Investigation of Vortex Clouds and Droplet Sizes in Heated Water Spray Patterns Generated by Axisymmetric Full Cone Nozzles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Y. Naz

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The hot water sprays are an important part of many industrial processes, where the detailed knowledge of physical phenomena involved in jet transportation, interaction, secondary breakup, evaporation, and coalescence of droplets is important to reach more efficient processes. The objective of the work was to study the water spray jet breakup dynamics, vortex cloud formation, and droplet size distribution under varying temperature and load pressure. Using a high speed camera, the spray patterns generated by axisymmetric full cone nozzles were visualized as a function water temperature and load pressure. The image analysis confirmed that the spray cone angle and width do not vary significantly with increasing Reynolds and Weber numbers at early injection phases leading to increased macroscopic spray propagation. The formation and decay of semitorus like vortex clouds were also noticed in spray structures generated at near water boiling point temperature. For the nozzle with smallest orifice diameter (1.19 mm, these vortex clouds were very clear at 90°C heating temperature and 1 bar water load pressure. In addition, the sauter mean diameter (SMD of the spray droplets was also measured by using Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA at different locations downstream of the nozzle exit. It was noticed that SMD varies slightly w.r.t. position when measured at room temperature whereas at higher temperature values, it became almost constant at distance of 55 mm downstream of the nozzle exit.

METHANE GAS STABILIZES SUPERCOOLED ETHANE DROPLETS IN TITAN'S CLOUDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Chia C.; Lang, E. Kathrin; Signorell, Ruth

2010-01-01

Strong evidence for ethane clouds in various regions of Titan's atmosphere has recently been found. Ethane is usually assumed to exist as ice particles in these clouds, although the possible role of liquid and supercooled liquid ethane droplets has been recognized. Here, we report on infrared spectroscopic measurements of ethane aerosols performed in the laboratory under conditions mimicking Titan's lower atmosphere. The results clearly show that liquid ethane droplets are significantly stabilized by methane gas which is ubiquitous in Titan's nitrogen atmosphere-a phenomenon that does not have a counterpart for water droplets in Earth's atmosphere. Our data imply that supercooled ethane droplets are much more abundant in Titan's clouds than previously anticipated. Possibly, these liquid droplets are even more important for cloud processes and the formation of lakes than ethane ice particles.

Spectral Dependence of MODIS Cloud Droplet Effective Radius Retrievals for Marine Boundary Layer Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhibo; Platnick, Steven E.; Ackerman, Andrew S.; Cho, Hyoun-Myoung

2014-01-01

Low-level warm marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds cover large regions of Earth's surface. They have a significant role in Earth's radiative energy balance and hydrological cycle. Despite the fundamental role of low-level warm water clouds in climate, our understanding of these clouds is still limited. In particular, connections between their properties (e.g. cloud fraction, cloud water path, and cloud droplet size) and environmental factors such as aerosol loading and meteorological conditions continue to be uncertain or unknown. Modeling these clouds in climate models remains a challenging problem. As a result, the influence of aerosols on these clouds in the past and future, and the potential impacts of these clouds on global warming remain open questions leading to substantial uncertainty in climate projections. To improve our understanding of these clouds, we need continuous observations of cloud properties on both a global scale and over a long enough timescale for climate studies. At present, satellite-based remote sensing is the only means of providing such observations.

Cloud Liquid Water, Mean Droplet Radius and Number Density Measurements Using a Raman Lidar

Science.gov (United States)

Whiteman, David N.; Melfi, S. Harvey

1999-01-01

A new technique for measuring cloud liquid water, mean droplet radius and droplet number density is outlined. The technique is based on simultaneously measuring Raman and Mie scattering from cloud liquid droplets using a Raman lidar. Laboratory experiments on liquid micro-spheres have shown that the intensity of Raman scattering is proportional to the amount of liquid present in the spheres. This fact is used as a constraint on calculated Mie intensity assuming a gamma function particle size distribution. The resulting retrieval technique is shown to give stable solutions with no false minima. It is tested using Raman lidar data where the liquid water signal was seen as an enhancement to the water vapor signal. The general relationship of retrieved average radius and number density is consistent with traditional cloud physics models. Sensitivity to the assumed maximum cloud liquid water amount and the water vapor mixing ratio calibration are tested. Improvements to the technique are suggested.

Stochastic growth of cloud droplets by collisions during settling

Science.gov (United States)

Madival, Deepak G.

2018-04-01

In the last stage of droplet growth in clouds which leads to drizzle formation, larger droplets begin to settle under gravity and collide and coalesce with smaller droplets in their path. In this article, we shall deal with the simplified problem of a large drop settling amidst a population of identical smaller droplets. We present an expression for the probability that a given large drop suffers a given number of collisions, for a general statistically homogeneous distribution of droplets. We hope that our approach will serve as a valuable tool in dealing with droplet distribution in real clouds, which has been found to deviate from the idealized Poisson distribution due to mechanisms such as inertial clustering.

Influence of meteorological parameters on interception of cloud droplets in a coniferous forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kroll, G; Winkler, P [Deutscher Wetterdienst, Meteorologisches Observatorium Hamburg (Germany, F.R.)

1989-11-01

The deposition of trace substances in a high elevated coniferous forest by interception of cloud droplets depends on numerous meteorological parameters. Sensitivity studies with a deposition model show that the variation of the vertical wind profile in the stand and the capture efficiency have a large influence on the deposition flux. Different drop size distributions with equal LWC's lead to changes of only 10% in the deposition flux. A higher ion concentration in small droplets has only a small influence on the trace substance deposition. A realistic estimate of the deposition is most likely achieved by using hourly observed meteorological parameters as model input values. The deposition of trace substances into a high elevated coniferous forest by interception of cloud droplets can be as high as the deposition via rain. (orig.).

Prediction of cloud droplet number in a general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghan, S.J.; Leung, L.R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

1996-04-01

We have applied the Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) bulk cloud microphysics parameterization to the treatment of stratiform clouds in the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model (CCM2). The RAMS predicts mass concentrations of cloud water, cloud ice, rain and snow, and number concnetration of ice. We have introduced the droplet number conservation equation to predict droplet number and it`s dependence on aerosols.

Applying super-droplets as a compact representation of warm-rain microphysics for aerosol-cloud-aerosol interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Arabas, S.; Jaruga, A.; Pawlowska, H.; Grabowski, W. W.

2012-12-01

Clouds may influence aerosol characteristics of their environment. The relevant processes include wet deposition (rainout or washout) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) recycling through evaporation of cloud droplets and drizzle drops. Recycled CCN physicochemical properties may be altered if the evaporated droplets go through collisional growth or irreversible chemical reactions (e.g. SO2 oxidation). The key challenge of representing these processes in a numerical cloud model stems from the need to track properties of activated CCN throughout the cloud lifecycle. Lack of such "memory" characterises the so-called bulk, multi-moment as well as bin representations of cloud microphysics. In this study we apply the particle-based scheme of Shima et al. 2009. Each modelled particle (aka super-droplet) is a numerical proxy for a multiplicity of real-world CCN, cloud, drizzle or rain particles of the same size, nucleus type,and position. Tracking cloud nucleus properties is an inherent feature of the particle-based frameworks, making them suitable for studying aerosol-cloud-aerosol interactions. The super-droplet scheme is furthermore characterized by linear scalability in the number of computational particles, and no numerical diffusion in the condensational and in the Monte-Carlo type collisional growth schemes. The presentation will focus on processing of aerosol by a drizzling stratocumulus deck. The simulations are carried out using a 2D kinematic framework and a VOCALS experiment inspired set-up (see http://www.rap.ucar.edu/~gthompsn/workshop2012/case1/).

Evaluating the capabilities and uncertainties of droplet measurements for the fog droplet spectrometer (FM-100

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. K. Spiegel

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Droplet size spectra measurements are crucial to obtain a quantitative microphysical description of clouds and fog. However, cloud droplet size measurements are subject to various uncertainties. This work focuses on the error analysis of two key measurement uncertainties arising during cloud droplet size measurements with a conventional droplet size spectrometer (FM-100: first, we addressed the precision with which droplets can be sized with the FM-100 on the basis of the Mie theory. We deduced error assumptions and proposed a new method on how to correct measured size distributions for these errors by redistributing the measured droplet size distribution using a stochastic approach. Second, based on a literature study, we summarized corrections for particle losses during sampling with the FM-100. We applied both corrections to cloud droplet size spectra measured at the high alpine site Jungfraujoch for a temperature range from 0 °C to 11 °C. We showed that Mie scattering led to spikes in the droplet size distributions using the default sizing procedure, while the new stochastic approach reproduced the ambient size distribution adequately. A detailed analysis of the FM-100 sampling efficiency revealed that particle losses were typically below 10% for droplet diameters up to 10 μm. For larger droplets, particle losses can increase up to 90% for the largest droplets of 50 μm at ambient wind speeds below 4.4 m s⁻¹ and even to >90% for larger angles between the instrument orientation and the wind vector (sampling angle at higher wind speeds. Comparisons of the FM-100 to other reference instruments revealed that the total liquid water content (LWC measured by the FM-100 was more sensitive to particle losses than to re-sizing based on Mie scattering, while the total number concentration was only marginally influenced by particle losses. Consequently, for further LWC measurements with the FM-100 we strongly recommend to consider (1 the

Cloud Processed CCN Suppress Stratus Cloud Drizzle

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, J. G.; Noble, S. R., Jr.

2017-12-01

Conversion of sulfur dioxide to sulfate within cloud droplets increases the sizes and decreases the critical supersaturation, Sc, of cloud residual particles that had nucleated the droplets. Since other particles remain at the same sizes and Sc a size and Sc gap is often observed. Hudson et al. (2015) showed higher cloud droplet concentrations (Nc) in stratus clouds associated with bimodal high-resolution CCN spectra from the DRI CCN spectrometer compared to clouds associated with unimodal CCN spectra (not cloud processed). Here we show that CCN spectral shape (bimodal or unimodal) affects all aspects of stratus cloud microphysics and drizzle. Panel A shows mean differential cloud droplet spectra that have been divided according to traditional slopes, k, of the 131 measured CCN spectra in the Marine Stratus/Stratocumulus Experiment (MASE) off the Central California coast. K is generally high within the supersaturation, S, range of stratus clouds (< 0.5%). Because cloud processing decreases Sc of some particles, it reduces k. Panel A shows higher concentrations of small cloud droplets apparently grown on lower k CCN than clouds grown on higher k CCN. At small droplet sizes the concentrations follow the k order of the legend, black, red, green, blue (lowest to highest k). Above 13 µm diameter the lines cross and the hierarchy reverses so that blue (highest k) has the highest concentrations followed by green, red and black (lowest k). This reversed hierarchy continues into the drizzle size range (panel B) where the most drizzle drops, Nd, are in clouds grown on the least cloud-processed CCN (blue), while clouds grown on the most processed CCN (black) have the lowest Nd. Suppression of stratus cloud drizzle by cloud processing is an additional 2nd indirect aerosol effect (IAE) that along with the enhancement of 1st IAE by higher Nc (panel A) are above and beyond original IAE. However, further similar analysis is needed in other cloud regimes to determine if MASE was

Observations of high droplet number concentrations in Southern Ocean boundary layer clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Chubb

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Cloud physics data collected during the NSF/NCAR High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO campaigns provide a snapshot of unusual wintertime microphysical conditions in the boundary layer over the Southern Ocean. On 29 June 2011, the HIAPER sampled the boundary layer in a region of pre-frontal warm air advection between 58 and 48° S to the south of Tasmania. Cloud droplet number concentrations were consistent with climatological values in the northernmost profiles but were exceptionally high for wintertime in the Southern Ocean at 100–200 cm−3 in the southernmost profiles. Sub-micron (0.06  < D <  1 µm aerosol concentrations for the southern profiles were up to 400 cm−3. Analysis of back trajectories and atmospheric chemistry observations revealed that while conditions in the troposphere were more typical of a clean remote ocean airmass, there was some evidence of continental or anthropogenic influence. However, the hypothesis of long-range transport of continental aerosol fails to explain the magnitude of the aerosol and cloud droplet concentration in the boundary layer. Instead, the gale force surface winds in this case (wind speed at 167 m above sea level was  > 25 m s−1 were most likely responsible for production of sea spray aerosol which influenced the microphysical properties of the boundary layer clouds. The smaller size and higher number concentration of cloud droplets is inferred to increase the albedo of these clouds, and these conditions occur regularly, and are expected to increase in frequency, over windy parts of the Southern Ocean.

