A numerical simulation of CCN impacts on weather modification efficiency
Aerosols affect development of clouds and precipitation by serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN). Considering the dramatically changing ambient aerosol concentration, it is important to examine the potential “side effect” of aerosol pollution on precipitation enhancement by...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Environmental Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1181207/full |
| _version_ | 1797830893189988352 |
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| author | Xiaofeng Lou Xiaofeng Lou Yu Shi Yunpeng Shan |
| author_facet | Xiaofeng Lou Xiaofeng Lou Yu Shi Yunpeng Shan |
| author_sort | Xiaofeng Lou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aerosols affect development of clouds and precipitation by serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN). Considering the dramatically changing ambient aerosol concentration, it is important to examine the potential “side effect” of aerosol pollution on precipitation enhancement by weather modification. In this study, the cloud seeding was performed on a precipitation event in Beijing in the summer of 2008, which is simulated by the NSSL two-moment cloud scheme of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Sensitivity tests were conducted by modifying the ambient aerosol concentration and the ice crystal seeding amount to investigate the cloud seeding efficacy in different CCN concentration scenarios. There was a slight difference in the precipitation distribution between the simulations with two ambient CCN concentrations: the northern precipitation center in polluted scenario was weaker and the southern center was stronger. Compared with normal CCN scenario, the cloud liquid water mass and ice crystal mass in the severe pollution scenario is larger, and the total contents of snow and graupel were not sensitive to the CCN concentration. With the same amount of man-made ice crystals seeding, the precipitation enhancement was quite different under different CCN conditions. The higher the CCN concentration usually leads to stronger precipitation suppression. As CCN concentration increase, the deposition growth of snow, auto-conversion and accretion of ice crystals to snow were weakened, as well as the conversion of melting snow and graupel into rainwater. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:43:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0d0457875ca14dde891a81f627251e31 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-665X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:43:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Environmental Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-0d0457875ca14dde891a81f627251e312023-05-09T05:42:53ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Environmental Science2296-665X2023-05-011110.3389/fenvs.2023.11812071181207A numerical simulation of CCN impacts on weather modification efficiencyXiaofeng Lou0Xiaofeng Lou1Yu Shi2Yunpeng Shan3CMA Cloud-Precipitation Physics and Weather Modification Key Laboratory, Beijing, ChinaWeather Modification Centre, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaAtmospheric Science and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United StatesAerosols affect development of clouds and precipitation by serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN). Considering the dramatically changing ambient aerosol concentration, it is important to examine the potential “side effect” of aerosol pollution on precipitation enhancement by weather modification. In this study, the cloud seeding was performed on a precipitation event in Beijing in the summer of 2008, which is simulated by the NSSL two-moment cloud scheme of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Sensitivity tests were conducted by modifying the ambient aerosol concentration and the ice crystal seeding amount to investigate the cloud seeding efficacy in different CCN concentration scenarios. There was a slight difference in the precipitation distribution between the simulations with two ambient CCN concentrations: the northern precipitation center in polluted scenario was weaker and the southern center was stronger. Compared with normal CCN scenario, the cloud liquid water mass and ice crystal mass in the severe pollution scenario is larger, and the total contents of snow and graupel were not sensitive to the CCN concentration. With the same amount of man-made ice crystals seeding, the precipitation enhancement was quite different under different CCN conditions. The higher the CCN concentration usually leads to stronger precipitation suppression. As CCN concentration increase, the deposition growth of snow, auto-conversion and accretion of ice crystals to snow were weakened, as well as the conversion of melting snow and graupel into rainwater.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1181207/fullcloud condensation nucleirain enhancementcloud microphyisicsmeso-scale modelaerosol |
| spellingShingle | Xiaofeng Lou Xiaofeng Lou Yu Shi Yunpeng Shan A numerical simulation of CCN impacts on weather modification efficiency Frontiers in Environmental Science cloud condensation nuclei rain enhancement cloud microphyisics meso-scale model aerosol |
| title | A numerical simulation of CCN impacts on weather modification efficiency |
| title_full | A numerical simulation of CCN impacts on weather modification efficiency |
| title_fullStr | A numerical simulation of CCN impacts on weather modification efficiency |
| title_full_unstemmed | A numerical simulation of CCN impacts on weather modification efficiency |
| title_short | A numerical simulation of CCN impacts on weather modification efficiency |
| title_sort | numerical simulation of ccn impacts on weather modification efficiency |
| topic | cloud condensation nuclei rain enhancement cloud microphyisics meso-scale model aerosol |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1181207/full |
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