Cirrus cloud formation by gravity waves
- 1Goethe University Frankfurt, Institut für Atmosphäre und Umwelt, Geosciences and Geography, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (dolaptchiev@iau.uni-frankfurt.de)
- 2Gutenberg University Mainz, Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Mainz, Germany
Vertical ascent due to gravity waves (GW) represents one important formation mechanism for cirrus clouds, i.e., clouds consisting solely
of ice crystals. Further, GWs can substantially influence the microphysical cloud properties and cloud life cycle, which are crucial
for the radiative impact of the cirrus clouds. Here we investigate the interactions between high-, mid- or low-frequency GWs and cirrus
clouds in the tropopause region. Utilizing asymptotic analysis reduced equations are derived for the self-consistent description of the
cirrus dynamics forced by a monochromatic GW. This allows for the construction of prototype parameterization of the number nucleated ice
crystals. The GW-cirrus interactions are studied further in cloud resolving large eddy simulation and the results are used to evaluate
the asymptotic parameterization.
How to cite: Dolaptchiev, S., Spichtinger, P., Baumgartner, M., and Achatz, U.: Cirrus cloud formation by gravity waves, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6108, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6108, 2023.