The influence of the droplet clouds microstructure on the polarization characteristics of a double scattering lidar signal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nee Yevgeniy

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The results of calculation of the ratio of polarization degrees of the double scattering lidar return from droplet clouds with different microstructure at sensing by circularly and linearly polarized radiation are given in this report. The influence of the droplet size on ellipse parameters of linearly polarized radiation are discussed.

Development of multiple scattering lidar to retrieve cloud extinction and size information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Dukhyeon; Cheong, Hai Du; Kim, Young Gi; Park, Sun Ho

2008-01-01

Traditional Mie scattering cloud lidar have some limitations because of multiple scattering effects. Because this multiple scattering effects induce depolarization of spherical particle and enhancement of extinction coefficient. We cannot measure the phase of water with depolarization lidar, and also cannot measure the extinction coefficient with single FOV(Field Of View)Mie cloud lidar system. In the study, we have developed a multiple field of view Mie cloud liar system which can give many information about the cloud droplet such as cloud effective size, cloud number density, extinction coefficient of cloud, and phase of water through the correction of multiple scattering effects. For this purpose, we have developed a multiple field of view lidar system which composed of 32 different pinholes. Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram and picture of pinholes which start from 100μm to 8mm. Pihole is located at the focal plane of the parabolic mirror, in this case the minimum FOV is 67μrad, maximum FOV is 5.3 mrad. Figure 2 shows Monte Carlo simulation of the multiple scattering photons vs. cloud depth. In this calculation we assumed that wavelength normalized aerosol size(x)is 100, and density of cloud (extinction efficiency)is 0.01m"-1". By measuring FOV dependent signals and aerosol extinction coefficient we can extract effective droplet size through following equations. Here θ"d"is aerosol effective size, and z"j", f, Θ(z)are height, aerosol density dependent function, and angular size of lidar signal at the height z. Finally. f(z)depends on the light mean free path and number of scattering

Multiple scattering of light by water cloud droplets with external and internal mixing of black carbon aerosols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Hai-Hua; Sun Xian-Ming

2012-01-01

The mixture of water cloud droplets with black carbon impurities is modeled by external and internal mixing models. The internal mixing model is modeled with a two-layered sphere (water cloud droplets containing black carbon (BC) inclusions), and the single scattering and absorption characteristics are calculated at the visible wavelength of 0.55 μm by using the Lorenz—Mie theory. The external mixing model is developed assuming that the same amount of BC particles are mixed with the water droplets externally. The multiple scattering characteristics are computed by using the Monte Carlo method. The results show that when the size of the BC aerosol is small, the reflection intensity of the internal mixing model is bigger than that of the external mixing model. However, if the size of the BC aerosol is big, the absorption of the internal mixing model will be larger than that of the external mixing model. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

Direct Observations of Isoprene Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation in Ambient Cloud Droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Zelenyuk, A.; Bell, D.; Thornton, J. A.; Fast, J. D.; Shrivastava, M. B.; Berg, L. K.; Imre, D. G.; Mei, F.; Shilling, J.; Suski, K. J.; Liu, J.; Tomlinson, J. M.; Wang, J.

2017-12-01

Multiphase chemistry of isoprene photooxidation products has been shown to be one of the major sources of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in the atmosphere. A number of recent studies indicate that aqueous aerosol phase provides a medium for reactive uptake of isoprene photooxidation products, and in particular, isomeric isoprene epoxydiols (IEPOX), with reaction rates and yields being dependent on aerosol acidity, water content, sulfate concentration, and organic coatings. However, very few studies focused on chemistry occurring within actual cloud droplets. We will present data acquired during recent Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) Campaign, which provide direct evidence for IEPOX-SOA formation in cloud droplets. Single particle mass spectrometer, miniSPLAT, and a high-resolution, time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer were used to characterize the composition of aerosol particles and cloud droplet residuals, while a high-resolution, time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-CIMS) was used to characterize gas-phase compounds. We find that the composition of cloud droplet residuals was markedly different than that of aerosol particles sampled outside the cloud. Cloud droplet residuals were comprised of individual particles with high relative fractions of sulfate and nitrate and significant fraction of particles with mass spectra that are nearly identical to those of laboratory-generated IEPOX-SOA particles. The observed cloud-induced formation of IEPOX-SOA was accompanied by simultaneous decrease in measured concentrations of IEPOX and other gas-phase isoprene photooxidation products. Ultimately, the combined cloud, aerosol, and gas-phase measurements conducted during HI-SCALE will be used to develop and evaluate model treatments of aqueous-phase isoprene SOA formation.

Relative spectral absorption of solar radiation by water vapor and cloud droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, R.; Ridgway, W. L.

1983-01-01

A moderate (20/cm) spectral resolution model which accounts for both the highly variable spectral transmission of solar radiation through water vapor within and above cloud, as well as the more slowly varying features of absorption and anisotropic multiple scattering by the cloud droplets, is presented. Results from this model as applied to the case of a typical 1 km thick stratus cloud in a standard atmosphere, with cloud top altitude of 2 km and overhead sun, are discussed, showing the relative importance of water vapor above the cloud, water vapor within the cloud, and cloud droplets on the spectral absorption of solar radiation.

Do Cloud Properties in a Puerto Rican Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Depend on Occurrence of Long-Range Transported African Dust?

Science.gov (United States)

Spiegel, Johanna K.; Buchmann, Nina; Mayol-Bracero, Olga L.; Cuadra-Rodriguez, Luis A.; Valle Díaz, Carlos J.; Prather, Kimberly A.; Mertes, Stephan; Eugster, Werner

2014-09-01

We investigated cloud properties of warm clouds in a tropical montane cloud forest at Pico del Este (1,051 m a.s.l.) in the northeastern part of Puerto Rico to address the question of whether cloud properties in the Caribbean could potentially be affected by African dust transported across the Atlantic Ocean. We analyzed data collected during 12 days in July 2011. Cloud droplet size spectra were measured using the FM-100 fog droplet spectrometer that measured droplet size distributions in the range from 2 to 49 µm, primarily during fog events. The droplet size spectra revealed a bimodal structure, with the first peak ( D < 6 µm) being more pronounced in terms of droplet number concentrations, whereas the second peak (10 µm < D < 20 µm) was found to be the one relevant for total liquid water content (LWC) of the cloud. We identified three major clusters of characteristic droplet size spectra by means of hierarchical clustering. All clusters differed significantly from each other in droplet number concentration (), effective diameter (ED), and median volume diameter (MVD). For the cluster comprising the largest droplets and the lowest droplet number concentrations, we found evidence of inhomogeneous mixing in the cloud. Contrastingly, the other two clusters revealed microphysical behavior, which could be expected under homogeneous mixing conditions. For those conditions, an increase in cloud condensation nuclei—e.g., from processed African dust transported to the site—is supposed to lead to an increased droplet concentration. In fact, one of these two clusters showed a clear shift of cloud droplet size spectra towards smaller droplet diameters. Since this cluster occurred during periods with strong evidence for the presence of long-range transported African dust, we hypothesize a link between the observed dust episodes and cloud characteristics in the Caribbean at our site, which is similar to the anthropogenic aerosol indirect effect.

Effect of droplet size on the droplet behavior on the heterogeneous surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Ho Yeon; Son, Sung Wan; Ha, ManYeong [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of); Park, Yong Gap [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2017-06-15

The characteristics of a three-dimensional hemispherical droplet on a heterogeneous surface were studied using the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The hydrophilic surface has a hydrophobic part at the center. The hemispherical droplets are located at the center of the heterogeneous surface. According to the contact angles of hydrophilic and hydrophobic bottom surfaces, the droplet either separates or reaches a new equilibrium state. The separation time varies according to the change in droplet size, and it affects the status of droplet separation. The droplet separation behavior was investigated by analyzing the velocity vector around the phase boundary line. The shape and separation time of a droplet are determined by the contact angle of each surface. The speed of droplet separation increases as the difference in contact angle increases between the hydrophobic surface and hydrophilic surface. The separation status and the separation time of a droplet are also determined by the change of the droplet size. As the size of the droplet decreases, the effect of surface tension decreases, and the separation time of the droplet also decreases. On the other hand, as the droplet becomes larger, the effect of surface tension increases and the time required for the droplet to separate also increases.

CLOUD PARAMETERIZATIONS, CLOUD PHYSICS, AND THEIR CONNECTIONS: AN OVERVIEW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LIU, Y.; DAUM, P.H.; CHAI, S.K.; LIU, F.

2002-01-01

This paper consists of three parts. The first part is concerned with the parameterization of cloud microphysics in climate models. We demonstrate the crucial importance of spectral dispersion of the cloud droplet size distribution in determining radiative properties of clouds (e.g., effective radius), and underline the necessity of specifying spectral dispersion in the parameterization of cloud microphysics. It is argued that the inclusion of spectral dispersion makes the issue of cloud parameterization essentially equivalent to that of the droplet size distribution function, bringing cloud parameterization to the forefront of cloud physics. The second part is concerned with theoretical investigations into the spectral shape of droplet size distributions in cloud physics. After briefly reviewing the mainstream theories (including entrainment and mixing theories, and stochastic theories), we discuss their deficiencies and the need for a paradigm shift from reductionist approaches to systems approaches. A systems theory that has recently been formulated by utilizing ideas from statistical physics and information theory is discussed, along with the major results derived from it. It is shown that the systems formalism not only easily explains many puzzles that have been frustrating the mainstream theories, but also reveals such new phenomena as scale-dependence of cloud droplet size distributions. The third part is concerned with the potential applications of the systems theory to the specification of spectral dispersion in terms of predictable variables and scale-dependence under different fluctuating environments

Droplet size in a rectangular Venturi scrubber

OpenAIRE

Costa, M. A. M.; Henrique, P. R.; Gonçalves, J. A. S.; Coury, J.R.

2004-01-01

The Venturi scrubber is a device which uses liquid in the form of droplets to efficiently remove fine particulate matter from gaseous streams. Droplet size is of fundamental importance for the scrubber performance. In the present experimental study, a laser diffraction technique was used in order to measure droplet size in situ in a Venturi scrubber with a rectangular cross section. Droplet size distribution was measured as a function of gas velocity (58.3 to 74.9 m/s), liquid-to-gas ratio (0...

Droplet size in a rectangular Venturi scrubber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. M. Costa

2004-06-01

Full Text Available The Venturi scrubber is a device which uses liquid in the form of droplets to efficiently remove fine particulate matter from gaseous streams. Droplet size is of fundamental importance for the scrubber performance. In the present experimental study, a laser diffraction technique was used in order to measure droplet size in situ in a Venturi scrubber with a rectangular cross section. Droplet size distribution was measured as a function of gas velocity (58.3 to 74.9 m/s, liquid-to-gas ratio (0.07 to 0.27 l/m³, and distance from liquid injection point (64 to 173 mm. It was found that all these variables significantly affect droplet size. The results were compared with the predictions from correlations found in the literature.

Droplet sizes, dynamics and deposition in vertical annular flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopes, J.C.B.; Dukler, A.E.

1985-10-01

The role of droplets in vertical upwards annular flow is investigated, focusing on the droplet size distributions, dynamics, and deposition phenomena. An experimental program was performed based on a new laser optical technique developed in these laboratories and implemented here for annular flow. This permitted the simultaneous measurement of droplet size, axial and radial velocity. The dependence of droplet size distributions on flow conditions is analyzed. The Upper-Log Normal function proves to be a good model for the size distribution. The mechanism controlling the maximum stable drop size was found to result from the interaction of the pressure fluctuations of the turbulent flow of the gas core with the droplet. The average axial droplet velocity showed a weak dependence on gas rates. This can be explained once the droplet size distribution and droplet size-velocity relationship are analyzed simultaneously. The surprising result from the droplet conditional analysis is that larger droplet travel faster than smaller ones. This dependence cannot be explained if the drag curves used do not take into account the high levels of turbulence present in the gas core in annular flow. If these are considered, then interesting new situations of multiplicity and stability of droplet terminal velocities are encountered. Also, the observed size-velocity relationship can be explained. A droplet deposition is formulated based on the particle inertia control. This permitted the calculation of rates of drop deposition directly from the droplet size and velocities data

Fast electric control of the droplet size in a microfluidic T-junction droplet generator

Science.gov (United States)

Shojaeian, Mostafa; Hardt, Steffen

2018-05-01

The effect of DC electric fields on the generation of droplets of water and xanthan gum solutions in sunflower oil at a microfluidic T-junction is experimentally studied. The electric field leads to a significant reduction of the droplet diameter, by about a factor of 2 in the case of water droplets. The droplet size can be tuned by varying the electric field strength, an effect that can be employed to produce a stream of droplets with a tailor-made size sequence. Compared to the case of purely hydrodynamic droplet production without electric fields, the electric control has about the same effect on the droplet size if the electric stress at the liquid/liquid interface is the same as the hydrodynamic stress.

