Data · dataset · 2026
Coalescence and secondary ice development in cumulus congestus clouds
Listed in National Center for Atmospheric Research
Understanding ice development in cumulus congestus (CuCg) clouds, which are ubiquitous globally, is critical for improving our knowledge of cloud physics, precipitation and climate prediction models.
Description
Results presented here are representative of data collected in 1008 penetrations of moderate to strong updrafts in CuCg clouds by five research aircraft in six geographic locations. The results show that CuCg with warm (similar to 23 degrees C) cloud-base temperatures, such as in tropical marine environments, experience a strong collision- coalescence process.
Development of coalescence is also correlated with drop effective radius >similar to 12 to 14 mm in diameter. Increasing the cloud- base drop concentration with diameters from 15 to 35 mm and decreasing the drop concentration, 15 mm appears to enhance coalescence. While the boundary layer aerosol population is not a determinate factor in development of coalescence in most tropical marine environments, its impact on coalescence is not yet fully determined.
Read the rest (2 more)
Some supercooled large drops generated via coalescence fracture when freezing, producing a secondary ice process ( SIP) with production of copious small ice particles that naturally seed the cloud. The SIP produces an avalanche effect, freezing the majority of supercooled liquid water before fresh updrafts reach the -16 degrees C level. Conversely, CuCg with cloud-base temperatures <= similar to 8 degrees C develop significant concentrations of ice particles at colder temperatures, so that small supercooled water drops are lofted to higher elevations before freezing.
Recirculation of ice in downdrafts at the edges of updrafts appears to be the primary mechanism for development of precipitation in CuCg with colder cloud-base temperatures.
Links
Get the data
- Publisher page n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7g44v15 ↗
documentation · download · from data ucar edu
Where it is published
- data.ucar.edu /dataset/coalescence-and-secondary-ice-development-in-cumulus-c… ↗
National Center for Atmospheric Research dataset page
landing page · from data ucar edu
Catalogue records · 1
- CKAN API data.ucar.edu/api/3/action/package_show?id=f2f97d2c-6cd1-451b-8829-25435e319… ↗
metadata API · from data ucar edu
Topics
- From keywords
- Earth & Environmental Science · Ocean & Atmospheric Science
- Inferred from text
- Atmospheric sciences 70%
Provenance · 1 source records, 8 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Center for Atmospheric Research | f2f97d2c-6cd1-451b-8829-25435e31954f | 11 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| concepts[field].anzsrc:group:3701 | enrichment · data ucar edu | taxonomy-embedding@1.1.0 | title+keywords+description (70%) |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:ocean-atmospheric | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| created_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /notes |
| publication_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /title |
| updated_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 |