Zhao, X., C. F. Zhao, Y. L. Chi, J. Yang, Y. Sun, Y. K. Yang, and H. Fan, 2025: Different impact of aerosols on cloud development over land and ocean regions in East China. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 42(4), 731−743, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-024-4165-z.
Citation: Zhao, X., C. F. Zhao, Y. L. Chi, J. Yang, Y. Sun, Y. K. Yang, and H. Fan, 2025: Different impact of aerosols on cloud development over land and ocean regions in East China. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 42(4), 731−743, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-024-4165-z.

Different Impacts of Aerosols on Cloud Development over Land and Ocean Regions in East China

  • The impact of aerosols on clouds, which remains one of the largest aspects of uncertainty in current weather forecasting and climate change research, can be influenced by various factors, such as the underlying surface type, cloud type, cloud phase, and aerosol type. To explore the impact of different underlying surfaces on the effect of aerosols on cloud development, this study focused on the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and its offshore regions (YRD sea) for a comparative analysis based on multi-source satellite data, while also considering the variations in cloud type and cloud phase. The results show lower cloud-top height and depth of single-layer clouds over the ocean than land, and higher liquid cloud in spring over the ocean. Aerosols are found to enhance the cumulus cloud depth through microphysical effects, which is particularly evident over the ocean. Aerosols are also found to decrease the cloud droplet effective radius in the ocean region and during the mature stage of cloud development in the land region, while opposite results are found during the early stage of cloud development in the land region. The quantitative results indicate that the indirect effect is positive (0.05) in the land region at relatively high cloud water path, which is smaller than that in the ocean region (0.11). The findings deepen our understanding of the influence aerosols on cloud development and the mechanisms involved, which could then be applied to improve the ability to simulate cloud-associated weather processes.
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