In situ aircraft measurements of the vertical distribution of liquid and ice water content in midlatitude mixed-phase clouds

Abstract

The vertical distribution of liquid and ice water content and their partitioning is studied using 34 cases of in situ measured microphysical properties in midlatitude mixed-phase clouds, with liquid water path ranging from near zero to ~248 g m-2, total water path ranging from near zero to ~562 g m-2, and cloud-top temperature ranging from -2° to -38°C. The 34 profiles were further divided into three cloud types depending on their vertical extents and altitudes. It is found that both the vertical distribution of liquid water within a cloud and the liquid water fraction (of total condensed water) as a function of temperature or relative position in a cloud layer are cloud-type dependent. In particular, it isfound that the partitioning between liquid and ice water for midlevel shallow clouds is relatively independent on the vertical position within the cloud while it clearly depends on cloud mean temperature. For synoptic snow clouds, however, liquid water fraction increases with the decrease of altitude within the cloud. While the liquid water fraction in synoptic clouds also decreases with lowering temperature, its magnitude is only about 50% near 0°C. 1. © 2013 American Meteorological Society.