Zhang J., J. M. Sun, Y. Kong, W. Deng, and W. H. Hu, 2025: Cloud droplet spectrum evolution driven by aerosol activation and vapor condensation: A comparative study of different bulk parameterization schemes. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 42(3), 1−17, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-024-4068-z.
Citation: Zhang J., J. M. Sun, Y. Kong, W. Deng, and W. H. Hu, 2025: Cloud droplet spectrum evolution driven by aerosol activation and vapor condensation: A comparative study of different bulk parameterization schemes. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 42(3), 1−17, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-024-4068-z.

Cloud Droplet Spectrum Evolution Driven by Aerosol Activation and Vapor Condensation: A Comparative Study of Different Bulk Parameterization Schemes

  • Accurate descriptions of cloud droplet spectra from aerosol activation to vapor condensation using microphysical parameterization schemes are crucial for numerical simulations of precipitation and climate change in weather forecasting and climate prediction models. Hence, the latest activation and triple-moment condensation schemes were combined to simulate and analyze the evolution characteristics of a cloud droplet spectrum from activation to condensation and compared with a high-resolution Lagrangian bin model and the current double-moment condensation schemes, in which the spectral shape parameter is fixed or diagnosed by an empirical formula. The results demonstrate that the latest schemes effectively capture the evolution characteristics of the cloud droplet spectrum during activation and condensation, which is in line with the performance of the bin model. The simulation of the latest activation and condensation schemes shows that the cloud droplet spectrum gradually widens and exhibits a multimodal distribution during the activation process, accompanied by a decrease in the spectral shape and slope parameters over time. Conversely, during the condensation process, the cloud droplet spectrum gradually narrows, resulting in increases in the spectral shape and slope parameters. However, these double-moment schemes fail to accurately replicate the evolution of the cloud droplet spectrum and its multimodal distribution characteristics. Furthermore, the latest schemes were coupled into a 1.5D cumulus model, and an observation case was simulated. The simulations confirm that the cloud droplet spectrum appears wider at the supersaturated cloud base and cloud top due to activation, while it becomes narrower at the middle altitudes of the cloud due to condensation growth.
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