Determination of the chemical properties of residues retained in individual cloud droplets by XRF microprobe at SPring-8

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, C.-J.; Tohno, S.; Kasahara, M.; Hayakawa, S.

2004-01-01

To determine the chemical properties of residue retained in individual cloud droplets is primarily important for the understanding of rainout mechanism and aerosol modification in droplet. The sampling of individual cloud droplets were carried out on the summit of Mt. Taiko located in Tango peninsula, Kyoto prefecture, during Asian dust storm event in March of 2002. XRF microprobe system equipped at SPring-8, BL-37XU was applied to the subsequent quantification analysis of ultra trace elements in residues of individual cloud droplets. It was possible to form the replicas of separated individual cloud droplets on the thin collodion film. The two dimensional XRF maps for the residues in individual cloud droplets were clearly drawn by scanning of micro-beam. Also, XRF spectra of trace elements in residues were well resolved. From the XRF spectra for individual residues, the chemical mixed state of residues could be assumed. The chemical forms of Fe (Fe +++ ) and Zn (Zn + ) could be clearly characterized by their K-edge micro-XANES spectra. By comparison of Z/Si mass ratios of residues in cloud droplets and those of the original sands collected in desert areas in China, the aging of ambient dust particles and their in cloud modification were indirectly assumed

Optics of Water Cloud Droplets Mixed with Black-Carbon Aerosols

Science.gov (United States)

Mishchenko, Michael I.; Liu, Li; Cairns, Brian; Mackowski, Daniel W.

2014-01-01

We use the recently extended superposition T-matrix method to calculate scattering and absorption properties of micrometer-sized water droplets contaminated by black carbon. Our numerically exact results reveal that, depending on the mode of soot-water mixing, the soot specific absorption can vary by a factor exceeding 6.5. The specific absorption is maximized when the soot material is quasi-uniformly distributed throughout the droplet interior in the form of numerous small monomers. The range of mixing scenarios captured by our computations implies a wide range of remote sensing and radiation budget implications of the presence of black carbon in liquid-water clouds. We show that the popular Maxwell-Garnett effective-medium approximation can be used to calculate the optical cross sections, single-scattering albedo, and asymmetry parameter for the quasi-uniform mixing scenario, but is likely to fail in application to other mixing scenarios and in computations of the elements of the scattering matrix.

Mathematical model for prediction of droplet sizes and distribution associated with impact of liquid-containing projectile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shelke, Ashish V.; Gera, B.; Maheshwari, N.K.; Singh, R.K.

2018-01-01

After the events of 9/11, the impact of fast flying commercial aircraft is considered as major hazard threatening the Nuclear Power Plant's (NPP) safety. The study of fuel spillage phenomenon and fireball formation is important to understand fire hazards due to burning of dispersed aviation fuel. The detailed analysis of fuel dispersion is very difficult to deliberate because both, large NPP structures and the large size of commercial aircrafts. Sandia National Laboratories, USA conducted impact tests using cylindrical projectiles filled with water to measure the associated parameters. Due to combustion properties and volatile nature of hydrocarbon fuels, the obtained parameters from impact studies using water are incomplete in fire analysis of flammable droplet clouds. A mathematical model is developed for prediction of droplet sizes and distribution associated with the impact of a liquid-containing projectile. The model can predict the transient behavior of droplet cloud. It is validated with experimental data available in literature. In the present study, the analysis has been performed using water and kerosene. The data obtained can be utilized as boundary and initial condition for CFD analysis. This information is useful for fire hazard analysis of aircraft impacts on NPP structures.

Evaluation of droplet size distributions using univariate and multivariate approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gauno, M.H.; Larsen, C.C.; Vilhelmsen, T.

2013-01-01

of the distribution. The current study was aiming to compare univariate and multivariate approach in evaluating droplet size distributions. As a model system, the atomization of a coating solution from a two-fluid nozzle was investigated. The effect of three process parameters (concentration of ethyl cellulose...... in ethanol, atomizing air pressure, and flow rate of coating solution) on the droplet size and droplet size distribution using a full mixed factorial design was used. The droplet size produced by a two-fluid nozzle was measured by laser diffraction and reported as volume based size distribution....... Investigation of loading and score plots from principal component analysis (PCA) revealed additional information on the droplet size distributions and it was possible to identify univariate statistics (volume median droplet size), which were similar, however, originating from varying droplet size distributions...

Evaluation of droplet size distributions using univariate and multivariate approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaunø, Mette Høg; Larsen, Crilles Casper; Vilhelmsen, Thomas; Møller-Sonnergaard, Jørn; Wittendorff, Jørgen; Rantanen, Jukka

2013-01-01

Pharmaceutically relevant material characteristics are often analyzed based on univariate descriptors instead of utilizing the whole information available in the full distribution. One example is droplet size distribution, which is often described by the median droplet size and the width of the distribution. The current study was aiming to compare univariate and multivariate approach in evaluating droplet size distributions. As a model system, the atomization of a coating solution from a two-fluid nozzle was investigated. The effect of three process parameters (concentration of ethyl cellulose in ethanol, atomizing air pressure, and flow rate of coating solution) on the droplet size and droplet size distribution using a full mixed factorial design was used. The droplet size produced by a two-fluid nozzle was measured by laser diffraction and reported as volume based size distribution. Investigation of loading and score plots from principal component analysis (PCA) revealed additional information on the droplet size distributions and it was possible to identify univariate statistics (volume median droplet size), which were similar, however, originating from varying droplet size distributions. The multivariate data analysis was proven to be an efficient tool for evaluating the full information contained in a distribution.

Droplet size effects on film drainage between droplet and substrate.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinhaus, Benjamin; Spicer, Patrick T; Shen, Amy Q

2006-06-06

When a droplet approaches a solid surface, the thin liquid film between the droplet and the surface drains until an instability forms and then ruptures. In this study, we utilize microfluidics to investigate the effects of film thickness on the time to film rupture for water droplets in a flowing continuous phase of silicone oil deposited on solid poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) surfaces. The water droplets ranged in size from millimeters to micrometers, resulting in estimated values of the film thickness at rupture ranging from 600 nm down to 6 nm. The Stefan-Reynolds equation is used to model film drainage beneath both millimeter- and micrometer-scale droplets. For millimeter-scale droplets, the experimental and analytical film rupture times agree well, whereas large differences are observed for micrometer-scale droplets. We speculate that the differences in the micrometer-scale data result from the increases in the local thin film viscosity due to confinement-induced molecular structure changes in the silicone oil. A modified Stefan-Reynolds equation is used to account for the increased thin film viscosity of the micrometer-scale droplet drainage case.

Calculation and measurement of fog droplet size

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laali, A.R.; Courant, J.J.; Kleitz, A.

1991-01-01

This paper outlines the elements involved in calculation and measurement of fog droplet size in steam turbines. The condensation calculations are performed for a 600 MW LP fossil fired, and for a 900 MW LP nuclear turbine. A simplified method based on classical condensation theory is used for these calculations. The fog droplet size measurement are carried out downstream of the last moving blades of these turbines in order to validate the program. The comparison between the results could lead to a better understanding of the condensation process in steam turbines. Some large droplet (re-entrained droplet) measurements are also taken using a microvideo probe

Estimating seasonal variations in cloud droplet number concentration over the boreal forest from satellite observations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, R.; Ganzeveld, L.N.; Kabat, P.; Kulmala, M.; Nieminen, T.; Roebeling, R.A.

2011-01-01

Seasonal variations in cloud droplet number concentration (NCD) in low-level stratiform clouds over the boreal forest are estimated from MODIS observations of cloud optical and microphysical properties, using a sub-adiabatic cloud model to interpret vertical profiles of cloud properties. An

On the relevance of droplet sedimentation in stratocumulus-top mixing

Science.gov (United States)

Mellado, Juan Pedro; de Lozar, Alberto

2017-11-01

The interaction between droplet sedimentation, turbulent mixing, evaporative cooling, and radiative cooling at the top of stratocumulus clouds has been studied using direct numerical simulations. This interaction is important to determine the mixing rate of the cloud and dry air above it, which eventually determines the cloud lifetime. By investigating the entrainment-rate equation, which is an analytical relationship between the contributions to cloud-top entrainment from the phenomena indicated above, we have found that the reduction of entrainment velocity by droplet sedimentation can be 2 to 3 times larger than previously conjectured. The reason is twofold. First, the reduction of evaporative cooling as droplets fall out of the inversion is stronger than previously observed in large-eddy simulations, where excessive mixing by turbulence models and numerical artifacts may have partially masked this effect of sedimentation on entrainment. Second, there is a non-negligible direct contribution from mass loading, as falling droplets leave behind more buoyant air in the inversion. This contribution is proportional to the fifth moment of the droplet-size distribution, which provides further evidence for the need to better understand the evolution of the droplet-size distribution.

Core/Shell Microstructure Induced Synergistic Effect for Efficient Water-Droplet Formation and Cloud-Seeding Application.

Science.gov (United States)

Tai, Yanlong; Liang, Haoran; Zaki, Abdelali; El Hadri, Nabil; Abshaev, Ali M; Huchunaev, Buzgigit M; Griffiths, Steve; Jouiad, Mustapha; Zou, Linda

2017-12-26

Cloud-seeding materials as a promising water-augmentation technology have drawn more attention recently. We designed and synthesized a type of core/shell NaCl/TiO 2 (CSNT) particle with controlled particle size, which successfully adsorbed more water vapor (∼295 times at low relative humidity, 20% RH) than that of pure NaCl, deliquesced at a lower environmental RH of 62-66% than the hygroscopic point (h g.p ., 75% RH) of NaCl, and formed larger water droplets ∼6-10 times its original measured size area, whereas the pure NaCl still remained as a crystal at the same conditions. The enhanced performance was attributed to the synergistic effect of the hydrophilic TiO 2 shell and hygroscopic NaCl core microstructure, which attracted a large amount of water vapor and turned it into a liquid faster. Moreover, the critical particle size of the CSNT particles (0.4-10 μm) as cloud-seeding materials was predicted via the classical Kelvin equation based on their surface hydrophilicity. Finally, the benefits of CSNT particles for cloud-seeding applications were determined visually through in situ observation under an environmental scanning electron microscope on the microscale and cloud chamber experiments on the macroscale, respectively. These excellent and consistent performances positively confirmed that CSNT particles could be promising cloud-seeding materials.

Flame Spread and Group-Combustion Excitation in Randomly Distributed Droplet Clouds with Low-Volatility Fuel near the Excitation Limit: a Percolation Approach Based on Flame-Spread Characteristics in Microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Mikami, Masato; Saputro, Herman; Seo, Takehiko; Oyagi, Hiroshi

2018-03-01

Stable operation of liquid-fueled combustors requires the group combustion of fuel spray. Our study employs a percolation approach to describe unsteady group-combustion excitation based on findings obtained from microgravity experiments on the flame spread of fuel droplets. We focus on droplet clouds distributed randomly in three-dimensional square lattices with a low-volatility fuel, such as n-decane in room-temperature air, where the pre-vaporization effect is negligible. We also focus on the flame spread in dilute droplet clouds near the group-combustion-excitation limit, where the droplet interactive effect is assumed negligible. The results show that the occurrence probability of group combustion sharply decreases with the increase in mean droplet spacing around a specific value, which is termed the critical mean droplet spacing. If the lattice size is at smallest about ten times as large as the flame-spread limit distance, the flame-spread characteristics are similar to those over an infinitely large cluster. The number density of unburned droplets remaining after completion of burning attained maximum around the critical mean droplet spacing. Therefore, the critical mean droplet spacing is a good index for stable combustion and unburned hydrocarbon. In the critical condition, the flame spreads through complicated paths, and thus the characteristic time scale of flame spread over droplet clouds has a very large value. The overall flame-spread rate of randomly distributed droplet clouds is almost the same as the flame-spread rate of a linear droplet array except over the flame-spread limit.

