in the bottom of the cloud and the negative one is in the upper part of the cloud that contradicts usually observed cases). Using the small-dimension numerical model conducted are numerical experiments on the simulation of aerosol effects produced on the evolution of dynamic, microphysical, and electric structure of the cloud under study, namely, the cloud development under background conditions and in case of high aerosol concentration. It is assumed that aerosol particles possess ice-forming properties. It is obtained that the dynamic, microphysical, and electric structures of the cloud are significantly transformed under the influence of high aerosol concentrations; precipitation generation also significantly intensifies; polarity in the distribution of electric charge varies that agrees with the data of in situ observations.