libcloudph++ 0.2: single-moment bulk, double-moment bulk, and particle-based warm-rain microphysics library in C++

This paper introduces a library of algorithms for representing cloud microphysics in numerical models. The library is written in C++, hence the name libcloudph++. In the current release, the library covers three warm-rain schemes: the single- and double-moment bulk schemes, and the particle-based scheme with Monte-Carlo coalescence. The three schemes are intended for modelling frameworks of different dimensionality and complexity ranging from parcel models to multi-dimensional cloud-resolving (e.g. large-eddy) simulations. A two-dimensional prescribed-flow framework is used in example simulations presented in the paper with the aim of highlighting the library features. The libcloudph++ and all its mandatory dependencies are free and open-source software. The Boost.units library is used for zero-overhead dimensional analysis of the code at compile time. The particle-based scheme is implemented using the Thrust library that allows to leverage the power of graphics processing units (GPU), retaining the possibility to compile the unchanged code for execution on single or multiple standard processors (CPUs). The paper includes complete description of the programming interface (API) of the library and a performance analysis including comparison of GPU and CPU setups.Comment: The library description has been updated to the new library API (i.e. v0.1 -> v0.2 update). The key difference is that the model state variables are now mixing ratios as opposed to densities. The particle-based scheme was supplemented with the "particle recycling" process. Numerous editorial corrections were mad

Cloud cover analysis with METEOSAT-5 during INDOEX

International audienceDuring the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX), METEOSAT-5 positioned at 63øE provided observation of the visible and infrared radiance field over the Indian Ocean. A cloud classification process using the dynamic cluster method is applied to these data. For the 3 months of the experiment (January-March 1999), daily maps of the cloud cover type are built for 0730 and 0900 UTC. The occurrence frequency of clear sky, lowand high-level cloud cover is examined. These frequencies are compared to the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program (ISCCP) D1 data set for the period 1984 to 1994. The Indian Ocean region can be classified in three zones. In the north subtropics, clear sky and small cumulus occur at least 90% of the time. Near the coast of India, clear sky is as frequent as 80 to 100%. The Intertropical Convergence Zone, characterized by the occurrence frequency of high-level clouds greater than 30%, spreads from Indonesia to North Madagascar. Near Indonesia, high-level cloud cover occurs more than 55% of the time. In the south subtropics, low cloud cover is the most frequent. In the eastern part the occurrence frequency reaches 80%. This percentage decreases along the western side of the ocean where low clouds break up. Between the African coast and Madagascar, high-level clouds are frequent. The mean spatial features found are in agreement with the ISCCP climatology, except for the eastern part of the south subtropics. A regional comparison shows the difficulty of making the analysis of interannual variations of cloud cover obtained from various cloud cover retrievals applied to different satellite data sets. This difficulty arises from the nonneglectable percentage of satellite pixels which can contain some very small low clouds

Adiabatic Evolution of Cloud Droplet Spectral Width: A New Look at an Old Problem

Abstract Spectral width of the cloud droplet spectrum is important for radiative properties and drizzle/rain development in warm ice‐free clouds. We use an adiabatic rising parcel model to study activation and diffusional growth of cloud droplets, focusing on the spectral width evolution, and contrasting clean and polluted environments. A comprehensive droplet growth equation is used that includes kinetic, solute, and surface tension effects. We show that those effects have an appreciable impact on the spectral width evolution above the cloud base. Without those effects, the droplet area standard deviation should not change once activation is completed. In contrast, simulation results show that the area standard deviation does increase with height, especially for weak updrafts and polluted environments. Implications of those results for cloud modeling, especially applying conventional bin microphysics, are discussed

Radiative Properties of Boundary Layer Clouds: Droplet Effective Radius versus Number Concentration

ABSTRACT The plane-parallel model for the parameterization of clouds in global climate models is examined in order to estimate the effects of the vertical profile of the microphysical parameters on radiative transfer calculations for extended boundary layer clouds. The vertically uniform model is thus compared to the adiabatic stratified one. The validation of the adiabatic model is based on simultaneous measurements of cloud microphysical parameters in situ and cloud radiative properties from above the cloud layer with a multispectral radiometer. In particular, the observations demonstrate that the dependency of cloud optical thickness on cloud geometrical thickness is larger than predicted with the vertically uniform model and that it is in agreement with the prediction of the adiabatic one. Numerical simulations of the radiative transfer have been performed to establish the equivalence between the two models in terms of the effective radius. They show that the equivalent effective radius of a vertically uniform model is between 80% and 100% of the effective radius at the top of an adiabatic stratified model. The relationship depends, in fact, upon the cloud geometrical thickness and droplet concentration. Remote sensing measurements of cloud radiances in the visible and near infrared are then examined at the scale of a cloud system for a marine case and the most polluted case sampled during the second Aerosol Characterization Experiment. The distributions of the measured values are significantly different between the two cases. This constitutes observational evidence of the aerosol indirect effect at the scale of a cloud system. Finally, the adiabatic stratified model is used to develop a procedure for the retrieval of cloud geometrical thickness and cloud droplet number concentration from the measurements of cloud radiances. It is applied to the marine and to the polluted cases. The retrieved values of droplet concentration are significantly underestimated with respect to the values measured in situ. Despite this discrepancy the procedure is efficient at distinguishing the difference between the two cases

An overview of the ACE-2 CLOUDYCOLUMN closure experiment

International audienceCLOUDYCOLUMN is one of the 6 ACE-2 projects which took place in June-July 1997, between Portugal and the Canary Islands. It was specifically dedicated to the study of changes of cloud radiative properties resulting from changes in the properties of those aerosols which act as cloud condensation nuclei. This process is also refered to as the aerosol indirect effect on climate. CLOUDYCOLUMN is focused on the contribution of stratocumulus clouds to that process. In addition to the basic aerosol measurements performed at the ground stations of the ACE-2 project, 5 instrumented aircraft carried out in situ characterization of aerosol physical, chemical and nucleation properties and cloud dynamical and microphysical properties. Cloud radiative properties were also measured remotely with radiometers and a lidar. 11 case studies have been documented, from pure marine to significantly polluted air masses. The simultaneity of the measurements with the multi-aircraft approach provides a unique data set for closure experiments on the aerosol indirect effect. In particular CLOUDYCOLUMN provided the 1st experimental evidence of the existence of the indirect effect in boundary layer clouds forming in polluted continental outbreacks. This paper describes the objectives of the project, the instrumental setup and the sampling strategy. Preliminary results published in additional papers are briefly summarized

Microphysical and radiative properties of stratocumulus clouds: the EUCREX mission 206 case study

International audienceIn this conclusion paper, remote sensing retrievals of cloud optical thickness performed during the EUCREX mission 206 are analyzed. The comparison with estimates derived from in situ measurements demonstrates that the adiabatic model of cloud microphysics is more realistic than the vertically uniform plane parallel model (VUPPM) for parameterization of optical thickness. The analysis of the frequency distributions of optical thickness in the cloud layer then shows that the adiabatic model provides a good prediction when the cloud layer is thick and homogeneous, while it overestimates significantly the optical thickness when the layer is thin and broken. Finally, it is shown that the effective optical thickness over the whole sampled cloud is smaller than the adiabatic prediction based on the mean geometrical thickness of the cloud layer. The high sensitivity of the optical thickness on cloud geometrical thickness suggests that the effect of aerosol and droplet concentration on precipitation efficiency, and therefore on cloud extent and lifetime, is likely to be more significant than the Twomey effect