Control of droplet size in rain-zone in wet cooling tower

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitkovicova Rut

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The performance of the wet cooling tower is significantly affected by the droplet size occurring in the rain zone. In order to effectively manage the size of these droplets, it was necessary to experimentally determine the effect of the fills of the cooling towers on droplets. Five types of cooling fillers were used for experimental measurements: 3 film fills and 2 splash fills - trickle and grid. Drop size measurements were performed using the LIF method. Histograms of droplets size were obtained from measured droplet sizes under each fill, and for each fill, the Sauter droplet diameter was then calculated. According to a theoretical analysis of a breakdown of droplets, the combinations of some fills and the effect of their surface treatment on the droplet diameter were then measured for comparison.

Coupled Retrieval of Liquid Water Cloud and Above-Cloud Aerosol Properties Using the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI)

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Feng; van Harten, Gerard; Diner, David J.; Davis, Anthony B.; Seidel, Felix C.; Rheingans, Brian; Tosca, Mika; Alexandrov, Mikhail D.; Cairns, Brian; Ferrare, Richard A.; Burton, Sharon P.; Fenn, Marta A.; Hostetler, Chris A.; Wood, Robert; Redemann, Jens

2018-03-01

An optimization algorithm is developed to retrieve liquid water cloud properties including cloud optical depth (COD), droplet size distribution and cloud top height (CTH), and above-cloud aerosol properties including aerosol optical depth (AOD), single-scattering albedo, and microphysical properties from sweep-mode observations by Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) instrument. The retrieval is composed of three major steps: (1) initial estimate of the mean droplet size distribution across the entire image of 80-100 km along track by 10-25 km across track from polarimetric cloudbow observations, (2) coupled retrieval of image-scale cloud and above-cloud aerosol properties by fitting the polarimetric data at all observation angles, and (3) iterative retrieval of 1-D radiative transfer-based COD and droplet size distribution at pixel scale (25 m) by establishing relationships between COD and droplet size and fitting the total radiance measurements. Our retrieval is tested using 134 AirMSPI data sets acquired during the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) field campaign ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS. The retrieved above-cloud AOD and CTH are compared to coincident HSRL-2 (HSRL-2, NASA Langley Research Center) data, and COD and droplet size distribution parameters (effective radius reff and effective variance veff) are compared to coincident Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) (NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies) data. Mean absolute differences between AirMSPI and HSRL-2 retrievals of above-cloud AOD at 532 nm and CTH are 0.03 and mean absolute differences between RSP and AirMSPI retrievals of COD, reff, and veff in the cloudbow area are 2.33, 0.69 μm, and 0.020, respectively. Neglect of smoke aerosols above cloud leads to an underestimate of image-averaged COD by 15%.

Aerosols, clouds and radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Twomey, S [University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (USA). Inst. of Atmospheric Physics

1991-01-01

Most of the so-called 'CO{sub 2} effect' is, in fact, an 'H{sub 2}O effect' brought into play by the climate modeler's assumption that planetary average temperature dictates water-vapor concentration (following Clapeyron-Clausius). That assumption ignores the removal process, which cloud physicists know to be influenced by the aerosol, since the latter primarily controls cloud droplet number and size. Droplet number and size are also influential for shortwave (solar) energy. The reflectance of many thin to moderately thick clouds changes when nuclei concentrations change and make shortwave albedo susceptible to aerosol influence.

Impact of entrainment on cloud droplet spectra: theory, observations, and modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Grabowski, W.

2016-12-01

Understanding the impact of entrainment and mixing on microphysical properties of warm boundary layer clouds is an important aspect of the representation of such clouds in large-scale models of weather and climate. Entrainment leads to a reduction of the liquid water content in agreement with the fundamental thermodynamics, but its impact on the droplet spectrum is difficult to quantify in observations and modeling. For in-situ (e.g., aircraft) observations, it is impossible to follow air parcels and observe processes that lead to changes of the droplet spectrum in different regions of a cloud. For similar reasons traditional modeling methodologies (e.g., the Eulerian large eddy simulation) are not useful either. Moreover, both observations and modeling can resolve only relatively narrow range of spatial scales. Theory, typically focusing on differences between idealized concepts of homogeneous and inhomogeneous mixing, is also of a limited use for the multiscale turbulent mixing between a cloud and its environment. This presentation will illustrate the above points and argue that the Lagrangian large-eddy simulation with appropriate subgrid-scale scheme may provide key insights and eventually lead to novel parameterizations for large-scale models.

The dynamics of droplets in moist Rayleigh-Benard turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrakar, Kamal Kant; van der Voort, Dennis; Kinney, Greg; Cantrell, Will; Shaw, Raymond

2017-11-01

Clouds are an intricate part of the climate, and strongly influence atmospheric dynamics and radiative balances. While properties such as cloud albedo and precipitation rate are large scale effects, these properties are determined by dynamics on the microscale, such droplet sizes, liquid water content, etc. The growth of droplets from condensation is dependent on a multitude of parameters, such as aerosol concentration (nucleation sites) and turbulence (scalar fluctuations and coalescence). However, the precise mechanism behind droplet growth and clustering in a cloud environment is still unclear. In this investigation we use a facility called the Pi Chamber to generate a (miniature) cloud in a laboratory setting with known boundary conditions, such as aerosol concentration, temperature, and humidity. Through the use of particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) on the droplets generated in the cloud, we can investigate the dynamics of these cloud droplets in the convective (Rayleigh-Benard) turbulence generated through an induced temperature gradient. We show the influence of the temperature gradient and Froude number (gravity forces) on the changing turbulence anisotropy, large scale circulation, and small-scale dissipation rates. This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant AGS-1623429.

Formation of nitrogen-containing oligomers by methylglyoxal and amines in simulated evaporating cloud droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

De Haan, David O; Hawkins, Lelia N; Kononenko, Julia A; Turley, Jacob J; Corrigan, Ashley L; Tolbert, Margaret A; Jimenez, Jose L

2011-02-01

Reactions of methylglyoxal with amino acids, methylamine, and ammonium sulfate can take place in aqueous aerosol and evaporating cloud droplets. These processes are simulated by drying droplets and bulk solutions of these compounds (at low millimolar and 1 M concentrations, respectively) and analyzing the residuals by scanning mobility particle sizing, nuclear magnetic resonance, aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS), and electrospray ionization MS. The results are consistent with imine (but not diimine) formation on a time scale of seconds, followed by the formation of nitrogen-containing oligomers, methylimidazole, and dimethylimidazole products on a time scale of minutes to hours. Measured elemental ratios are consistent with imidazoles and oligomers being major reaction products, while effective aerosol densities suggest extensive reactions take place within minutes. These reactions may be a source of the light-absorbing, nitrogen-containing oligomers observed in urban and biomass-burning aerosol particles.

Beam Measurements of a CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets) Chamber

CERN Document Server

Kirkby, Jasper

2001-01-01

A striking correlation has recently been observed between global cloud cover and the flux of incident cosmic rays. The effect of natural variations in the cosmic ray flux is large, causing estimated changes in the Earth's energy radiation balance that are comparable to those attributed to greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution. However a direct link between cosmic rays and cloud formation has not been unambiguously established. We therefore propose to experimentally measure cloud (water droplet) formation under controlled conditions in a test beam at CERN with a CLOUD chamber, duplicating the conditions prevailing in the troposphere. These data, which have never been previously obtained, will allow a detailed understanding of the possible effects of cosmic rays on clouds and confirm, or otherwise, a direct link between cosmic rays, global cloud cover and the Earth's climate. The measurements will, in turn, allow more reliable calculations to be made of the residual e...

Volatility of methylglyoxal cloud SOA formed through OH radical oxidation and droplet evaporation

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz-Montalvo, Diana L.; Schwier, Allison N.; Lim, Yong B.; McNeill, V. Faye; Turpin, Barbara J.

2016-04-01

The volatility of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed through cloud processing (aqueous hydroxyl radical (radOH) oxidation and droplet evaporation) of methylglyoxal (MGly) was studied. Effective vapor pressure and effective enthalpy of vaporization (ΔHvap,eff) were determined using 1) droplets containing MGly and its oxidation products, 2) a Vibrating Orifice Aerosol Generator (VOAG) system, and 3) Temperature Programmed Desorption Aerosol-Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TPD Aerosol-CIMS). Simulated in-cloud MGly oxidation (for 10-30 min) produces an organic mixture of higher and lower volatility components with an overall effective vapor pressure of (4 ± 7) × 10-7 atm at pH 3. The effective vapor pressure decreases by a factor of 2 with addition of ammonium hydroxide (pH 7). The fraction of organic material remaining in the particle-phase after drying was smaller than for similar experiments with glycolaldehyde and glyoxal SOA. The ΔHvap,eff of pyruvic acid and oxalic acid + methylglyoxal in the mixture (from TPD Aerosol-CIMS) were smaller than the theoretical enthalpies of the pure compounds and smaller than that estimated for the entire precursor/product mix after droplet evaporation. After 10-30 min of aqueous oxidation (one cloud cycle) the majority of the MGly + radOH precursor/product mix (even neutralized) will volatilize during droplet evaporation; neutralization and at least 80 min of oxidation at 10-12 M radOH (or >12 h at 10-14 M) is needed before low volatility ammonium oxalate exceeds pyruvate.

Droplet Nucleation: Physically-Based Parameterizations and Comparative Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve Ghan

2011-10-01

Full Text Available size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the greatest sources of uncertainty in simulations of climate and climate change is the influence of aerosols on the optical properties of clouds. The root of this influence is the droplet nucleation process, which involves the spontaneous growth of aerosol into cloud droplets at cloud edges, during the early stages of cloud formation, and in some cases within the interior of mature clouds. Numerical models of droplet nucleation represent much of the complexity of the process, but at a computational cost that limits their application to simulations of hours or days. Physically-based parameterizations of droplet nucleation are designed to quickly estimate the number nucleated as a function of the primary controlling parameters: the aerosol number size distribution, hygroscopicity and cooling rate. Here we compare and contrast the key assumptions used in developing each of the most popular parameterizations and compare their performances under a variety of conditions. We find that the more complex parameterizations perform well under a wider variety of nucleation conditions, but all parameterizations perform well under the most common conditions. We then discuss the various applications of the parameterizations to cloud-resolving, regional and global models to study aerosol effects on clouds at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. We compare estimates of anthropogenic aerosol indirect effects using two different parameterizations applied to the same global climate model, and find that the estimates of indirect effects differ by only 10%. We conclude with a summary of the outstanding challenges remaining for further development and application.

Prediction of oil droplet size distribution in agitated aquatic environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khelifa, A.; Lee, K.; Hill, P.S.

2004-01-01

Oil spilled at sea undergoes many transformations based on physical, biological and chemical processes. Vertical dispersion is the hydrodynamic mechanism controlled by turbulent mixing due to breaking waves, vertical velocity, density gradients and other environmental factors. Spilled oil is dispersed in the water column as small oil droplets. In order to estimate the mass of an oil slick in the water column, it is necessary to know how the droplets formed. Also, the vertical dispersion and fate of oil spilled in aquatic environments can be modelled if the droplet-size distribution of the oil droplets is known. An oil spill remediation strategy can then be implemented. This paper presented a newly developed Monte Carlo model to predict droplet-size distribution due to Brownian motion, turbulence and a differential settling at equilibrium. A kinematic model was integrated into the proposed model to simulate droplet breakage. The key physical input of the model is the maximum droplet size permissible in the simulation. Laboratory studies were found to be in good agreement with field studies. 26 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs

Aerosol processing in stratiform clouds in ECHAM6-HAM

Science.gov (United States)

Neubauer, David; Lohmann, Ulrike; Hoose, Corinna

2013-04-01

Aerosol processing in stratiform clouds by uptake into cloud particles, collision-coalescence, chemical processing inside the cloud particles and release back into the atmosphere has important effects on aerosol concentration, size distribution, chemical composition and mixing state. Aerosol particles can act as cloud condensation nuclei. Cloud droplets can take up further aerosol particles by collisions. Atmospheric gases may also be transferred into the cloud droplets and undergo chemical reactions, e.g. the production of atmospheric sulphate. Aerosol particles are also processed in ice crystals. They may be taken up by homogeneous freezing of cloud droplets below -38° C or by heterogeneous freezing above -38° C. This includes immersion freezing of already immersed aerosol particles in the droplets and contact freezing of particles colliding with a droplet. Many clouds do not form precipitation and also much of the precipitation evaporates before it reaches the ground. The water soluble part of the aerosol particles concentrates in the hydrometeors and together with the insoluble part forms a single, mixed, larger particle, which is released. We have implemented aerosol processing into the current version of the general circulation model ECHAM6 (Stevens et al., 2013) coupled to the aerosol module HAM (Stier et al., 2005). ECHAM6-HAM solves prognostic equations for the cloud droplet number and ice crystal number concentrations. In the standard version of HAM, seven modes are used to describe the total aerosol. The modes are divided into soluble/mixed and insoluble modes and the number concentrations and masses of different chemical components (sulphate, black carbon, organic carbon, sea salt and mineral dust) are prognostic variables. We extended this by an explicit representation of aerosol particles in cloud droplets and ice crystals in stratiform clouds similar to Hoose et al. (2008a,b). Aerosol particles in cloud droplets are represented by 5 tracers for the

A scattering methodology for droplet sizing of e-cigarette aerosols.

