Counteracting influences of gravitational settling modulate aerosol impacts on cloud-base-lowering fog characteristics

Abstract

One common process for marine fog formation is cloud base lowering (CBL), which is frequently observed, for example, off the coast of California and in Canada’s Grand Banks, as well as other foggy ocean regions. While previous studies have extensively examined the meteorological controls on CBL fog, its microphysical characteristics have received comparatively less attention. We employ a single-column model to investigate the interplay among aerosols, microphysics, and CBL fog evolution under diverse meteorological conditions. We find that lower aerosol concentrations make fog formation more probable but that if fog does form, fog water concentrations are lower. Lower aerosol concentrations lead to earlier fog formation due to faster gravitational settling of larger droplets, which serves to flux moisture downward. Faster gravitational settling (among other mechanisms at low aerosol concentration) also suppresses entrainment at cloud top, which aids in keeping the liquid water path high. However, faster gravitational settling also limits the fog water concentration through faster liquid deposition to the surface. It is these counteracting influences of gravitational settling that appear to cause both prolonged fog duration and suppressed fog water concentration. The relative strength of these counteracting influences depends on the environmental conditions.