Influence of giant CCN on warm rain processes in the ECHAM5 GCM

Verfasser / Beitragende:
[Rebekka Posselt, Ulrike Lohmann]
Ort, Verlag, Jahr:
2008
Enthalten in:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 8 (14), pp. 3769-3788
Format:
Artikel (online)
ID: 528787411
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024 7 0 |a 10.3929/ethz-b-000007572  |2 doi 
024 7 0 |a 10.5194/acp-8-3769-2008  |2 doi 
035 |a (ETHRESEARCH)oai:www.research-collecti.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/7572 
100 1 |a Posselt  |D Rebekka 
245 1 0 |a Influence of giant CCN on warm rain processes in the ECHAM5 GCM  |h [Elektronische Daten]  |c [Rebekka Posselt, Ulrike Lohmann] 
246 0 |a Atmos. chem. phys. 
506 |a Open access  |2 ethresearch 
520 3 |a Increased Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) load due to anthropogenic activity might lead to non-precipitating clouds because the cloud drops become smaller (for a constant liquid water content) and, therefore, less efficient in rain formation (aerosol indirect effect). Adding giant CCN (GCCN) into such a cloud can initiate precipitation (namely, drizzle) and, therefore, might counteract the aerosol indirect effect. The effect of GCCN on global climate on warm clouds and precipitation within the ECHAM5 General Circulation Model (GCM) is investigated. Therefore, the newly introduced prognostic rain scheme (Posselt and Lohmann, 2007) is applied so that GCCN are directly activated into rain drops. The ECHAM5 simulations with incorporated GCCN show that precipitation is affected only locally. On the global scale, the precipitation amount does not change. Cloud properties like total water (liquid + rain water) and cloud drop number show a larger sensitivity to GCCN. Depending on the amount of added GCCN, the reduction of total water and cloud drops account for up to 20% compared to the control run without GCCN. Thus, the incorporation of the GCCN accelerate the hydrological cycle so that clouds precipitate faster (but not more) and less condensed water is accumulated in the atmosphere. An estimate of the anthropogenic aerosol indirect effect on the climate is obtained by comparing simulations for present-day and pre-industrial climate. The introduction of the prognostic rain scheme lowered the anthropogenic aerosol indirect effect significantly compared to the standard ECHAM5 with the diagnostic rain scheme. The incorporation of the GCCN changes the model state, especially the cloud properties like TWP and Nl. The precipitation changes only locally but globally the precipitation is unaffected because it has to equal the global mean evaporation rate. Changing the cloud properties leads to a local reduction of the aerosol indirect effect and, hence, partly compensating for the increased anthropogenic CCN concentrations in that regions. Globally, the aerosol indirect effect is nearly the same for all simulations. 
540 |a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported  |u http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0  |2 ethresearch 
700 1 |a Lohmann  |D Ulrike  |e joint author 
773 0 |t Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics  |d Munich : European Geophysical Society  |g 8 (14), pp. 3769-3788  |x 1680-7375 
856 4 0 |u http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/7572  |q text/html  |z WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) 
908 |D 1  |a Journal Article  |2 ethresearch 
950 |B ETHRESEARCH  |P 856  |E 40  |u http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/7572  |q text/html  |z WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) 
950 |B ETHRESEARCH  |P 100  |E 1-  |a Posselt  |D Rebekka 
950 |B ETHRESEARCH  |P 700  |E 1-  |a Lohmann  |D Ulrike  |e joint author 
950 |B ETHRESEARCH  |P 773  |E 0-  |t Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics  |d Munich : European Geophysical Society  |g 8 (14), pp. 3769-3788  |x 1680-7375 
898 |a BK010053  |b XK010053  |c XK010000 
949 |B ETHRESEARCH  |F ETHRESEARCH  |b ETHRESEARCH  |j Journal Article  |c Open access