Science.gov (United States)

Pratte, Pascal; Cosandey, Stéphane; Goujon-Ginglinger, Catherine

2016-10-01

Knowledge of the droplet size distribution of inhalable aerosols is important to predict aerosol deposition yield at various respiratory tract locations in human. Optical methodologies are usually preferred over the multi-stage cascade impactor for high-throughput measurements of aerosol particle/droplet size distributions. Evaluate the Laser Aerosol Spectrometer technology based on Polystyrene Sphere Latex (PSL) calibration curve applied for the experimental determination of droplet size distributions in the diameter range typical of commercial e-cigarette aerosols (147-1361 nm). This calibration procedure was tested for a TSI Laser Aerosol Spectrometer (LAS) operating at a wavelength of 633 nm and assessed against model di-ethyl-hexyl-sebacat (DEHS) droplets and e-cigarette aerosols. The PSL size response was measured, and intra- and between-day standard deviations calculated. DEHS droplet sizes were underestimated by 15-20% by the LAS when the PSL calibration curve was used; however, the intra- and between-day relative standard deviations were e-cigarette aerosols ranged from 130-191 nm to 225-293 nm, respectively, similar to published values. The LAS instrument can be used to measure e-cigarette aerosol droplet size distributions with a bias underestimating the expected value by 15-20% when using a precise PSL calibration curve. Controlled variability of DEHS size measurements can be achieved with the LAS system; however, this method can only be applied to test aerosols having a refractive index close to that of PSL particles used for calibration.

The Route to Raindrop Formation in a Shallow Cumulus Cloud Simulated by a Lagrangian Cloud Model

Science.gov (United States)

Noh, Yign; Hoffmann, Fabian; Raasch, Siegfried

2017-11-01

The mechanism of raindrop formation in a shallow cumulus cloud is investigated using a Lagrangian cloud model (LCM). The analysis is focused on how and under which conditions a cloud droplet grows to a raindrop by tracking the history of individual Lagrangian droplets. It is found that the rapid collisional growth, leading to raindrop formation, is triggered when single droplets with a radius of 20 μm appear in the region near the cloud top, characterized by a large liquid water content, strong turbulence, large mean droplet size, a broad drop size distribution (DSD), and high supersaturations. Raindrop formation easily occurs when turbulence-induced collision enhancement(TICE) is considered, with or without any extra broadening of the DSD by another mechanism (such as entrainment and mixing). In contrast, when TICE is not considered, raindrop formation is severely delayed if no other broadening mechanism is active. The reason leading to the difference is clarified by the additional analysis of idealized box-simulations of the collisional growth process for different DSDs in varied turbulent environments. It is found that TICE does not accelerate the timing of the raindrop formation for individual droplets, but it enhances the collisional growth rate significantly afterward. KMA R & D Program (Korea), DFG (Germany).

In situ droplet size and speed determination in a fluid-bed granulator.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehlers, Henrik; Larjo, Jussi; Antikainen, Osmo; Räikkönen, Heikki; Heinämäki, Jyrki; Yliruusi, Jouko

2010-05-31

The droplet size affects the final product in fluid-bed granulation and coating. In the present study, spray characteristics of aqueous granulation liquid (purified water) were determined in situ in a fluid-bed granulator. Droplets were produced by a pneumatic nozzle. Diode laser stroboscopy (DLS) was used for droplet detection and particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) was used for determination of droplet size and speed. Increased atomization pressure decreased the droplet size and the effect was most strongly visible in the 90% size fractile. The droplets seemed to undergo coalescence after which only slight evaporation occurred. Furthermore, the droplets were subjected to a strong turbulence at the event of atomization, after which the turbulence reached a minimum value in the lower halve of the chamber. The turbulence increased as speed and droplet size decreased due to the effects of the fluidizing air. The DLS and PTV system used was found to be a useful and rapid tool in determining spray characteristics and in monitoring and predicting nozzle performance. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surfactants from the gas phase may promote cloud droplet formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sareen, Neha; Schwier, Allison N; Lathem, Terry L; Nenes, Athanasios; McNeill, V Faye

2013-02-19

Clouds, a key component of the climate system, form when water vapor condenses upon atmospheric particulates termed cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Variations in CCN concentrations can profoundly impact cloud properties, with important effects on local and global climate. Organic matter constitutes a significant fraction of tropospheric aerosol mass, and can influence CCN activity by depressing surface tension, contributing solute, and influencing droplet activation kinetics by forming a barrier to water uptake. We present direct evidence that two ubiquitous atmospheric trace gases, methylglyoxal (MG) and acetaldehyde, known to be surface-active, can enhance aerosol CCN activity upon uptake. This effect is demonstrated by exposing acidified ammonium sulfate particles to 250 parts per billion (ppb) or 8 ppb gas-phase MG and/or acetaldehyde in an aerosol reaction chamber for up to 5 h. For the more atmospherically relevant experiments, i.e., the 8-ppb organic precursor concentrations, significant enhancements in CCN activity, up to 7.5% reduction in critical dry diameter for activation, are observed over a timescale of hours, without any detectable limitation in activation kinetics. This reduction in critical diameter enhances the apparent particle hygroscopicity up to 26%, which for ambient aerosol would lead to cloud droplet number concentration increases of 8-10% on average. The observed enhancements exceed what would be expected based on Köhler theory and bulk properties. Therefore, the effect may be attributed to the adsorption of MG and acetaldehyde to the gas-aerosol interface, leading to surface tension depression of the aerosol. We conclude that gas-phase surfactants may enhance CCN activity in the atmosphere.

CCN Activity, Variability and Influence on Droplet Formation during the HygrA-Cd Campaign in Athens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aikaterini Bougiatioti

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Measurements of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN concentrations (cm−3 at five levels of supersaturation between 0.2–1%, together with remote sensing profiling and aerosol size distributions, were performed at an urban background site of Athens during the Hygroscopic Aerosols to Cloud Droplets (HygrA-CD campaign. The site is affected by local emissions and long-range transport, as portrayed by the aerosol size, hygroscopicity and mixing state. Application of a state-of-the-art droplet parameterization is used to link the observed size distribution measurements, bulk composition, and modeled boundary layer dynamics with potential supersaturation, droplet number, and sensitivity of these parameters for clouds forming above the site. The sensitivity is then used to understand the source of potential droplet number variability. We find that the importance of aerosol particle concentration levels associated with the background increases as vertical velocities increase. The updraft velocity variability was found to contribute 58–90% (68.6% on average to the variance of the cloud droplet number, followed by the variance in aerosol number (6–32%, average 23.2%. Therefore, although local sources may strongly modulate CCN concentrations, their impact on droplet number is limited by the atmospheric dynamics expressed by the updraft velocity regime.

Vertical profiles of droplet effective radius in shallow convective clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Zhang

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Conventional satellite retrievals can only provide information on cloud-top droplet effective radius (r_e. Given the fact that cloud ensembles in a satellite snapshot have different cloud-top heights, Rosenfeld and Lensky (1998 used the cloud-top height and the corresponding cloud-top r_e from the cloud ensembles in the snapshot to construct a profile of r_e representative of that in the individual clouds. This study investigates the robustness of this approach in shallow convective clouds based on results from large-eddy simulations (LES for clean (aerosol mixing ratio N_a = 25 mg⁻¹, intermediate (N_a = 100 mg⁻¹, and polluted (N_a = 2000 mg⁻¹ conditions. The cloud-top height and the cloud-top r_e from the modeled cloud ensembles are used to form a constructed r_e profile, which is then compared to the in-cloud r_e profiles. For the polluted and intermediate cases where precipitation is negligible, the constructed r_e profiles represent the in-cloud r_e profiles fairly well with a low bias (about 10 %. The method used in Rosenfeld and Lensky (1998 is therefore validated for nonprecipitating shallow cumulus clouds. For the clean, drizzling case, the in-cloud r_e can be very large and highly variable, and quantitative profiling based on cloud-top r_e is less useful. The differences in r_e profiles between clean and polluted conditions derived in this manner are however, distinct. This study also investigates the subadiabatic characteristics of the simulated cumulus clouds to reveal the effect of mixing on r_e and its evolution. Results indicate that as polluted and moderately polluted clouds develop into their decaying stage, the subadiabatic fraction

Properties of Arctic Aerosol Particles and Residuals of Warm Clouds: Cloud Activation Efficiency and the Aerosol Indirect Effect

Science.gov (United States)

Zelenyuk, A.; Imre, D. G.; Leaitch, R.; Ovchinnikov, M.; Liu, P.; Macdonald, A.; Strapp, W.; Ghan, S. J.; Earle, M. E.

2012-12-01

Single particle mass spectrometer, SPLAT II, was used to characterize the size, composition, number concentration, density, and shape of individual Arctic spring aerosol. Background particles, particles above and below the cloud, cloud droplet residuals, and interstitial particles were characterized with goal to identify the properties that separate cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) from background aerosol particles. The analysis offers a comparison between warm clouds formed on clean and polluted days, with clean days having maximum particle concentrations (Na) lower than ~250 cm-3, as compared with polluted days, in which maximum concentration was tenfold higher. On clean days, particles were composed of organics, organics mixed with sulfates, biomass burning (BB), sea salt (SS), and few soot and dust particles. On polluted days, BB, organics associated with BB, and their mixtures with sulfate dominated particle compositions. Based on the measured compositions and size distributions of cloud droplet residuals, background aerosols, and interstitial particles, we conclude that these three particle types had virtually the same compositions, which means that cloud activation probabilities were surprisingly nearly composition independent. Moreover, these conclusions hold in cases in which less than 20% or more than 90% of background particles got activated. We concluded that for the warm clouds interrogated in this study particle size played a more important factor on aerosol CCN activity. Comparative analysis of all studied clouds reveals that aerosol activation efficiency strongly depends on the aerosol concentrations, such that at Na <200 cm-3, nearly all particles activate, and at higher concentrations the activation efficiency is lower. For example, when Na was greater than 1500 cm-3, less than ~30% of particles activated. The data suggest that as the number of nucleated droplets increases, condensation on existing droplets effectively competes with particle

The Effect of pH and High-Pressure Homogenization on Droplet Size

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ah Pis Yong

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aims of this study are to revisit the effect of high pressure on homogenization and the influence of pH on the emulsion droplet sizes. The high-pressure homogenization (HPH involves two stages of processing, where the first stage involves in blending the coarse emulsion by a blender, and the second stage requires disruption of the coarse emulsion into smaller droplets by a high-pressure homogenizer. The pressure range in this review is in between 10-500 MPa. The homogenised droplet sizes can be reduced by increasing the homogenization recirculation, and there is a threshold point beyond that by applying pressure only, the size cannot be further reduced. Normally, homogenised emulsions are classified by their degree of kinetic stability. Dispersed phase present in the form of droplets while continuous phase also known as suspended droplets. With a proper homogenization recirculation and pressure, a more kinetically stable emulsion can be produced. The side effects of increasing homogenization pressure are that it can cause overprocessing of the emulsion droplets where the droplet sizes become larger rather than the expected smaller size. This can cause kinetic instability in the emulsion. The droplet size is usually measured by dynamic light scattering or by laser light scattering technique. The type of samples used in this reviews are such as chocolate and vanilla based powders; mean droplet sizes samples; basil oil; tomato; lupin protein; oil; skim milk, soymilk; coconut milk; tomato homogenate; corn; egg-yolk, rapeseed and sunflower; Poly(4-vinylpyridine/silica; and Complex 1 until complex 4 approaches from author case study. A relationship is developed between emulsion size and pH. Results clearly show that lower pH offers smaller droplet of emulsion and the opposite occurs when the pH is increased.

