Modeling aerosol-cloud interaction

Marco de Bruine

Cloud formation depends on the characteristics of the available aerosols, e.g. size distribution, number concentration and hygroscopicity. On the other hand, below and in-cloud scavenging by cloud and rain droplets also influence the aerosol population. A good understanding and representation of aerosol-cloud interaction in models is crucial for climate predictions. As these interactions take place on the microphysics level, research relies heavily on parameterization of these sub-grid processes. In my research I use the chemistry transport model TM5 stand-alone or coupled to the dynamical core of IFS within the Earth system model EC-EARTH.