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| Titel |
Impact of Aerosols on Convective Clouds and Precipitation |
| VerfasserIn |
W.-K. Tao, J.-P. Chen, Z. Li, C. Wang, C. Zhang |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2012
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 14 (2012) |
| Datensatznummer |
250060171
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Aerosols are a critical factor in the atmospheric hydrological cycle and
radiation budget. As a major agent for clouds to form and a significant
attenuator of solar radiation, aerosols affect climate in several ways.
Current research suggests that aerosol effects on clouds could further
extend to precipitation, both through the formation of cloud particles
and by exerting persistent radiative forcing on the climate system that
disturbs dynamics. However, the various mechanisms behind these effects,
in particular the ones connected to precipitation, are not yet well
understood. The atmospheric and climate communities have long been
working to gain a better grasp of these critical effects and hence to
reduce the significant uncertainties in climate prediction resulting
from such a lack of adequate knowledge.
Here we review past efforts and summarize our current understanding of
the effect of aerosols on convective precipitation processes from
theoretical analysis of microphysics, observational evidence, and a
range of numerical model simulations. In addition, the discrepancy
between results simulated by models, as well as that between simulations
and observations, are presented. Specifically, this paper addresses the
following topics: (1) fundamental theories of aerosol effects on
microphysics and precipitation processes, (2) observational evidence of
the effect of aerosols on precipitation processes, (3) signatures of the
aerosol impact on precipitation from large-scale analyses, (4) results
from cloud-resolving model simulations, and (5) results from large-scale
numerical model simulations. Finally, several future research directions
for gaining a better understanding of aerosol–cloud-precipitation
interactions are suggested. |
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