A study of cloud microphysics and precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau by radar observations and cloud-resolving model simulations: Cloud Microphysics over Tibetan Plateau

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gao, Wenhua [State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing China; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland Washington USA; Sui, Chung-Hsiung [Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei Taiwan; Fan, Jiwen [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland Washington USA; Hu, Zhiqun [State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing China; Zhong, Lingzhi [State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing China

2016-11-27

Cloud microphysical properties and precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are unique because of the high terrains, clean atmosphere, and sufficient water vapor. With dual-polarization precipitation radar and cloud radar measurements during the Third Tibetan Plateau Atmospheric Scientific Experiment (TIPEX-III), the simulated microphysics and precipitation by the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) with the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences (CAMS) microphysics and other microphysical schemes are investigated through a typical plateau rainfall event on 22 July 2014. Results show that the WRF-CAMS simulation reasonably reproduces the spatial distribution of 24-h accumulated precipitation, but has limitations in simulating time evolution of precipitation rates. The model-calculated polarimetric radar variables have biases as well, suggesting bias in modeled hydrometeor types. The raindrop sizes in convective region are larger than those in stratiform region indicated by the small intercept of raindrop size distribution in the former. The sensitivity experiments show that precipitation processes are sensitive to the changes of warm rain processes in condensation and nucleated droplet size (but less sensitive to evaporation process). Increasing droplet condensation produces the best area-averaged rain rate during weak convection period compared with the observation, suggesting a considerable bias in thermodynamics in the baseline simulation. Increasing the initial cloud droplet size causes the rain rate reduced by half, an opposite effect to that of increasing droplet condensation.

Polarized View of Supercooled Liquid Water Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Alexandrov, Mikhail D.; Cairns, Brian; Van Diedenhoven, Bastiaan; Ackerman, Andrew S.; Wasilewski, Andrzej P.; McGill, Matthew J.; Yorks, John E.; Hlavka, Dennis L.; Platnick, Steven E.; Arnold, G. Thomas

2016-01-01

Supercooled liquid water (SLW) clouds, where liquid droplets exist at temperatures below 0 C present a well known aviation hazard through aircraft icing, in which SLW accretes on the airframe. SLW clouds are common over the Southern Ocean, and climate-induced changes in their occurrence is thought to constitute a strong cloud feedback on global climate. The two recent NASA field campaigns POlarimeter Definition EXperiment (PODEX, based in Palmdale, California, January-February 2013) and Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS, based in Houston, Texas in August- September 2013) provided a unique opportunity to observe SLW clouds from the high-altitude airborne platform of NASA's ER-2 aircraft. We present an analysis of measurements made by the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) during these experiments accompanied by correlative retrievals from other sensors. The RSP measures both polarized and total reflectance in 9 spectral channels with wavelengths ranging from 410 to 2250 nm. It is a scanning sensor taking samples at 0.8deg intervals within 60deg from nadir in both forward and backward directions. This unique angular resolution allows for characterization of liquid water droplet size using the rainbow structure observed in the polarized reflectances in the scattering angle range between 135deg and 165deg. Simple parametric fitting algorithms applied to the polarized reflectance provide retrievals of the droplet effective radius and variance assuming a prescribed size distribution shape (gamma distribution). In addition to this, we use a non-parametric method, Rainbow Fourier Transform (RFT),which allows retrieval of the droplet size distribution without assuming a size distribution shape. We present an overview of the RSP campaign datasets available from the NASA GISS website, as well as two detailed examples of the retrievals. In these case studies we focus on cloud fields with spatial features

Experimental investigation on the effect of liquid injection by multiple orifices in the formation of droplets in a Venturi scrubber

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guerra, V.G.; Goncalves, J.A.S. [Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Via Washington Luiz, Km. 235, 13565-905 Sao Carlos, SP (Brazil); Coury, J.R. [Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Via Washington Luiz, Km. 235, 13565-905 Sao Carlos, SP (Brazil)], E-mail: jcoury@ufscar.br

2009-01-15

Venturi scrubbers are widely utilized in gas cleaning. The cleansing elements in these scrubbers are droplets formed from the atomization of a liquid into a dust-laden gas. In industrial scrubbers, this liquid is injected through several orifices so that the cloud of droplets can be evenly distributed throughout the duct. The interaction between droplets when injected through many orifices, where opposite clouds of atomized liquid can reach each other, is to be expected. This work presents experimental measurements of droplet size measured in situ and the evidence of cloud interaction within a Venturi scrubber operating with multi-orifice jet injection. The influence of gas velocity, liquid flow rate and droplet size variation in the axial position after the point of the injection of the liquid were also evaluated for the different injection configurations. The experimental results showed that an increase in the liquid flow rate generated greater interaction between jets. The number of orifices had a significant influence on droplet size. In general, the increase in the velocity of the liquid jet and in the gas velocity favored the atomization process by reducing the size of the droplets.

Experimental investigation on the effect of liquid injection by multiple orifices in the formation of droplets in a Venturi scrubber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guerra, V.G.; Goncalves, J.A.S.; Coury, J.R.

2009-01-01

Venturi scrubbers are widely utilized in gas cleaning. The cleansing elements in these scrubbers are droplets formed from the atomization of a liquid into a dust-laden gas. In industrial scrubbers, this liquid is injected through several orifices so that the cloud of droplets can be evenly distributed throughout the duct. The interaction between droplets when injected through many orifices, where opposite clouds of atomized liquid can reach each other, is to be expected. This work presents experimental measurements of droplet size measured in situ and the evidence of cloud interaction within a Venturi scrubber operating with multi-orifice jet injection. The influence of gas velocity, liquid flow rate and droplet size variation in the axial position after the point of the injection of the liquid were also evaluated for the different injection configurations. The experimental results showed that an increase in the liquid flow rate generated greater interaction between jets. The number of orifices had a significant influence on droplet size. In general, the increase in the velocity of the liquid jet and in the gas velocity favored the atomization process by reducing the size of the droplets

Experimental investigation on the effect of liquid injection by multiple orifices in the formation of droplets in a Venturi scrubber.

Science.gov (United States)

Guerra, V G; Gonçalves, J A S; Coury, J R

2009-01-15

Venturi scrubbers are widely utilized in gas cleaning. The cleansing elements in these scrubbers are droplets formed from the atomization of a liquid into a dust-laden gas. In industrial scrubbers, this liquid is injected through several orifices so that the cloud of droplets can be evenly distributed throughout the duct. The interaction between droplets when injected through many orifices, where opposite clouds of atomized liquid can reach each other, is to be expected. This work presents experimental measurements of droplet size measured in situ and the evidence of cloud interaction within a Venturi scrubber operating with multi-orifice jet injection. The influence of gas velocity, liquid flow rate and droplet size variation in the axial position after the point of the injection of the liquid were also evaluated for the different injection configurations. The experimental results showed that an increase in the liquid flow rate generated greater interaction between jets. The number of orifices had a significant influence on droplet size. In general, the increase in the velocity of the liquid jet and in the gas velocity favored the atomization process by reducing the size of the droplets.

Parameterization of cloud droplet formation for global and regional models: including adsorption activation from insoluble CCN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Kumar

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Dust and black carbon aerosol have long been known to exert potentially important and diverse impacts on cloud droplet formation. Most studies to date focus on the soluble fraction of these particles, and overlook interactions of the insoluble fraction with water vapor (even if known to be hydrophilic. To address this gap, we developed a new parameterization that considers cloud droplet formation within an ascending air parcel containing insoluble (but wettable particles externally mixed with aerosol containing an appreciable soluble fraction. Activation of particles with a soluble fraction is described through well-established Köhler theory, while the activation of hydrophilic insoluble particles is treated by "adsorption-activation" theory. In the latter, water vapor is adsorbed onto insoluble particles, the activity of which is described by a multilayer Frenkel-Halsey-Hill (FHH adsorption isotherm modified to account for particle curvature. We further develop FHH activation theory to i find combinations of the adsorption parameters A_FHH, B_FHH which yield atmospherically-relevant behavior, and, ii express activation properties (critical supersaturation that follow a simple power law with respect to dry particle diameter.

The new parameterization is tested by comparing the parameterized cloud droplet number concentration against predictions with a detailed numerical cloud model, considering a wide range of particle populations, cloud updraft conditions, water vapor condensation coefficient and FHH adsorption isotherm characteristics. The agreement between parameterization and parcel model is excellent, with an average error of 10% and R²~0.98. A preliminary sensitivity study suggests that the sublinear response of droplet number to Köhler particle concentration is not as strong for FHH particles.

Sensitive and predictable separation of microfluidic droplets by size using in-line passive filter.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Ruihua; Ung, W Lloyd; Heyman, John A; Weitz, David A

2017-01-01

Active manipulation of droplets is crucial in droplet microfluidics. However, droplet polydispersity decreases the accuracy of active manipulation. We develop a microfluidic "droplet filter" that accurately separates droplets by size. The droplet filter has a sharp size cutoff and is capable of distinguishing droplets differing in volume by 20%. A simple model explains the behavior of the droplets as they pass through the filter. We show application of the filter in improving dielectric sorting efficiency.

Droplet size in flow: Theoretical model and application to polymer blends

Science.gov (United States)

Fortelný, Ivan; Jůza, Josef

2017-05-01

The paper is focused on prediction of the average droplet radius, R, in flowing polymer blends where the droplet size is determined by dynamic equilibrium between the droplet breakup and coalescence. Expressions for the droplet breakup frequency in systems with low and high contents of the dispersed phase are derived using available theoretical and experimental results for model blends. Dependences of the coalescence probability, Pc, on system parameters, following from recent theories, is considered and approximate equation for Pc in a system with a low polydispersity in the droplet size is proposed. Equations for R in systems with low and high contents of the dispersed phase are derived. Combination of these equations predicts realistic dependence of R on the volume fraction of dispersed droplets, φ. Theoretical prediction of the ratio of R to the critical droplet radius at breakup agrees fairly well with experimental values for steadily mixed polymer blends.

Temporal evolution of stable water isotopologues in cloud droplets in a hill cap cloud in central Europe (HCCT-2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. K. Spiegel

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In this work, we present the first study resolving the temporal evolution of δ²H and δ¹⁸O values in cloud droplets during 13 different cloud events. The cloud events were probed on a 937 m high mountain chain in Germany in the framework of the Hill Cap Cloud Thuringia 2010 campaign (HCCT-2010 in September and October 2010. The δ values of cloud droplets ranged from −77‰ to −15‰ (δ²H and from −12.1‰ to −3.9‰ (δ¹⁸O over the whole campaign. The cloud water line of the measured δ values was δ²H=7.8×δ¹⁸O+13×10⁻³, which is of similar slope, but with higher deuterium excess than other Central European Meteoric Water Lines. Decreasing δ values in the course of the campaign agree with seasonal trends observed in rain in central Europe. The deuterium excess was higher in clouds developing after recent precipitation revealing episodes of regional moisture recycling. The variations in δ values during one cloud event could either result from changes in meteorological conditions during condensation or from variations in the δ values of the water vapor feeding the cloud. To test which of both aspects dominated during the investigated cloud events, we modeled the variation in δ values in cloud water using a closed box model. We could show that the variation in δ values of two cloud events was mainly due to changes in local temperature conditions. For the other eleven cloud events, the variation was most likely caused by changes in the isotopic composition of the advected and entrained vapor. Frontal passages during two of the latter cloud events led to the strongest temporal changes in both δ²H (≈ 6‰ per hour and δ¹⁸O (≈ 0.6‰ per hour. Moreover, a detailed trajectory analysis for the two longest cloud events revealed that variations in the entrained vapor were most likely related to rain out or changes in relative

Temporal evolution of stable water isotopologues in cloud droplets in a hill cap cloud in central Europe (HCCT-2010)

Science.gov (United States)

Spiegel, J.K.; Aemisegger, F.; Scholl, M.; Wienhold, F.G.; Collett, J.L.; Lee, T.; van Pinxteren, D.; Mertes, S.; Tilgner, A.; Herrmann, H.; Werner, Roland A.; Buchmann, N.; Eugster, W.

