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Cloud droplet number enhanced by co-condensation of organic vapours

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 443–446 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Clouds profoundly influence weather and climate1. The brightness2 and lifetime3,4 of clouds is determined by cloud droplet number concentration, in turn dictated by the number of available seed particles. The formation of cloud droplets on non-volatile atmospheric particles is well understood5. However, fine particulate matter in the atmosphere ranges widely in volatility6,7. Co-condensation of semi-volatile compounds with water increases a particle’s propensity for cloud droplet formation8, with potential consequences for feedbacks between the terrestrial biosphere and climate9. Here we systematically study cloud droplet formation, using a cloud parcel model extended to include co-condensation of semi-volatile organic compounds under a broad variety of realistic conditions. As an air parcel rises and cools, the concentration of organic vapour that it can hold declines. Thus, the simulated organic vapours become increasingly saturated as they ascend, and so condense on growing particles as they swell into cloud droplets. We show that condensation of increasingly volatile material adds to the soluble mass of these droplets and facilitates the uptake of additional water, which leads, in turn, to a substantial increase in the number of viable cloud droplets. We suggest that the co-condensation of semi-volatile organic compounds with water vapour has a substantial impact on the radiative properties of clouds.

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Figure 1: Cloud formation in the presence of organic vapour.
Figure 2: Volatility distribution of organic components in activating droplets.
Figure 3: Increase in droplet number at various updraught speeds.

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Acknowledgements

All authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the UK Natural Environment Research Council under the ‘Aerosol-Cloud Interactions—a Directed Programme to Reduce Uncertainty in Forcing (ACID-PRUF)’ grant, NE/IO20121/1. D.T. acknowledges financial support from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    David Topping, Paul Connolly & Gordon McFiggans

Authors
  1. David Topping
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  2. Paul Connolly
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  3. Gordon McFiggans
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Contributions

G.M. conceived the study; D.T. and P.C. developed the model code. D.T, P.C. and G.M. designed the simulations; D.T. and P.C. carried out the data analysis; G.M., P.C. and D.T. co-wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Gordon McFiggans.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Topping, D., Connolly, P. & McFiggans, G. Cloud droplet number enhanced by co-condensation of organic vapours. Nature Geosci 6, 443–446 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1809

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