How Are Mixed-Phase Clouds Mixed?

Abstract

Mixed-phase clouds are recognized as significant contributors to the modulation of precipitation and radiation transfer on both regional and global scales. This study is focused on the analysis of spatial inhomogeneity of mixed-phase clouds based on an extended data set obtained from airborne in situ observations. The lengths of continuous segments of ice, liquid, and mixed-phase clouds present a cascade of scales varying from 102 km down to a minimum scale of 100 m determined by the spatial resolution of measurements. It was found that the phase composition of mixed-phase clouds is highly intermittent, and the frequency of occurrence of ice, liquid, and mixed-phase regions increases with the decrease of their spatial scales. The distributions of spatial scales have well-distinguished power-law dependencies. The results obtained yield insight into the morphology of mixed-phase clouds and have important implications for improvement in representing subgrid inhomogeneity of mixed-phase clouds in weather and climate models.