2012-01-01

In this work, we present the first study resolving the temporal evolution of δ2H and δ18O values in cloud droplets during 13 different cloud events. The cloud events were probed on a 937 m high mountain chain in Germany in the framework of the Hill Cap Cloud Thuringia 2010 campaign (HCCT-2010) in September and October 2010. The δ values of cloud droplets ranged from −77‰ to −15‰ (δ2H) and from −12.1‰ to −3.9‰ (δ18O) over the whole campaign. The cloud water line of the measured δ values was δ2H=7.8×δ18O+13×10−3, which is of similar slope, but with higher deuterium excess than other Central European Meteoric Water Lines. Decreasing δ values in the course of the campaign agree with seasonal trends observed in rain in central Europe. The deuterium excess was higher in clouds developing after recent precipitation revealing episodes of regional moisture recycling. The variations in δ values during one cloud event could either result from changes in meteorological conditions during condensation or from variations in the δ values of the water vapor feeding the cloud. To test which of both aspects dominated during the investigated cloud events, we modeled the variation in δ values in cloud water using a closed box model. We could show that the variation in δ values of two cloud events was mainly due to changes in local temperature conditions. For the other eleven cloud events, the variation was most likely caused by changes in the isotopic composition of the advected and entrained vapor. Frontal passages during two of the latter cloud events led to the strongest temporal changes in both δ2H (≈ 6‰ per hour) and δ18O (≈ 0.6‰ per hour). Moreover, a detailed trajectory analysis for the two longest cloud events revealed that variations in the entrained vapor were most likely related to rain out or changes in relative humidity and temperature at the moisture source region or both. This study illustrates the sensitivity of stable isotope

Chemical characterization of individual particles and residuals of cloud droplets and ice crystals collected on board research aircraft in the ISDAC 2008 study

Science.gov (United States)

Hiranuma, N.; Brooks, S. D.; Moffet, R. C.; Glen, A.; Laskin, A.; Gilles, M. K.; Liu, P.; MacDonald, A. M.; Strapp, J. W.; McFarquhar, G. M.

2013-06-01

Ambient particles and the dry residuals of mixed-phase cloud droplets and ice crystals were collected during the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC) near Barrow, Alaska, in spring of 2008. The collected particles were analyzed using Computer Controlled Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis and Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy coupled with Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure spectroscopy to identify physico-chemical properties that differentiate cloud-nucleating particles from the total aerosol population. A wide range of individually mixed components was identified in the ambient particles and residuals including organic carbon compounds, inorganics, carbonates, and black carbon. Our results show that cloud droplet residuals differ from the ambient particles in both size and composition, suggesting that both properties may impact the cloud-nucleating ability of aerosols in mixed-phase clouds. The percentage of residual particles which contained carbonates (47%) was almost four times higher than those in ambient samples. Residual populations were also enhanced in sea salt and black carbon and reduced in organic compounds relative to the ambient particles. Further, our measurements suggest that chemical processing of aerosols may improve their cloud-nucleating ability. Comparison of results for various time periods within ISDAC suggests that the number and composition of cloud-nucleating particles over Alaska can be influenced by episodic events bringing aerosols from both the local vicinity and as far away as Siberia.

Cloud-edge mixing: Direct numerical simulation and observations in Indian Monsoon clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Bipin; Bera, Sudarsan; Prabha, Thara V.; Grabowski, Wojceich W.

2017-03-01

A direct numerical simulation (DNS) with the decaying turbulence setup has been carried out to study cloud-edge mixing and its impact on the droplet size distribution (DSD) applying thermodynamic conditions observed in monsoon convective clouds over Indian subcontinent during the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement EXperiment (CAIPEEX). Evaporation at the cloud-edges initiates mixing at small scale and gradually introduces larger-scale fluctuations of the temperature, moisture, and vertical velocity due to droplet evaporation. Our focus is on early evolution of simulated fields that show intriguing similarities to the CAIPEEX cloud observations. A strong dilution at the cloud edge, accompanied by significant spatial variations of the droplet concentration, mean radius, and spectral width, are found in both the DNS and in observations. In DNS, fluctuations of the mean radius and spectral width come from the impact of small-scale turbulence on the motion and evaporation of inertial droplets. These fluctuations decrease with the increase of the volume over which DNS data are averaged, as one might expect. In cloud observations, these fluctuations also come from other processes, such as entrainment/mixing below the observation level, secondary CCN activation, or variations of CCN activation at the cloud base. Despite large differences in the spatial and temporal scales, the mixing diagram often used in entrainment/mixing studies with aircraft data is remarkably similar for both DNS and cloud observations. We argue that the similarity questions applicability of heuristic ideas based on mixing between two air parcels (that the mixing diagram is designed to properly represent) to the evolution of microphysical properties during turbulent mixing between a cloud and its environment.

Size control of giant unilamellar vesicles prepared from inverted emulsion droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishimura, Kazuya; Suzuki, Hiroaki; Toyota, Taro; Yomo, Tetsuya

2012-06-15

The production of giant lipid vesicles with controlled size and structure will be an important technology in the design of quantitative biological assays in cell-mimetic microcompartments. For establishing size control of giant vesicles, we investigated the vesicle formation process, in which inverted emulsion droplets are transformed into giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) when they pass through an oil/water interface. The relationship between the size of the template emulsion and the converted GUVs was studied using inverted emulsion droplets with a narrow size distribution, which were prepared by microfluidics. We successfully found an appropriate centrifugal acceleration condition to obtain GUVs that had a desired size and narrow-enough size distribution with an improved yield so that emulsion droplets can become the template for GUVs. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Towards droplet size-aware biochemical application compilation for AM-EWOD biochips

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pop, Paul; Alistar, Mirela

2015-01-01

a droplet size-aware compilation by proposing a routing algorithm that considers the droplet size. Our routing algorithm is developed for a novel digital microfluidic biochip architecture based on Active Matrix Electrowetting on Dielectric, which uses a thin film transistor array for the electrodes. We also...

Cloud condensation nuclei droplet growth kinetics of ultrafine particles during anthropogenic nucleation events

Science.gov (United States)

Shantz, N. C.; Pierce, J. R.; Chang, R. Y.-W.; Vlasenko, A.; Riipinen, I.; Sjostedt, S.; Slowik, J. G.; Wiebe, A.; Liggio, J.; Abbatt, J. P. D.; Leaitch, W. R.

2012-02-01

Evolution of the cloud condensation nucleus (CCN) activity of 36 ± 4 nm diameter anthropogenic aerosol particles at a water supersaturation of 1.0 ± 0.1% is examined for particle nucleation and growth. During the early stages of one event, relatively few of the anthropogenic particles at 36 nm were CCN active and their growth rates by water condensation were delayed relative to ammonium sulphate particles. As the event progressed, the particle size distribution evolved to larger sizes and the relative numbers of particles at 36 nm that were CCN active increased until all the 36 nm particles were activating at the end of the event. Based on the chemistry of larger particles and the results from an aerosol chemical microphysics box model, the increase in CCN activity of the particles was most likely the result of the condensation of sulphate in this case. Despite the increased CCN activity, a delay was observed in the initial growth of these particles into cloud droplets, which persisted even when the aerosol was most CCN active later in the afternoon. Simulations show that the delay in water uptake is explained by a reduction of the mass accommodation coefficient assuming that the composition of the 36 nm particles is the same as the measured composition of the 60-100 nm particles.

A new laboratory facility to study the interactions of aerosols, cloud droplets/ice crystals, and trace gases in a turbulent environment: The Π Chamber

Science.gov (United States)

Cantrell, W. H., II; Chang, K.; Ciochetto, D.; Niedermeier, D.; Bench, J.; Shaw, R. A.

2014-12-01

A detailed understanding of gas-aerosol-cloud interaction within the turbulent atmosphere is of prime importance for an accurate understanding of Earth's climate system. As one example: While every cloud droplet began as an aerosol particle, not every aerosol particle becomes a cloud droplet. The particle to droplet transformation requires that the particle be exposed to some critical concentration of water vapor, which differs for different combinations of particle size and chemical composition. Similarly, the formation of ice particles in mixed phase clouds is also catalyzed by aerosol particles. Even in the simplest scenarios it is challenging to gain a full understanding of the aerosol activation and ice nucleation processes. At least two other factors contribute significantly to the complexity observed in the atmosphere. First, aerosols and cloud particles are not static entities, but are continuously interacting with their chemical environment, and therefore changing in their properties. Second, clouds are ubiquitously turbulent, so thermodynamic and compositional variables, such as water vapor or other trace gas concentrations, fluctuate in space and time. Indeed, the coupling between turbulence and microphysical processes is one of the major research challenges in cloud physics. We have developed a multiphase, turbulent reaction chamber, (dubbed the Π Chamber, after the internal volume of 3.14 cubic meters) designed to address the problems outlined above. It is capable of pressures ranging from sea level to ~ 100 mbar, and can sustain temperatures of +40 to -55 ºC. We can independently control the temperatures on the surfaces of three heat transfer zones. This allows us to establish a temperature gradient between the floor and ceiling inducing Rayleigh-Benard convection and inducing a turbulent environment. Interior surfaces are electropolished stainless steel to facilitate cleaning before and after chemistry experiments. At present, supporting

Retrievals and Comparisons of Various MODIS-Spectrum Inferred Water Cloud Droplet Effective Radii

Science.gov (United States)

Fu-Lung, Chang; Minnis, Patrick; Lin, Bin; Sunny, Sun-Mack; Khaiyer, Mandana M.

2007-01-01

Cloud droplet effective radius retrievals from different Aqua MODIS nearinfrared channels (2.1- micrometer, 3.7- micrometer, and 1.6- micrometer) show considerable differences even among most confident QC pixels. Both Collection 004 and Collection 005 MOD06 show smaller mean effective radii at 3.7- micrometer wavelength than at 2.1- micrometer and 1.6- micrometer wavelengths. Differences in effective radius retrievals between Collection 004 and Collection 005 may be affected by cloud top height/temperature differences, which mainly occur for optically thin clouds. Changes in cloud top height and temperature for thin clouds have different impacts on the effective radius retrievals from 2.1- micrometer, 3.7- micrometer, and 1.6- micrometer channels. Independent retrievals (this study) show, on average, more consistency in the three effective radius retrievals. This study is for Aqua MODIS only.

Strong Constraints on Aerosol-Cloud Interactions from Volcanic Eruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Malavelle, Florent F.; Haywood, Jim M.; Jones, Andy; Gettelman, Andrew; Clarisse, Lieven; Bauduin, Sophie; Allan, Richard P.; Karset, Inger Helene H.; Kristjansson, Jon Egill; Oreopoulos, Lazaros;

Biomass Burning Organic Aerosol as a Modulator of Droplet Number in the Southern Atlantic

Science.gov (United States)

Kacarab, M.; Howell, S. G.; Small Griswold, J. D.; Thornhill, K. L., II; Wood, R.; Redemann, J.; Nenes, A.

2017-12-01

Aerosols play a significant yet highly variable role in local and global air quality and climate. They act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and both scatter and absorb radiation, lending a large source of uncertainty to climate predictions. Biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) can drastically elevate CCN concentrations, but the response in cloud droplet number may be suppressed or even reversed due to low supersaturations that develop from strong competition for water vapor. Constraining droplet response to BBOA is a key factor to understanding aerosol-cloud interactions. The southeastern Atlantic (SEA) cloud deck off the west coast of central Africa is a prime opportunity to study these cloud-BBOA interactions for marine stratocumulus as during winter in the southern hemisphere the SEA cloud deck is overlain by a large, optically thick BBOA plume. The NASA ObseRvations of Aerosols above Clouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) study focuses on increasing the understanding of how these BBOA affect the SEA cloud deck. Measurements of CCN concentration, aerosol size distribution and composition, updraft velocities, and cloud droplet number in and around the SEA cloud deck and associated BBOA plume were taken aboard the NASA P-3 aircraft during the first two years of the ORACLES campaign in September 2016 and August 2017. Here we evaluate the predicted and observed droplet number sensitivity to the aerosol fluctuations and quantify, using the data, the drivers of droplet number variability (vertical velocity or aerosol properties) as a function of biomass burning plume characteristics. Over the course of the campaign, different levels of BBOA influence in the marine boundary layer (MBL) were observed, allowing for comparison of cloud droplet number, hygroscopicity parameter (κ), and maximum in-cloud supersaturation over a range of "clean" and "dirty" conditions. Droplet number sensitivity to aerosol concentration, κ, and vertical updraft velocities are also

Impacts of aerosol particles on the microphysical and radiative properties of stratocumulus clouds over the southeast Pacific Ocean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. H. Twohy

2013-03-01

liquid water paths there. Thus, larger scale forcings that impact cloud macrophysical properties, as well as enhanced aerosol particles, are important in determining cloud droplet size and cloud albedo. Differences in the size distribution of droplet residual particles and ambient aerosol particles were observed. By progressively excluding small droplets from the CVI sample, we were able to show that the larger drops, some of which may initiate drizzle, contain the largest aerosol particles. Geometric mean diameters of droplet residual particles were larger than those of the below-cloud and above cloud distributions. However, a wide range of particle sizes can act as droplet nuclei in these stratocumulus clouds. A detailed LES microphysical model was used to show that this can occur without invoking differences in chemical composition of cloud-nucleating particles.

