Sensitivity Studies on the Impact of Dust and Aerosol Pollution Acting as Cloud Nucleating Aerosol on Orographic Precipitation in the Colorado River Basin

In this study, we examine the cumulative effect of pollution aerosol and dust acting as cloud nucleating aerosol;cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), giant cloud condensation nuclei, and ice nuclei (IN), on orographic precipitation in the Rocky Mountains. We analyze the results of sensitivity studies fo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vandana Jha, William R. Cotton, Gustavo G. Carrió, Robert Walko
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018-01-01
Series:Advances in Meteorology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/3041893
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849397931678892032
author Vandana Jha
William R. Cotton
Gustavo G. Carrió
Robert Walko
author_facet Vandana Jha
William R. Cotton
Gustavo G. Carrió
Robert Walko
author_sort Vandana Jha
collection DOAJ
description In this study, we examine the cumulative effect of pollution aerosol and dust acting as cloud nucleating aerosol;cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), giant cloud condensation nuclei, and ice nuclei (IN), on orographic precipitation in the Rocky Mountains. We analyze the results of sensitivity studies for specific cases in 2004-2005 winter season to analyze the relative impact of aerosol pollution and dust acting as CCN and IN on precipitation in the Colorado River Basin. Dust is varied from 3 to 10 times in the experiments, and the response is found to be nonmonotonic and depends on various environmental factors. The sensitivity studies show that adding dust in a wet system increases precipitation when IN effects are dominant. For a relatively dry system high concentrations of dust can result in overseeding the clouds and reductions in precipitation. However, when adding dust to a system with warmer cloud bases where drizzle formation is active, the response is nonmonotonic.
format Article
id doaj-art-a7ed5ea77c6943c3a0e9f0c6ac587afb
institution Kabale University
issn 1687-9309
1687-9317
language English
publishDate 2018-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Advances in Meteorology
spelling doaj-art-a7ed5ea77c6943c3a0e9f0c6ac587afb2025-08-20T03:38:48ZengWileyAdvances in Meteorology1687-93091687-93172018-01-01201810.1155/2018/30418933041893Sensitivity Studies on the Impact of Dust and Aerosol Pollution Acting as Cloud Nucleating Aerosol on Orographic Precipitation in the Colorado River BasinVandana Jha0William R. Cotton1Gustavo G. Carrió2Robert Walko3NASA Ames Research Center, Planetary Systems Branch, Moffett Field, CA, USADepartment of Atmospheric Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USADepartment of Atmospheric Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USARosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USAIn this study, we examine the cumulative effect of pollution aerosol and dust acting as cloud nucleating aerosol;cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), giant cloud condensation nuclei, and ice nuclei (IN), on orographic precipitation in the Rocky Mountains. We analyze the results of sensitivity studies for specific cases in 2004-2005 winter season to analyze the relative impact of aerosol pollution and dust acting as CCN and IN on precipitation in the Colorado River Basin. Dust is varied from 3 to 10 times in the experiments, and the response is found to be nonmonotonic and depends on various environmental factors. The sensitivity studies show that adding dust in a wet system increases precipitation when IN effects are dominant. For a relatively dry system high concentrations of dust can result in overseeding the clouds and reductions in precipitation. However, when adding dust to a system with warmer cloud bases where drizzle formation is active, the response is nonmonotonic.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/3041893
spellingShingle Vandana Jha
William R. Cotton
Gustavo G. Carrió
Robert Walko
Sensitivity Studies on the Impact of Dust and Aerosol Pollution Acting as Cloud Nucleating Aerosol on Orographic Precipitation in the Colorado River Basin
Advances in Meteorology
title Sensitivity Studies on the Impact of Dust and Aerosol Pollution Acting as Cloud Nucleating Aerosol on Orographic Precipitation in the Colorado River Basin
title_full Sensitivity Studies on the Impact of Dust and Aerosol Pollution Acting as Cloud Nucleating Aerosol on Orographic Precipitation in the Colorado River Basin
title_fullStr Sensitivity Studies on the Impact of Dust and Aerosol Pollution Acting as Cloud Nucleating Aerosol on Orographic Precipitation in the Colorado River Basin
title_full_unstemmed Sensitivity Studies on the Impact of Dust and Aerosol Pollution Acting as Cloud Nucleating Aerosol on Orographic Precipitation in the Colorado River Basin
title_short Sensitivity Studies on the Impact of Dust and Aerosol Pollution Acting as Cloud Nucleating Aerosol on Orographic Precipitation in the Colorado River Basin
title_sort sensitivity studies on the impact of dust and aerosol pollution acting as cloud nucleating aerosol on orographic precipitation in the colorado river basin
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/3041893
work_keys_str_mv AT vandanajha sensitivitystudiesontheimpactofdustandaerosolpollutionactingascloudnucleatingaerosolonorographicprecipitationinthecoloradoriverbasin
AT williamrcotton sensitivitystudiesontheimpactofdustandaerosolpollutionactingascloudnucleatingaerosolonorographicprecipitationinthecoloradoriverbasin
AT gustavogcarrio sensitivitystudiesontheimpactofdustandaerosolpollutionactingascloudnucleatingaerosolonorographicprecipitationinthecoloradoriverbasin
AT robertwalko sensitivitystudiesontheimpactofdustandaerosolpollutionactingascloudnucleatingaerosolonorographicprecipitationinthecoloradoriverbasin