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We have investigated how aerosols affect the height above cloud base of rain and ice hydrometeor initiation and the subsequent vertical evolution of cloud droplet size and number concentrations in growing convective cumulus. For this purpose we used in situ data of hydrometeor size distributions measured with instruments mounted on HALO aircraft during the ACRIDICON–CHUVA campaign over the Amazon during September 2014. The results show that the height of rain initiation by collision and coalescence processes (Dr, in units of meters above cloud base) is linearly correlated with the number concentration of droplets (Nd in cm−3) nucleated at cloud base (Dr ≈ 5 ⋅ Nd). Additional cloud processes associated with Dr, such as GCCN, cloud, and mixing with ambient air and other processes, produce deviations of ∼ 21 % in the linear relationship, but it does not mask the clear relationship between Dr and Nd, which was also found at different regions around the globe (e.g., Israel and India). When Nd exceeded values of about 1000 cm−3, Dr became greater than 5000 m, and the first observed precipitation particles were ice hydrometeors. Therefore, no liquid water raindrops were observed within growing convective cumulus during polluted conditions. Furthermore, the formation of ice particles also took place at higher altitudes in the clouds in polluted conditions because the resulting smaller cloud droplets froze at colder temperatures compared to the larger drops in the unpolluted cases. The measured vertical profiles of droplet effective radius (re) were close to those estimated by assuming adiabatic conditions (rea), supporting the hypothesis that the entrainment and mixing of air into convective clouds is nearly inhomogeneous. Additional CCN activation on aerosol particles from biomass burning and air pollution reduced re below rea, which further inhibited the formation of raindrops and ice particles and resulted in even higher altitudes for rain and ice initiation.

The effects of aerosol particles and updraft speed on warm-phase cloud microphysical properties are studied in the Amazon region as part of the ACRIDICON-CHUVA experiment. Here we expand the sensitivity analysis usually found in the literature by concomitantly considering cloud evolution, putting the sensitivity quantifications into perspective in relation to in-cloud processing, and by considering the effects on droplet size distribution (DSD) shape. Our in situ aircraft measurements over the Amazon Basin cover a wide range of particle concentration and thermodynamic conditions, from the pristine regions over coastal and forested areas to the southern Amazon, which is highly polluted from biomass burning. The quantitative results show that particle concentration is the primary driver for the vertical profiles of effective diameter and droplet concentration in the warm phase of Amazonian convective clouds, while updraft speeds have a modulating role in the latter and in total condensed water. The cloud microphysical properties were found to be highly variable with altitude above cloud base, which we used as a proxy for cloud evolution since it is a measure of the time droplets that were subject to cloud processing. We show that DSD shape is crucial in understanding cloud sensitivities. The aerosol effect on DSD shape was found to vary with altitude, which can help models to better constrain the indirect aerosol effect on climate.

This paper analyzes the cloud microphysics in different layers of storms as a function of three-dimensional total lightning density. A mobile X-band polarimetric radar and very high frequency (VHF) sources from Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) observations during the 2011/2012 Brazil spring-summer were used to determine the microphysical signatures of radar vertical profiles and lightning density. This study quantified the behavior of 5.3 million vertical profiles of the horizontal reflectivity (ZH), differential reflectivity (ZDR), specific differential phase (KDP), and correlation coefficient (ρHV). The principal changes in the polarimetric variables occurred only for VHF source rate density greater than 14 VHF sources per km2 in 4 min. These storms showed an enhanced positive KDP in the mixed 1 layer (from 0 to −15°C) probably associated with supercooled liquid water signatures, whereas regions with negative ZDR and KDP and moderate ZH in the mixed 2 layer (from −15 to −40°C) were possibly associated with the presence of conical graupel. The glaciated (above −40°C) and upper part of the mixed 2 layers showed a significant trend to negative KDP with an increase in lightning density, in agreement with vertical alignment of ice particle by the cloud electric field. A conceptual model that presents the microphysical signatures in storms with and without lightning activity was constructed. The observations documented in this study provide an understanding of how the combinations of polarimetric variables could help to identify storms with different lightning density and vice versa.

