A Model Intercomparison Study of Mixed-Phase Clouds in a Laboratory Chamber

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Wang, Aaron, Chen, Sisi, Krueger, Steve, Dziekan, Piotr, Enokido, Kotaro, Hoffmann, Fabian, Makulska, Agnieszka, Mehlig, Bernhard, Sardina, Gaetano, Sarnitsky, Grigory, Schmalfuß, Silvio, Shima, Shin-ichiro, Yang, Fan, Ovchinnikov, Mikhail, Shaw, Raymond A.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Wang, Aaron
Chen, Sisi
Krueger, Steve
Dziekan, Piotr
Enokido, Kotaro
Hoffmann, Fabian
Makulska, Agnieszka
Mehlig, Bernhard
Sardina, Gaetano
Sarnitsky, Grigory
Schmalfuß, Silvio
Shima, Shin-ichiro
Yang, Fan
Ovchinnikov, Mikhail
Shaw, Raymond A.
author_facet Wang, Aaron
Chen, Sisi
Krueger, Steve
Dziekan, Piotr
Enokido, Kotaro
Hoffmann, Fabian
Makulska, Agnieszka
Mehlig, Bernhard
Sardina, Gaetano
Sarnitsky, Grigory
Schmalfuß, Silvio
Shima, Shin-ichiro
Yang, Fan
Ovchinnikov, Mikhail
Shaw, Raymond A.
contents Mixed-phase clouds, composed of supercooled liquid droplets and ice crystals, play a critical role in weather and climate systems. Their complex microphysical interactions and coupling with turbulence at microscales govern the cloud properties at macroscales, yet remain challenging to observe and quantify under atmospheric conditions. This model intercomparison study utilizes ten model configurations to simulate mixed-phase cloud evolution in the Michigan Technological University's Pi Chamber. The models span a range of frameworks, including box models, direct numerical simulation, and large-eddy simulation models, and incorporate both bin and Lagrangian microphysics. Each model was tuned to reproduce the observed liquid-phase steady state prior to ice injection. Ice particles were then introduced into the domain at various rates to examine cloud glaciation behavior. By the intercomparison design, all models successfully reproduced the observed mean droplet radius and number concentration during the liquid-phase stage. Increasing ice particle injection rates led to consistent qualitative trends across models: depletion of liquid water, reduced total water content, and a shift in particle size distributions toward larger radii. However, quantitative differences arose due to variations in model treatment in dynamics and microphysics, including subgrid-scale turbulence parameterizations, wall forcing, and particle removal parameterizations. Most models that simulate the full chamber retained liquid droplets near the lower boundary, where supersaturation forcing is strongest and droplets are replenished before mixing into the core region. These surviving liquids droplets were absent in simulations assuming a well-mixed domain, excluding the near-wall region, or using coarse grid spacing.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_09915
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Model Intercomparison Study of Mixed-Phase Clouds in a Laboratory Chamber
Wang, Aaron
Chen, Sisi
Krueger, Steve
Dziekan, Piotr
Enokido, Kotaro
Hoffmann, Fabian
Makulska, Agnieszka
Mehlig, Bernhard
Sardina, Gaetano
Sarnitsky, Grigory
Schmalfuß, Silvio
Shima, Shin-ichiro
Yang, Fan
Ovchinnikov, Mikhail
Shaw, Raymond A.
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Fluid Dynamics
Mixed-phase clouds, composed of supercooled liquid droplets and ice crystals, play a critical role in weather and climate systems. Their complex microphysical interactions and coupling with turbulence at microscales govern the cloud properties at macroscales, yet remain challenging to observe and quantify under atmospheric conditions. This model intercomparison study utilizes ten model configurations to simulate mixed-phase cloud evolution in the Michigan Technological University's Pi Chamber. The models span a range of frameworks, including box models, direct numerical simulation, and large-eddy simulation models, and incorporate both bin and Lagrangian microphysics. Each model was tuned to reproduce the observed liquid-phase steady state prior to ice injection. Ice particles were then introduced into the domain at various rates to examine cloud glaciation behavior. By the intercomparison design, all models successfully reproduced the observed mean droplet radius and number concentration during the liquid-phase stage. Increasing ice particle injection rates led to consistent qualitative trends across models: depletion of liquid water, reduced total water content, and a shift in particle size distributions toward larger radii. However, quantitative differences arose due to variations in model treatment in dynamics and microphysics, including subgrid-scale turbulence parameterizations, wall forcing, and particle removal parameterizations. Most models that simulate the full chamber retained liquid droplets near the lower boundary, where supersaturation forcing is strongest and droplets are replenished before mixing into the core region. These surviving liquids droplets were absent in simulations assuming a well-mixed domain, excluding the near-wall region, or using coarse grid spacing.
title A Model Intercomparison Study of Mixed-Phase Clouds in a Laboratory Chamber
topic Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.09915