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Dispersion Aerosol Indirect Effect In Turbulent Clouds: Laboratory Measurements Of Effective Radius, K. K. Chandrakar, Will Cantrell, A. Kostinski, Raymond Shaw

Department of Physics Publications

Cloud optical properties are determined not only by the number density n_d and mean radius ṝ of cloud droplets but also by the shape of the droplet size distribution. The change in cloud optical depth with changing n_d, due to the change in distribution shape, is known as the dispersion effect. Droplet relative dispersion is defined as d=σ_r / ṝ . For the first time, a commonly used effective radius parameterization is tested in a controlled laboratory environment by creating a turbulent cloud. Stochastic condensation growth suggests d independent of n_d for a nonprecipitating cloud, …