Laboratory measurements of the sedimentation velocity of hexagonal planar ice crystals

New experimental measurements of the falling velocity, size and orientation of individual hexagonal plate-like ice crystals are reported. The measurements were conducted at three different temperatures: −13, −16 and −20 °C. The diameter of the ice crystals measured in the experiments were between 50 μm and 250 μm, a size range which is in agreement with the size found in natural clouds. In this range, ice crystals show a random orientation during free fall and a falling velocity which increases with size. Results show that the fall velocity is insensitive to the temperature at which the ice crystals grow for the temperatures used in this study. An empirical power-law between the Best and Reynolds numbers is presented using the capacitance as characteristic length and an estimation of the ice crystal mass. Despite the dispersion of the experimental data, the Best–Reynolds relationship found seems to be similar to the relationship for falling spheres in Stokes flow using the capacitance as the hydrodynamic radius. The fall velocities of hexagonal and columnar ice crystals were compared. The columnar ice crystals show a velocity larger than that of hexagonal ice crystals with the same value of capacitance. However, both crystalline habits show a unique empirical Be–Re relationship.Fil: Burgesser, Rodrigo Exequiel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Castellano, Nesvit Edit. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentin

Sedimentation analysis of columnar ice crystals in viscous flow regimes

The sedimentation process of columnar ice crystals was evaluated using data obtained by the lattice Boltzmann method. The data used correspond to columnar ice crystals with maximum dimension less than 100 μm and aspect ratios between 1 and 3. The terminal velocity was computed for different ice-crystal bulk densities and for three falling orientations. The analysis corresponds to ice crystals falling in viscous flow regimes, where theoretical formulations overestimate the terminal velocity. Different characteristic lengths of columnar ice crystals and different theoretical proposals for the sedimentation process were tested in order to find the best representation of the data. Characteristic lengths reported in the literature do not represent the sedimentation process for all the falling orientations used in this study. Thus, it was not possible to obtain a unique relation between the Best and Reynolds numbers. In particular, columnar ice crystals falling with their longer dimension parallel to the vertical direction show a large dispersion that it does not seem possible to reduce. The theoretical and semi-empirical formulations of the terminal velocity evaluated show large deviations in the computed velocity, with a strong dependence on ice-crystal aspect ratio. The dispersion observed seems to be intrinsically related to the dimensionless variables used to parametrize the terminal velocity. To derive a unique scale law that could represent the sedimentation process of ice crystals, geometric, kinematic, and dynamic similarities are required. However, these conditions are not fulfilled in the sedimentation process.Fil: Burgesser, Rodrigo Exequiel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Giovacchini, Juan Pablo. Ministerio de Defensa. Instituto Universitario Aeronautico de la Faa; ArgentinaFil: Castellano, Nesvit Edit. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentin

Surface temperature distribution on a spherical ice particle growing by accretion in wet growth regime

Experimental evidence has demonstrated that temperature on the surface of an ice particle growing by accretion is not uniform. This non-uniformity is relevant because the ice particle surface temperature is an important microphysical parameter that influences the sign and magnitude of the charge transfer during ice particles collisions. In particular, when high values of ambient temperature and liquid water content are reached, the ice particle surface temperature is expected to reach 0 °C, which is known as wet growth regime. Previous experimental results have shown that wet growth is not uniformly reached on the ice particle surface and a surface temperature distribution is developed. In order to know the surface temperature distribution of a fixed ice particle growing by accretion of supercooled water, numerical calculations were carried out. It was found that the surface temperature distribution has a strong dependence on liquid water content, ambient temperature, airflow velocity and water droplet size. The stagnation point always reaches higher temperatures and, in many cases, its temperature is near 0 °C. For some values of the liquid water content, ambient temperature and airflow velocity, it was possible to determine temperature differences up to 7 °C between the stagnation point and the equator. This variation in the surface temperature implies that the region near the stagnation point would experience wet growth, while the rest of the ice particle surface would remain in dry growth regime, supporting the partial wet growth hypothesis. This could also explain the charge transfer reported during ice particles collisions under wet growth conditions.Fil: Luque, Melina Yasmín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; ArgentinaFil: Burgesser, Rodrigo Exequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; ArgentinaFil: Castellano, Nesvit Edit. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentin

The growth of ice particles in a mixed phase environment based on laboratory observations

This paper describes new laboratory observations about the size evolution of ice crystals and cloud droplets immersed in a mixed-phase cloud. The experiments were performed by using a cloud chamber facility for three temperatures − 6 °C, − 10 °C and − 20 °C, in order to explore the basic crystal growth habits (columns and hexagonal plates). The sizes of the cloud droplets, ice-columns and hexagonal ice-plates were examined for growth times between 50 and 300 s. The results show evidence that after ice crystal nucleation, the cloud droplets reduce gradually their sizes by the evaporation process; while the ice crystals grow as a consequence of the water vapor diffusion process. The ice crystal growths at different temperatures were compared with the results reported by other authors. The experimental data were also compared with a theoretical model of the growth rate of ice crystals. It was observed that the numerical model provides a description of the ice columns' growth in fairly good agreement with the laboratory observations, while it predicts that the hexagonal plates evolve with maximum sizes larger than those observed in the experiments. In general, it has been noted that the results obtained from the model are very sensitive to the parameter that denotes the ratio between the condensation coefficient for the basal face and prism face. It is a critical coefficient that needs to be carefully addressed in cloud modeling.Fil: Castellano, Nesvit Edit. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Avila, Eldo Edgardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; ArgentinaFil: Burgesser, Rodrigo Exequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; ArgentinaFil: Saunders, Clive P.R.. University of Manchester; Reino Unid

Laboratory measurements of charge separation in low liquid water content conditions and low impact velocity

A laboratory investigation of the electric charge separated in collisions between vapor-grown ice crystals and a target growing by riming is presented in this work, with the goal of studying the performance of the noninductive mechanism under microphysical conditions similar to some of those which occur in the stratiform regions of the mesoscale convective systems. A series of experiments were conducted by using a target of 2 mm in diameter, for ambient temperatures between −7°C and −13°C, effective liquid water content between 0.05 and 0.5 g m−3, and air speeds between 1 and 3 m s−1. Charge diagrams of the sign of the electric charge transfer on the rimer as a function of the ambient temperature and the effective liquid water content for each velocity are presented. The results show that the riming target charges positive for temperatures above −10°C. For temperatures below −10°C, the charging is positive for high liquid water content and negative for low liquid water content. The magnitude of the charge transfer per collision under the studied conditions ranges from 0.01 to 0.2 fC. The implications of these results to the electrification processes are discussed.Fil: Avila, Eldo Edgardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Lighezzolo, Rafael Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Castellano, Nesvit Edit. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Pereyra, Rodolfo Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Burgesser, Rodrigo Exequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentin

Correlations between deep convection and lightning activity on a global scale

Satellite observations of cloud top temperature and lightning flash distribution are used to examine the relationship between deep convection and lightning activity over the tropical regions of the northern and southern hemispheres. In agreement with previous work, the analysis of the results shows that, in the summer of both hemispheres, the lightning activity in continental deep convective storms is more intense than that in marine deep convective storms by a factor of between 7 and 10. Furthermore, it was observed that on average the daily lightning rate per 1°×1° grid cell for the southern hemisphere (SH) is about 20% greater than that of the northern hemisphere (NH), which can be attributed to a larger fractional cover by deep convective clouds in the SH. By using a set of independent indicators, it is shown that deep convection and lightning activity over land are well correlated (with correlation coefficients of 0.8 and 0.6 for NH and SH, respectively). This suggests the capacity for observations to act as a possible method of monitoring continental deep convective clouds, which play a key role in regulating the Earth's climate. Since lightning can be monitored easily from ground networks and satellites, it could be a useful tool for validating the performance of model convective schemes and for monitoring changes in climate parameters.Fil: Ávila, Eldo E.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Bürgesser, Rodrigo E.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Castellano, Nesvit Edit. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Collier, Andrew B.. Hermanus Magnetic Observatory; SudáfricaFil: Compagnucci, Rosa Hilda. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Hughes, Arthur R.W.. Hermanus Magnetic Observatory; Sudáfric