The remote atmosphere over the Amazon can be similar to oceanic regions in terms of aerosol conditions and cloud type formations. This is especially true during the wet season. The main aerosol-related disturbances over the Amazon have both natural sources, such as dust transport from Africa, and anthropogenic sources, such as biomass burning or urban pollution. The present work considers the impacts of the latter on the microphysical properties of warm-phase clouds by analysing observations of the interactions between the Manaus pollution plume and its surroundings, as part of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment. The analysed period corresponds to the wet season (specifically from February to March 2014 and corresponding to the first Intensive Operating Period (IOP1) of GoAmazon2014/5). The droplet size distributions reported are in the range 1 µm ≤ D ≤ 50 µm in order to capture the processes leading up to the precipitation formation. The wet season largely presents a clean background atmosphere characterized by frequent rain showers. As such, the contrast between background clouds and those affected by the Manaus pollution can be observed and detailed. The focus is on the characteristics of the initial microphysical properties in cumulus clouds predominantly at their early stages. The pollution-affected clouds are found to have smaller effective diameters and higher droplet number concentrations. The differences range from 10 to 40 % for the effective diameter and are as high as 1000 % for droplet concentration for the same vertical levels. The growth rates of droplets with altitude are slower for pollution-affected clouds (2.90 compared to 5.59 µm km−1), as explained by the absence of bigger droplets at the onset of cloud development. Clouds under background conditions have higher concentrations of larger droplets (> 20 µm) near the cloud base, which would contribute significantly to the growth rates through the collision–coalescence process. The overall shape of the droplet size distribution (DSD) does not appear to be predominantly determined by updraught strength, especially beyond the 20 µm range. The aerosol conditions play a major role in that case. However, the updraughts modulate the DSD concentrations and are responsible for the vertical transport of water in the cloud. The larger droplets found in background clouds are associated with weak water vapour competition and a bimodal distribution of droplet sizes in the lower levels of the cloud, which enables an earlier initiation of the collision–coalescence process. This study shows that the pollution produced by Manaus significantly affects warm-phase microphysical properties of the surrounding clouds by changing the initial DSD formation. The corresponding effects on ice-phase processes and precipitation formation will be the focus of future endeavours.

The Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon 2014–2015 (GoAmazon2014/5) experiment took place around the urban region of Manaus in central Amazonia across 2 years. The urban pollution plume was used to study the susceptibility of gases, aerosols, clouds, and rainfall to human activities in a tropical environment. Many aspects of air quality, weather, terrestrial ecosystems, and climate work differently in the tropics than in the more thoroughly studied temperate regions of Earth. GoAmazon2014/5, a cooperative project of Brazil, Germany, and the United States, employed an unparalleled suite of measurements at nine ground sites and on board two aircraft to investigate the flow of background air into Manaus, the emissions into the air over the city, and the advection of the pollution downwind of the city. Herein, to visualize this train of processes and its effects, observations aboard a low-flying aircraft are presented. Comparative measurements within and adjacent to the plume followed the emissions of biogenic volatile organic carbon compounds (BVOCs) from the tropical forest, their transformations by the atmospheric oxidant cycle, alterations of this cycle by the influence of the pollutants, transformations of the chemical products into aerosol particles, the relationship of these particles to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity, and the differences in cloud properties and rainfall for background compared to polluted conditions. The observations of the GoAmazon2014/5 experiment illustrate how the hydrologic cycle, radiation balance, and carbon recycling may be affected by present-day as well as future economic development and pollution over the Amazonian tropical forest.

We have investigated how pollution aerosols affect the height above cloud base of rain and ice hydrometeor initiation and the subsequent vertical evolution of cloud droplet size and number concentrations in growing convective cumulus. For this purpose we used in-situ data of hydrometeor size distributions measured with instruments mounted on HALO (High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft) during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign over the Amazon during September 2014. The results show that the height of rain initiation by collision and coalescence processes (Dr, in units of meters above cloud base) is linearly correlated with the number concentration of droplets (Nd in cm−3) nucleated at cloud base (Dr ≈ 5 Nd). When Nd exceeded values of about 1000 cm−3, Dr became greater than 5000 m, and particles of precipitation size were initiated as ice hydrometeors. Therefore, no liquid water raindrops were observed within growing convective cumulus during polluted conditions. Furthermore, also the formation of ice particles took place at higher altitudes in the clouds in polluted conditions, because the resulting smaller cloud droplets froze at colder temperatures compared to the larger drops in the unpolluted cases. The measured vertical profiles of droplet effective radius (re) were close to those estimated by assuming adiabatic conditions (rea), supporting the hypothesis that the entrainment and mixing of air into convective clouds is almost completely inhomogeneous. Secondary nucleation of droplets on aerosol particles from biomass burning and air pollution reduced re below rea, which further inhibited the formation of raindrops and ice particles and resulted in even higher altitudes for rain and ice initiation.

