Effect of precipitation on water cloud properties over China

Abstract

I compared the amount of precipitation P and non-precipitation water cloud properties (effective radius rε and columnar number density Nc of droplets) over China in the mid-latitude frontal zone. In general, Nc decreased and re increased as P increased. The rates of variation also became less steep beyond a certain P for both parameters, suggesting saturation. These relationships could be interpreted as due to the effect of scavenging of aerosols via precipitation on the cloud properties. The observed cloud properties of fewer cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the rain-rich regions and of more CCN in the rain-poor regions support a previously proposed mechanism. Comparison with an Amazon case in the convective zone revealed some similarities and differences in the characteristics of the obtained relationships. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.