Computationally efficient expressions for the collision efficiency between electrically charged aerosol particles and cloud droplets

Abstract

A multiple factor parametrization is described to permit the efficient calculation of collision efficiency (E) between electrically charged aerosol particles and neutral cloud droplets in numerical models of cloud and climate. The four-parameter representation summarizes the results obtained from a detailed microphysical model of E, which accounts for the different forces acting on the aerosol in the path of failing cloud droplets. The parametrization's range of validity is for aerosol particle radii of 0.4 to 10 μm, aerosol particle densities of 1 to 2.0 g cm-3, aerosol particle charges from neutral to 100 elementary charges and drop radii from 18.55 to 142 μm. The parametrization yields values of E well within an order of magnitude of the detailed model's values, from a dataset of 3978 E values. Of these values 95% have modelled to parametrized ratios between 0.5 and 1.5 for aerosol particle sizes ranging between 0.4 and 2.0 μm, and about 96% in the second size range. This parametrization speeds up the calculation of E by a factor of ∼103 compared with the original microphysical model, permitting the inclusion of electric charge effects in numerical cloud and climate models. © Royal Meteorological Society, 2006.