A Model Intercomparison Study to Investigate Mixing Characteristics in Non‐Precipitating Stratocumulus Clouds
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Recent aircraft observations of marine stratocumulus clouds consistently showed that cloud microphysical relationships vary with altitude, indicating inhomogeneous mixing characteristics near cloud top and homogeneous mixing characteristics in mid‐levels of clouds. Here, we conduct model intercomparison of an idealized, non‐precipitating stratocumulus cloud to evaluate model consistency and examine whether simulations can reproduce the observed mixing characteristics. The results show that eleven large‐eddy simulations with various dynamics and microphysics schemes show good agreement on the thermodynamical, microphysical, and dynamical properties of the stratocumulus‐topped boundary layer in a steady state. The inter‐model spread in steady‐state liquid water path is significantly reduced compared to previous model intercomparison studies. This improvement might be due to better models and more consistent initial conditions than those used decades ago. In addition, most simulations, including a low‐dimensional simulation, capture inhomogeneous mixing characteristics near the cloud top and homogeneous mixing characteristics inside the cloud. Moreover, simulations using Lagrangian microphysics schemes agree better with the observed mixing characteristics compared with those using the bin microphysics schemes. Since most simulations do not fully resolve the entrainment process, the apparent mixing characteristics arise from the variations in the resolved cloud properties. Our results support the vertical circulation mixing hypothesis, which suggests that homogeneous mixing characteristics in mid‐levels of clouds are due to the vertical circulation of entrainment‐affected and diluted parcels from the cloud top moved to lower levels.
DOI: 10.1029/2025ms005620
Institutions: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Seoul National University, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Freie Universität Berlin, Michigan Technological University, University of Utah, China Meteorological Administration, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, University of Hyogo, Yonsei University, Korean Association Of Science and Technology Studies, Korea Institute of Science and Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,650
Awards: G1785220083, The Management and Operation of the National Center for Atmoshperic Research (NCAR), BUILDING A NEXT-GENERATION MICROPHYSICS SCHEME FOR E3SM: A DATA-DRIVEN, PHYSICALLY CONSTRAINED, SINGLE-CATEGORY APPROACH, G2947134381, G357145406, UNTANGLING DYNAMICAL AND MICROPHYSICAL CONTROLS OF CONVECTIVE UPDRAFT VERTICAL VELOCITY: INSIGHTS FROM A LAGRANGIAN PERSPECTIVE, A Community Laboratory Facility for Exploring and Sensing of Aerosol-Cloud-Drizzle Processes: The Aerosol-Cloud-Drizzle Convection Chamber, G821644656, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
OpenAlex ID: W7146985755