Simulations of stratocumulus cloud fields using RAMS model

The simulations of the stratocumulus are performed with a domain size of  km (  bin points) for 3 hours. The horizontal resolution is fixed at 100 m, and the vertical bin spacing is 50 m. The initial state of the simulations (DYCOMS-II case) is based on vertical profiles of potential temperature, moisture, and horizontal winds, that were adapted from Stevens et al. (2003). From these initial fields, 4 additional simulations are carried out by slightly modifying the temperature profiles to check their effects on the stratocumulus field and notably on entrainment rates. In addition, one extra simulation is realized by modifying the humidity profile. In summary, these 6 simulations are as follows: case 1) ‘Control’ is the basic simulation with the unmodified fields; case 2) ‘Control + layer 150 m’ is as ‘Control’ but the temperature inversion is 150 m above that of ’Control’ (less brutal than ‘Control’), expecting more entrainment; case 3) ‘Control + layer 300 m’ is as ‘Control’ but the temperature inversion is 300 m above that of ’Control’; case 4)  ‘Control - 4K’ is as ‘Control’ but with a smaller temperature inversion, expecting more mixing; case 5) ‘Control + 4K’ is as ‘Control’ but with a stronger temperature inversion; and case 6) ‘Extra’ is as ‘Control’ but initialized using a slightly modified water vapor profile. Detailed application of the datasets is described in our under reviewing paper (Shang et al 2022).

Reference:

Shang, H., Hioki, S., Penide, G., Cornet, C., Letu, H., and Riedi, J.: Establishment of an analytical model for remote sensing of typical stratocumulus cloud profiles under various precipitation and entrainment conditions, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-674, in review, 2022.

Stevens, B., Lenschow, D. H., Vali, G., Gerber, H., Bandy, A., Blomquist, B., Brenguier, J.-L., Bretherton, C. S., Burnet, F., Campos, T., Chai, S., Faloona, I., Friesen, D., Haimov, S., Laursen, K., Lilly, D. K., Loehrer, S. M., Malinowski, S. P., Morley, B., Petters, M. D., Rogers, D. C., Russell, L., Savic-Jovcic, V., Snider, J. R., Straub, D., Szumowski, M. J., Takagi, H., Thornton, D. C., Tschudi, M., Twohy, C., Wetzel, M., and van Zanten, M. C.: Dynamics and Chemistry of Marine Stratocumulus—DYCOMS-II, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 84, 579-594, 10.1175/BAMS-84-5-579 %J Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 2003.