A comparison of model calculations of ice crystal growth with observations following silver iodide seeding

Abstract

Past theoretical investigations have reported that observed peaks in the diffusional growth of ice crystals in the vicinity of ‐5 and ‐15°C could be qualitatively modelled assuming certain specific crystal properties. This study re‐examines the ice crystal diffusional growth model using more recently available observations of pertinent crystal parameters. The results, indicative of the growth of average crystals, imply a much weaker dependence of the diffusional mass growth rate on temperature in the range of ‐5 to ‐15°C. Extension of the model to include growth by accretion, also suggests that the mass of heavily rimed crystals is not very sensitive to the original crystal habit. The results of the calculations are compared with observed crystal sizes in cumulus clouds following seeding on three different days. The observations indicate that small crystals were continuously being produced as long as 15 min after seeding. In two cases, crystals much larger than those predicted by the model for any reasonable set of parameters suggest that crystal aggregation may have been occurring at a significant rate.