Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) and Large Nuclei in Rain In Cumulus over the Ocean (RICO)

这个项目的目标是测量被信风积云吸入的空气中的云凝结核(CCN)，并使用这些测量来考虑CCN种群如何影响这些云中的降雨发展。仪器的新功能将允许测量扩展到低过饱和度(大颗粒尺寸)，这是一个重要的扩展，因为这种颗粒被认为在暖雨启动中很重要。测量还将由不同的仪器进行，为在CCN上形成的液滴提供不同的生长时间，以调查仪器中可用的有限生长时间是否会对测量产生偏差。调查人员还将研究偶尔出现的撒哈拉沙尘在加速降雨形成方面的可能作用。该项目是“大洋积云中的雨”(RICO)实验的一部分，该实验是一项多人研究暖雨形成和信风积云性质的研究。CCN测量是更广泛实验的一个关键组成部分，因为作为决定初始液滴尺寸分布的关键输入，许多其他研究人员在研究关于暖雨过程的具体假设时需要它们。该项目的其他广泛影响包括可能解决影响许多其他微物理研究的仪器争议，更好地了解影响天气和气候的降雨形成，以及在这一研究领域对研究生进行培训。

The goals of this project are to measure cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in air ingested into trade wind Cumulus clouds and use those measurements to consider how the CCN population influences the development of rain in those clouds. New features of the instrumentation will allow the measurements to extend to low supersaturation (large particle size), an important extension because such particles are thought to be important in warm-rain initiation. The measurements will also be made by different instruments providing different growth times for the droplets that form on the CCN to investigate if the limited growth time available in the instrument biases the measurements. The investigators will also study the possible role of occasional Saharan-dust episodes in accelerating rain formation. The project is part of the "Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean" (RICO) experiment, a multi-investigator study of warm rain formation and the nature of trade wind Cumulus clouds. The CCN measurements are a critical component of the broader experiment because, as the key input determining the initial droplet size distribution, they are needed by many of the other investigators in their studies of specific hypotheses regarding the warm-rain process. Other broad impacts of the project include likely resolution of an instrumentation controversy affecting many other microphysical studies, better understanding of rain formation as it influences weather and climate, and graduate student training in this area of research.