Aerosol indirect effects on the temperature–precipitation scaling
<p>Aerosols may impact precipitation in a complex way involving their direct and indirect effects. In a previous numerical study, the overall microphysical effect of aerosols was found to weaken precipitation through reduced precipitable water and convective instability. The present study aims...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/20/6207/2020/acp-20-6207-2020.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819000535724851200 |
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| author | N. Da Silva N. Da Silva S. Mailler S. Mailler P. Drobinski |
| author_facet | N. Da Silva N. Da Silva S. Mailler S. Mailler P. Drobinski |
| author_sort | N. Da Silva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Aerosols may impact precipitation in a complex way involving their direct and indirect effects. In a previous numerical study, the overall microphysical effect of aerosols was found to weaken precipitation through reduced precipitable water and convective instability. The present study aims to quantify the relative importance of these two processes in the reduction of summer precipitation using temperature–precipitation scaling.
Based on a numerical sensitivity experiment conducted in central Europe aiming to isolate indirect effects, the results show that, all others effects being equal, the scaling of hourly convective precipitation with temperature follows the Clausius–Clapeyron (CC) relationship, whereas the decrease in convective precipitation does not scale with the CC law since it is mostly attributable to increased stability with increased aerosol concentration rather than to decreased precipitable water content.
This effect is larger at low surface temperatures at which clouds are statistically more frequent and optically thicker. At these temperatures, the increase in stability is mostly linked to the stronger reduction in temperature in the lower troposphere compared to the upper troposphere, which results in lower lapse rates.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T22:34:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-64962dc6c66f4204a957d0771e12794e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T22:34:52Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-64962dc6c66f4204a957d0771e12794e2022-12-21T19:24:38ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242020-05-01206207622310.5194/acp-20-6207-2020Aerosol indirect effects on the temperature–precipitation scalingN. Da Silva0N. Da Silva1S. Mailler2S. Mailler3P. Drobinski4LMD/IPSL, École polytechnique, Université Paris Saclay, ENS, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Palaiseau, Francenow at: Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, UKLMD/IPSL, École polytechnique, Université Paris Saclay, ENS, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Palaiseau, FranceENPC, Champs-sur-Marne, FranceLMD/IPSL, École polytechnique, Université Paris Saclay, ENS, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Palaiseau, France<p>Aerosols may impact precipitation in a complex way involving their direct and indirect effects. In a previous numerical study, the overall microphysical effect of aerosols was found to weaken precipitation through reduced precipitable water and convective instability. The present study aims to quantify the relative importance of these two processes in the reduction of summer precipitation using temperature–precipitation scaling. Based on a numerical sensitivity experiment conducted in central Europe aiming to isolate indirect effects, the results show that, all others effects being equal, the scaling of hourly convective precipitation with temperature follows the Clausius–Clapeyron (CC) relationship, whereas the decrease in convective precipitation does not scale with the CC law since it is mostly attributable to increased stability with increased aerosol concentration rather than to decreased precipitable water content. This effect is larger at low surface temperatures at which clouds are statistically more frequent and optically thicker. At these temperatures, the increase in stability is mostly linked to the stronger reduction in temperature in the lower troposphere compared to the upper troposphere, which results in lower lapse rates.</p>https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/20/6207/2020/acp-20-6207-2020.pdf |
| spellingShingle | N. Da Silva N. Da Silva S. Mailler S. Mailler P. Drobinski Aerosol indirect effects on the temperature–precipitation scaling Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| title | Aerosol indirect effects on the temperature–precipitation scaling |
| title_full | Aerosol indirect effects on the temperature–precipitation scaling |
| title_fullStr | Aerosol indirect effects on the temperature–precipitation scaling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aerosol indirect effects on the temperature–precipitation scaling |
| title_short | Aerosol indirect effects on the temperature–precipitation scaling |
| title_sort | aerosol indirect effects on the temperature precipitation scaling |
| url | https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/20/6207/2020/acp-20-6207-2020.pdf |
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