The impact of resolving sub-kilometer processes on aerosol-cloud
interactions in global model simulations
Abstract
Sub-kilometer processes are critical to the physics of aerosol-cloud
interaction but have been dependent on parameterizations in global model
simulations. We thus report the strength of aerosol-cloud interaction in
the Ultra-Parameterized Community Atmosphere Model (UPCAM), a multiscale
climate model that uses coarse exterior resolution to embed explicit
cloud resolving models with enough resolution (250-m horizontal, 20-m
vertical) to quasi-resolve sub-kilometer eddies. To investigate the
impact on aerosol-cloud interactions, UPCAMâ\euro™s simulations are
compared to a coarser multi-scale model with 3 km horizontal resolution.
UPCAM produces cloud droplet number concentrations
($N_\mathrm{d}$) and cloud liquid water path (LWP)
values that are higher than the coarser model but equally plausible
compared to observations. Our analysis focuses on the Northern
Hemisphere midlatitude oceans, where historical aerosol increases have
been largest. We find similarities in the overall radiative forcing from
aerosol-cloud interactions in the two models, but this belies
fundamental underlying differences. The radiative forcing from increases
in LWP is weaker in UPCAM, whereas the forcing from increases in
$N_\mathrm{d}$ is larger. Surprisingly, the weaker
LWP increase is not due to a weaker increase in LWP in raining clouds,
but a combination of weaker increase in LWP in non-raining clouds and a
smaller fraction of raining clouds in UPCAM. The implication is that as
global modeling moves towards finer than storm-resolving grids, nuanced
model validation of ACI statistics conditioned on the existence of
precipitation and good observational constraints on the baseline
probability of precipitation will become key for tighter constraints and
better conceptual understanding.