The objective of this study is to validate parameterizations that were recently developed for satellite retrievals of cloud condensation nuclei supersaturation spectra, NCCN(S), at cloud base alongside more traditional parameterizations connecting NCCN(S) with cloud base updrafts and drop concentrations. This was based on the HALO aircraft measurements during the ACRIDICON–CHUVA campaign over the Amazon region, which took place in September 2014. The properties of convective clouds were measured with a cloud combination probe (CCP), a cloud and aerosol spectrometer (CAS-DPOL), and a CCN counter onboard the HALO aircraft. An intercomparison of the cloud drop size distributions (DSDs) and the cloud water content (CWC) derived from the different instruments generally shows good agreement within the instrumental uncertainties. To this end, the directly measured cloud drop concentrations (Nd) near cloud base were compared with inferred values based on the measured cloud base updraft velocity (Wb) and NCCN(S) spectra. The measurements of Nd at cloud base were also compared with drop concentrations (Na) derived on the basis of an adiabatic assumption and obtained from the vertical evolution of cloud drop effective radius (re) above cloud base. The measurements of NCCN(S) and Wb reproduced the observed Nd within the measurements uncertainties when the old (1959) Twomey's parameterization was used. The agreement between the measured and calculated Nd was only within a factor of 2 with attempts to use cloud base S, as obtained from the measured Wb, Nd, and NCCN(S). This underscores the yet unresolved challenge of aircraft measurements of S in clouds. Importantly, the vertical evolution of re with height reproduced the observation-based nearly adiabatic cloud base drop concentrations, Na. The combination of these results provides aircraft observational support for the various components of the satellite-retrieved methodology that was recently developed to retrieve NCCN(S) under the base of convective clouds. This parameterization can now be applied with the proper qualifications to cloud simulations and satellite retrievals.

Reliable aircraft measurements of cloud microphysical properties are essential for understanding liquid convective cloud formation. In September 2014, the properties of convective clouds were measured with a Cloud Combination Probe (CCP), a Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer (CAS-DPOL), and a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) counter on board the HALO (High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft) aircraft during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign over the Amazon region. An intercomparison of the cloud drop size distributions (DSDs) and the cloud water content derived from the different instruments generally shows good agreement within the instrumental uncertainties. The objective of this study is to validate several parameterizations for liquid cloud formation in tropical convection. To this end the directly measured cloud drop concentrations (Nd) near cloud base were compared with inferred values based on the measured cloud base updraft velocity (Wb) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) vs. supersaturation (S) spectra. The measurements of Nd at cloud base were also compared with drop concentrations (Na) derived on the basis of an adiabatic assumption and obtained from the vertical evolution of cloud drop effective radius (re) above cloud base. The results demonstrate agreement of the measured and theoretically expected values of Nd based on CCN, S, Wb at cloud base, and the height profile of re. The measurements of NCCN(S) and Wb did reproduce the observed Nd. Furthermore, the vertical evolution of re with height reproduced the observation-based nearly adiabatic cloud base drop concentrations, Na. Achieving such good agreement is possible only with accurate measurements of DSDs. This agreement supports the validity of the applied parameterizations for continental convective cloud evolution, which now can be used more confidently in simulations and satellite retrievals.

[1] This study analyzes relationships between lightning flash rate, radar reflectivity factor (reflectivity), and passive microwave brightness temperature (Tb) for convective and stratiform precipitation over land using multiyear data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. A new convective and stratiform index (CSI (an estimate of convective areal fraction)) for the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) is developed from the analysis. Four years of TRMM TMI, Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS), and Precipitation Radar (PR) data (2002–2005) are colocated and remapped to 0.1 and 0.05 degree grids for analysis. The scientific objective of this study is to understand the relationship between lightning and active and passive microwave precipitation observations and explore ways of using lightning information to enhance the discrimination between convective and stratiform precipitation in TMI rain rate retrieval algorithm. PR provides the reference convective and stratiform classification and is coincident with LIS which reports lightning parameters such as the occurrence (yes or no) and flash rates. Analysis of ∼14 million coincident precipitating TRMM measurements over land (i.e., excluding oceans and coasts) reveals that 6% of rain data have lightning flash rates greater than zero. For all lightning data, 60% have 0–1 fl min−1, 28% have 1–2 fl min−1, and 12% have flash rates greater than 2 fl min−1. Overall, 86.5% (13.5%) of lightning occurred in convective (stratiform) precipitation. In other words, stratiform rainfall is predominant when LIS detects no lightning, and the convective rain probability increases with increasing lightning frequency. For example, 34% of rainfall is convective for low flash rates (0–1 fl/min), whereas the convective probability increases to 99.7% for high flash rates (>=2 fl/min). This study develops a simple method that incorporates lightning into the CSI to test if lightning can help passive microwave (PM) delineate convective and stratiform precipitation. LIS lightning occurrence and flash rates (i.e., no flash, 0–1 fl/min, 1–2 fl/min, and >2 fl/min) are used to preclassify TMI Tbs into four groups of increasing convective probability. Multivariable linear regression is then applied to each group to derive the CSI. Results reveal that lightning information primarily improves the identification of highly convective rainfall by correctly shifting microwave observations previously identified as moderate to highly convective. Alternatively, the absence of lightning also helps PM to identify likely stratiform. Overall, including lightning information results in a decrease of bias error of 6% and a small increase in RMS error of 4.5% on the entire range of rainfall rates.

