MODELLING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIQUID WATER CONTENT AND CLOUD DROPLET NUMBER CONCENTRATION OBSERVED IN SOME LOW CLOUDS IN THE SUMMER ARCTIC AND ITS RADIATIVE EFFECTS

Abstract

We investigated the microphysical properties of some low Arctic clouds and attempted to simulate the observed linear relationship between liquid water content and cloud droplet number concentration. The low clouds were observed by an aircraft campaign based out of Resolute Bay conducted as a part of NETCARE in July 2014. We attempted to simulate this relationship using the Single Column Model for Arctic Boundary Layer Clouds (SCM-ABLC), and compared the radiative effect of the modelled and observed clouds using a single-column version of the radiative transfer model used in version 18 of the Canadian Atmospheric Model (CanAM4.3). The relationship was reasonably represented by the SCM-ABLC, and all three autoconversion parameterizations tested agreed with the radiative transfer calculated from observations.