Investigating marine stratocumulus with a fully coupled cloud-aerosol scheme in a WRF/Chem Large Eddy Simulation

Drizzle in stratocumulus clouds is triggered by low concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and concurrently acts as a sink of CCN. The progression of this cloud-aerosol feedback may result in a transition in marine boundary layer dynamics and cloud structure; Closed cell circulation, characterized by a solid stratocumulus layer, may transition into an open cellular mode featuring low cloud fraction. Aerosol sources may balance the loss of CCN from drizzle, and delay or prevent the emergence of open cell circulation. Such sources include particle emissions from the sea surface, entrainment of aerosol from the free troposphere into the cloud deck, advection from land sources, and aerosol nucleation. In order to investigate the role of aerosol sources and processes in the transition between these two states, we have coupled in detail aerosol processes, cloud microphysics, and gas and aqueous chemistry in the WRF/Chem model. We operate WRF/Chem in Large Eddy Simulation mode. Aerosol nucleation is described with a sulfuric acid/water scheme based on laboratory measurements of the nucleation process. Here we present first results on the role of aerosol nucleation for cloud properties and drizzle formation in pristine conditions of the South-East Pacific region, and in polluted conditions.