[1] Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a pollutant and major greenhouse gas and its radiative forcing is still uncertain. Inadequate understanding of processes related to O3 production, in particular those natural ones such as lightning, contributes to this uncertainty. Here we demonstrate a new effect of aerosol particles on O3production by affecting lightning activity and lightning-generated NOx (LNOx). We find that lightning flash rate increases at a remarkable rate of 30 times or more per unit of aerosol optical depth. We provide observational evidence that indicates the observed increase in lightning activity is caused by the influx of aerosols from a volcano. Satellite data analyses show O3is increased as a result of aerosol-induced increase in lightning and LNOx, which is supported by modle simulations with prescribed lightning change. O3production increase from this aerosol-lightning-ozone link is concentrated in the upper troposphere, where O3 is most efficient as a greenhouse gas. In the face of anthropogenic aerosol increase our findings suggest that lightning activity, LNOx and O3, especially in the upper troposphere, have all increased substantially since preindustrial time due to the proposed aerosol-lightning-ozone link, which implies a stronger O3 historical radiative forcing. Aerosol forcing therefore has a warming component via its effect on O3 production and this component has mostly been ignored in previous studies of climate forcing related to O3and aerosols. Sensitivity simulations suggest that 4–8% increase of column tropospheric ozone, mainly in the tropics, is expected if aerosol-lighting-ozone link is parameterized, depending on the background emission scenario. We note, however, substantial uncertainties remain on the exact magnitude of aerosol effect on tropospheric O3 via lightning. The challenges for obtaining a quantitative global estimate of this effect are also discussed. Our results have significant implications for understanding past and projecting future tropospheric O3forcing as well as wildfire changes and call for integrated investigations of the coupled aerosol-cloud-chemistry system.

Many studies from the last decades have shown that airborne microorganisms can be intrinsically linked to atmospheric processes. Certain bacteria may constitute the most active ice nuclei found in the atmosphere and might have some influence on the formation of ice crystals in clouds. This study deals with the ice nucleation activity of Pseudomonas syringae inside of thunderstorms through numerical simulations using BRAMS (Brazilian Regional Atmospheric Model System). The numerical simulations were developed in order to investigate the effect on the total amount of rainwater as a function of ice nuclei (IN) P. syringae concentrations with different scenarios (classified as S2 to S4 scenarios) corresponding to a maximum of 102 to 104 IN bacteria per liter of cloud water plus the BRAMS default (classified as S5 scenario). Additionally, two other scenarios were included without any IN (S1) and the sum of RAMS default and S4 scenario (classified as S6). The chosen radiosonde data is for 3 March 2003, typical summertime in São Paulo City which presents a strong convective cell. The objective of the simulations was to analyze the effect of the IN concentrations on the BRAMS modeled cloud properties and precipitation. The simulated electrification of the cloud permitted analysis of the total flashes estimated from precipitable and non-precipitable ice mass fluxes in two different lightning frequencies. Among all scenarios, only S4 and S6 presented a tendency to decrease the total cloud water, and all bacteria scenarios presented a tendency to decrease the total amount of rain (−8%), corroborating other reports in the literature. All bacteria scenarios also present higher precipitable ice concentrations compared to S5 scenario, the RAMS default. The main results present the total flash number per simulation as well. From the results, the total flash numbers, from both lightning frequencies, in S4 and S6 scenarios, are from 3.1 to 3.7 higher than the BRAMS default. Even the lower bacterial concentrations (scenarios S2 and S3) produced 3 time higher number of flashes, compared to S5 scenario. This result is a function of the hydrometeors in each simulation. In conclusion, IN bacteria could affect directly the thunderstorm structure and lightning formation with many other microphysical implications.

