2002•NASA Technical Reports Server (NASA)Requires access
Cloud Coverage Enhancement and Nocturnal Drizzle Suppression in Stratocumulus by Aerosols
Andrew S. Ackerman, O. B. Toon, David E. Stevens, James A. Coakley, Warren J. Gore
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Abstract
Recent satellite observations of ship tracks surprisingly indicate that cloud water decreases with increasing droplet concentrations. However, we find by analyzing detailed simulations of stratocumulus that the reported trend is likely an artifact of sampling, only overcast clouds. The simulations instead show cloud coverage increasing with droplet concentrations, accounting for 25% of cloud albedo increase at moderate droplet concentrations. Our simulations also show that increases in cloud water from drizzle suppression (by increasing droplet concentrations) are favored only at night or at extremely low droplet concentrations, suggesting that the indirect aerosol forcing is overestimated in climate change projections by many general circulation models.