This paper focuses on the variability in entrainment rate in individual cumulus clouds using the entrainment rate estimated on the scale of 5 m in 186 shallow cumulus clouds from eight aircraft flights, using in situ observations from the RACORO field campaign （the routine atmospheric radiation measurement aerial facility clouds with low optical water depths optical radiative observations） over the atmospheric radiation measurement Southern Great Plains site, USA. The result shows that the mean entrainment rate of all the 186 clouds systematically decreases from the cloud edge to the cloud center. Further analysis of the fluctuation of entrainment rate shows that the probability density function of entrainment rate in each flight can be fitted by the lognormal, gamma, or Weibull distributions virtually equally well, with the Weibull dis- tribution being the best. The parameter ＂standard devia- tion＂ in the lognormal distribution is weakly negatively correlated, and the other parameters in the three distribu- tions are positively correlated with relative humidity in the entrained dry air and dilution effect, respectively. Entrainment rate is negatively correlated with droplet concentration, droplet size, and liquid water content, but positively correlated with relative dispersion. The effect of entrainment rate on the spectral shape of cloud droplet size distribution is examined and linked to the systems theory on the cloud droplet size distribution.
Based on data of radiation fog events in Xuanen, Hubei province, 2010, this paper analyzes the microphysical process and evolution characteristics of radiation fogs with complicated substrate in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and compares them with findings in other areas. Results are as follows: radiation fog in Xuanen is evidently weaker in droplet number concentration and liquid water content than land fogs in other areas. Its liquid water content fluctuates obviously, 0.01g/m3 with visibility of 1,000 meters, which is quite different from that in urban areas, but similar to the Nanling Mountains. Bi-modal droplet distribution is likely to occur in Xuanen mountain radiation fog(MRF) events. Statistical analysis shows that the observed droplet size distribution can be piecewise described well by the Gamma distribution. There is a positive correlation between liquid water content, fog droplet concentration and mean radius, especially in the development and dissipation stage. Condensation growth and droplet evaporation are major processes of Xuanen MRF. The dissipation time coincided with the time when the grass temperature reached the peak value, which indicated that dew evaporation is a key role in maintaining Xuanen MRF. In the early stage of dense fog's growth, droplets with diameter of over 20 micrometers can be observed with visibility of800-1,000 m, which might be caused by the transportation of low cloud droplets to earth's surface by turbulence. Big droplets in the initial stage correspond to higher water content, leading to the higher observed value of water content of Xuanen MRF.
Parameterization of entrainment-mixing processes in cumulus clouds is critical to improve cloud parameterization in models,but is still at its infancy.For this purpose,we have lately developed a formulation to represent a microphysical measure defined as homogeneous mixing degree in terms of a dynamical measure defined as transition scale numbers,and demonstrated the formulation with measurements from stratocumulus clouds.Here,we extend the previous work by examining data from observed cumulus clouds and find positive correlations between the homogeneous mixing degree and transition scale numbers.These results are similar to those in the stratocumulus clouds,but proved valid for the first time in observed cumulus clouds.The empirical relationships can be used to parameterize entrainmentmixing processes in two-moment microphysical schemes.Further examined are the effects of secondary mixing events on the relationships between homogeneous mixing degree and transition scale numbers with the explicit mixing parcel model.The secondary mixing events are found to be at least partially responsible for the larger scatter in the above positive correlations based on observations than that in the previous results based on numerical simulations without considering secondary mixing events.
In this paper, the microphysical relationships of 8 dense fog events collected from a comprehensive fog observation campaign carried out at Pancheng（32.2 N, 118.7 E） in the Nanjing area, China in the winter of 2007 are investigated. Positive correlations are found among key microphysical properties（cloud droplet number concentration, droplet size, spectral standard deviation, and liquid water content） in each case, suggesting that the dominant processes in these fog events are likely droplet nucleation with subsequent condensational growth and/or droplet deactivation via complete evaporation of some droplets. The abrupt broadening of the fog droplet spectra indicates the occurrence of the collision-coalescence processes as well, although not dominating. The combined efects of the dominant processes and collision-coalescence on microphysical relationships are further analyzed by dividing the dataset according to visibility or autoconversion threshold in each case. The result shows that the specific relationships of number concentration to volume-mean radius and spectral standard deviation depend on the competition between the compensation of small droplets due to nucleation-condensation and the loss of small droplets due to collision-coalescence. Generally, positive correlations are found for diferent visibility or autoconversion threshold ranges in most cases, although negative correlations sometimes appear with lower visibility or larger autoconversion threshold. Therefore, the compensation of small droplets is generally stronger than the loss, which is likely related to the sufcient fog condensation nuclei in this polluted area.