[1] This study investigated the physical processes involved in the development of thunderstorms over southwestern Amazon by hypothesizing causalities for the observed cloud-to-ground lightning variability and the local environmental characteristics. Southwestern Amazon experiences every year a large variety of environmental factors, such as the gradual increase in atmospheric moisture, extremely high pollution due to biomass burning, and intense deforestation, which directly affects cloud development by differential surface energy partition. In the end of the dry period it was observed higher percentages of positive cloud-to-ground (+CG) lightning due to a relative increase in +CG dominated thunderstorms (positive thunderstorms). Positive (negative) thunderstorms initiated preferentially over deforested (forest) areas with higher (lower) cloud base heights, shallower (deeper) warm cloud depths, and higher (lower) convective potential available energy. These features characterized the positive (negative) thunderstorms as deeper (relatively shallower) clouds, stronger (relatively weaker) updrafts with enhanced (decreased) mixed and cold vertically integrated liquid. No significant difference between thunderstorms (negative and positive) and nonthunderstorms were observed in terms of atmospheric pollution, once the atmosphere was overwhelmed by pollution leading to an updraft-limited regime. However, in the wet season both negative and positive thunderstorms occurred during periods of relatively higher aerosol concentration and differentiated size distributions, suggesting an aerosol-limited regime where cloud electrification could be dependent on the aerosol concentration to suppress the warm and enhance the ice phase. The suggested causalities are consistent with the invoked hypotheses, but they are not observed facts; they are just hypotheses based on plausible physical mechanisms.

A case study of convective development in the Southwest Amazon region during the Wet Season Atmospheric Mesoscale Campaign (WETAMC) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)/Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere (LBA) Experiment in Amazonia is presented. The convective development during 7 February 1999 is shown to occur during a period of very weak large-scale forcing in the presence of topography and deforestation. The available data include dual Doppler radar analysis, radiosonde launches, and surface and boundary layer observations. The observational analysis is complemented with a series of model simulations using the RAMS with 2-km resolution over a 300 km × 300 km area forced by a morning radiosonde profile. A comparison of the observed and simulated thermodynamic transformation of the boundary layer and of the formation of convective lines, and of their kinematic and microphysical properties is presented. It is shown that only a few very deep and intense convective cells are necessary to explain the overall precipitating line formation and that discrete propagation and coupling with upper atmosphere circulations may explain the appearance of several lines. The numerical simulation indicates that topography may be the cause of initial convective development, although later on the convective line is parallel to the midlevel shear. There are indications that small-scale deforestation may have an effect on increasing rainfall in the wet season when the large-scale forcing is very weak. Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union.

[1] Mesoscale features of the 26 January 1999 squall line are described with measurements made during the field experiment in Rondonia, Brazil, in the wet season (WET) of the Amazon region (AMC) as part of the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in the Amazon (LBA) and the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM); henceforth referred to as the WET AMC and TRMM-LBA field experiment. The squall line moved through the experiment area from northeast to southwest with high rainfall rates in its leading edge and a poorly defined trailing stratiform precipitating area. Polarimetric and Doppler measurements from the Portable Polarimetric S-band Radar (S-POL) were analyzed in conjunction with surface and upper level data, satellite visible (VIS) and infrared (IR) measurements. These remote and local measurements of variables such as cloud spatial and temporal distribution, pressure, temperature, moisture, precipitation, and wind fields are consistent with each other as well as with similar mesoscale dynamics and thermodynamics features measured, analyzed, and modeled elsewhere [e.g., Rotunno et al., 1988; Garstang et al., 1994; Houze et al., 1990]. This tropical squall line is similar to its cousins in the midlatitudes with finer-scale structural and dynamic features such as rotation and divergence. Results suggest that the cold pool has its origins in midlevels between 400 and 600 hPa from where evaporative cooling and drop-dragging bring down colder air to the surface. The convective region is dominated by warm microphysics, while the stratiform region is dominated by cold microphysics. Moreover, both regions are characterized by monomodal drop spectra centered around 2.0 and 1.0 mm, respectively. Horizontal circulation associated with strong updrafts tends to increase cloud growth efficiency in the leading edge of the squall line.