Simultaneous measurement of monocomponent droplet temperature/refractive index, size and evaporation rate with phase rainbow refractometry

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yingchun; Crua, Cyril; Li, Haipeng; Saengkaew, Sawitree; Mädler, Lutz; Wu, Xuecheng; Gréhan, Gérard

2018-07-01

The accurate measurements of droplet temperature, size and evaporation rate are of great importance to characterize the heat and mass transfer during evaporation/condensation processes. The nanoscale size change of a micron-sized droplet exactly describes its transient mass transfer, but is difficult to measure because it is smaller than the resolutions of current size measurement techniques. The Phase Rainbow Refractometry (PRR) technique is developed and applied to measure droplet temperature, size and transient size changes and thereafter evaporation rate simultaneously. The measurement principle of PRR is theoretically derived, and it reveals that the phase shift of the time-resolved ripple structures linearly depends on, and can directly yield, nano-scale size changes of droplets. The PRR technique is first verified through the simulation of rainbows of droplets with changing size, and results show that PRR can precisely measure droplet refractive index, absolute size, as well as size change with absolute and relative errors within several nanometers and 0.6%, respectively, and thus PRR permits accurate measurements of transient droplet evaporation rates. The evaporations of flowing single n-nonane droplet and mono-dispersed n-heptane droplet stream are investigated by two PRR systems with a high speed linear CCD and a low speed array CCD, respectively. Their transient evaporation rates are experimentally determined and quantitatively agree well with the theoretical values predicted by classical Maxwell and Stefan-Fuchs models. With the demonstration of evaporation rate measurement of monocomponent droplet in this work, PRR is an ideal tool for measurements of transient droplet evaporation/condensation processes, and can be extended to multicomponent droplets in a wide range of industrially-relevant applications.

Influence of particle size and chemistry on the cloud nucleating properties of aerosols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. K. Quinn

2008-02-01

Full Text Available The ability of an aerosol particle to act as a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN is a function of the size of the particle, its composition and mixing state, and the supersaturation of the cloud. In-situ data from field studies provide a means to assess the relative importance of these parameters. During the 2006 Texas Air Quality – Gulf of Mexico Atmospheric Composition and Climate Study (TexAQS-GoMACCS, the NOAA RV Ronald H. Brown encountered a wide variety of aerosol types ranging from marine near the Florida panhandle to urban and industrial in the Houston-Galveston area. These varied sources provided an opportunity to investigate the role of aerosol sources and chemistry in the potential activation of particles to form cloud droplets. Measurements were made of CCN concentrations, aerosol chemical composition in the size range relevant for particle activation in warm clouds, and aerosol size distributions. Variability in aerosol composition was parameterized by the mass fraction of Hydrocarbon-like Organic Aerosol (HOA for particle diameters less than 200 nm (vacuum aerodynamic. The HOA mass fraction in this size range was lowest for marine aerosol and highest for aerosol sampled close to anthropogenic sources. Combining all data from the experiment reveals that composition (defined by HOA mass fraction explains 40% of the variance in the critical diameter for particle activation at the instrumental supersaturation (S of 0.44%. Correlations between HOA mass fraction and aerosol mean diameter show that these two parameters are essentially independent of one another for this data set. We conclude that, based on the variability of the HOA mass fraction observed during TexAQS-GoMACCS, variability in particle composition played a significant role in determining the fraction of particles that could activate to form cloud droplets. Using a simple model based on Köhler theory and the assumption that HOA is insoluble, we estimate the

Development of a cloud microphysical model and parameterizations to describe the effect of CCN on warm cloud

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Kuba

2006-01-01

Full Text Available First, a hybrid cloud microphysical model was developed that incorporates both Lagrangian and Eulerian frameworks to study quantitatively the effect of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN on the precipitation of warm clouds. A parcel model and a grid model comprise the cloud model. The condensation growth of CCN in each parcel is estimated in a Lagrangian framework. Changes in cloud droplet size distribution arising from condensation and coalescence are calculated on grid points using a two-moment bin method in a semi-Lagrangian framework. Sedimentation and advection are estimated in the Eulerian framework between grid points. Results from the cloud model show that an increase in the number of CCN affects both the amount and the area of precipitation. Additionally, results from the hybrid microphysical model and Kessler's parameterization were compared. Second, new parameterizations were developed that estimate the number and size distribution of cloud droplets given the updraft velocity and the number of CCN. The parameterizations were derived from the results of numerous numerical experiments that used the cloud microphysical parcel model. The input information of CCN for these parameterizations is only several values of CCN spectrum (they are given by CCN counter for example. It is more convenient than conventional parameterizations those need values concerned with CCN spectrum, C and k in the equation of N=CSk, or, breadth, total number and median radius, for example. The new parameterizations' predictions of initial cloud droplet size distribution for the bin method were verified by using the aforesaid hybrid microphysical model. The newly developed parameterizations will save computing time, and can effectively approximate components of cloud microphysics in a non-hydrostatic cloud model. The parameterizations are useful not only in the bin method in the regional cloud-resolving model but also both for a two-moment bulk microphysical model and

Microphysical processing of aerosol particles in orographic clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Pousse-Nottelmann, S.; Zubler, E. M.; Lohmann, U.

2015-08-01

An explicit and detailed treatment of cloud-borne particles allowing for the consideration of aerosol cycling in clouds has been implemented into COSMO-Model, the regional weather forecast and climate model of the Consortium for Small-scale Modeling (COSMO). The effects of aerosol scavenging, cloud microphysical processing and regeneration upon cloud evaporation on the aerosol population and on subsequent cloud formation are investigated. For this, two-dimensional idealized simulations of moist flow over two bell-shaped mountains were carried out varying the treatment of aerosol scavenging and regeneration processes for a warm-phase and a mixed-phase orographic cloud. The results allowed us to identify different aerosol cycling mechanisms. In the simulated non-precipitating warm-phase cloud, aerosol mass is incorporated into cloud droplets by activation scavenging and released back to the atmosphere upon cloud droplet evaporation. In the mixed-phase cloud, a first cycle comprises cloud droplet activation and evaporation via the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen (WBF) process. A second cycle includes below-cloud scavenging by precipitating snow particles and snow sublimation and is connected to the first cycle via the riming process which transfers aerosol mass from cloud droplets to snowflakes. In the simulated mixed-phase cloud, only a negligible part of the total aerosol mass is incorporated into ice crystals. Sedimenting snowflakes reaching the surface remove aerosol mass from the atmosphere. The results show that aerosol processing and regeneration lead to a vertical redistribution of aerosol mass and number. Thereby, the processes impact the total aerosol number and mass and additionally alter the shape of the aerosol size distributions by enhancing the internally mixed/soluble Aitken and accumulation mode and generating coarse-mode particles. Concerning subsequent cloud formation at the second mountain, accounting for aerosol processing and regeneration increases

Microphysical processing of aerosol particles in orographic clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Pousse-Nottelmann

2015-08-01

aerosol cycling in clouds has been implemented into COSMO-Model, the regional weather forecast and climate model of the Consortium for Small-scale Modeling (COSMO. The effects of aerosol scavenging, cloud microphysical processing and regeneration upon cloud evaporation on the aerosol population and on subsequent cloud formation are investigated. For this, two-dimensional idealized simulations of moist flow over two bell-shaped mountains were carried out varying the treatment of aerosol scavenging and regeneration processes for a warm-phase and a mixed-phase orographic cloud. The results allowed us to identify different aerosol cycling mechanisms. In the simulated non-precipitating warm-phase cloud, aerosol mass is incorporated into cloud droplets by activation scavenging and released back to the atmosphere upon cloud droplet evaporation. In the mixed-phase cloud, a first cycle comprises cloud droplet activation and evaporation via the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen (WBF process. A second cycle includes below-cloud scavenging by precipitating snow particles and snow sublimation and is connected to the first cycle via the riming process which transfers aerosol mass from cloud droplets to snowflakes. In the simulated mixed-phase cloud, only a negligible part of the total aerosol mass is incorporated into ice crystals. Sedimenting snowflakes reaching the surface remove aerosol mass from the atmosphere. The results show that aerosol processing and regeneration lead to a vertical redistribution of aerosol mass and number. Thereby, the processes impact the total aerosol number and mass and additionally alter the shape of the aerosol size distributions by enhancing the internally mixed/soluble Aitken and accumulation mode and generating coarse-mode particles. Concerning subsequent cloud formation at the second mountain, accounting for aerosol processing and regeneration increases the cloud droplet number concentration with possible implications for the ice crystal number

submitter Aqueous phase oxidation of sulphur dioxide by ozone in cloud droplets

CERN Document Server

Hoyle, C R; Järvinen, E; Saathoff, H; Dias, A; El Haddad, I; Gysel, M; Coburn, S C; Tröstl, J; Bernhammer, A -K; Bianchi, F; Breitenlechner, M; Corbin, J C; Craven, J; Donahue, N M; Duplissy, J; Ehrhart, S; Frege, C; Gordon, H; Höppel, N; Heinritzi, M; Kristensen, T B; Molteni, U; Nichman, L; Pinterich, T; Prévôt, A S H; Simon, M; Slowik, J G; Steiner, G; Tomé, A; Vogel, A L; Volkamer, R; Wagner, A C; Wagner, R; Wexler, A S; Williamson, C; Winkler, P M; Yan, C; Amorim, A; Dommen, J; Curtius, J; Gallagher, M W; Flagan, R C; Hansel, A; Kirkby, J; Kulmala, M; Möhler, O; Stratmann, F; Worsnop, D R; Baltensperger, U

2016-01-01

The growth of aerosol due to the aqueous phase oxidation of sulfur dioxide by ozone was measured in laboratory-generated clouds created in the Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets (CLOUD) chamber at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Experiments were performed at 10 and −10 °C, on acidic (sulfuric acid) and on partially to fully neutralised (ammonium sulfate) seed aerosol. Clouds were generated by performing an adiabatic expansion – pressurising the chamber to 220 hPa above atmospheric pressure, and then rapidly releasing the excess pressure, resulting in a cooling, condensation of water on the aerosol and a cloud lifetime of approximately 6 min. A model was developed to compare the observed aerosol growth with that predicted using oxidation rate constants previously measured in bulk solutions. The model captured the measured aerosol growth very well for experiments performed at 10 and −10 °C, indicating that, in contrast to some previous studies, the oxidation rates of SO2 in ...

Micrometer-sized TPM emulsion droplets with surface-mobile binding groups

Science.gov (United States)

van der Wel, Casper; van de Stolpe, Guido L.; Verweij, Ruben W.; Kraft, Daniela J.

2018-03-01

Colloids coated with lipid membranes have been widely employed for fundamental studies of lipid membrane processes, biotechnological applications such as drug delivery and biosensing, and more recently, for self-assembly. The latter has been made possible by inserting DNA oligomers with covalently linked hydrophobic anchors into the membrane. The lateral mobility of the DNA linkers on micrometer-sized droplets and solid particles has opened the door to creating structures with unprecedented structural flexibility. Here, we investigate micro-emulsions of TPM (3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate) as a platform for lipid monolayers and further functionalization with proteins and DNA oligonucleotides. TPM droplets can be produced with a narrow size distribution and are polymerizable, thus providing supports for model lipid membranes with controlled size and curvature. With fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, we observed that droplet-attached lipids, NeutrAvidin proteins, as well as DNA oligonucleotides all show mobility on the surface. We explored the assembly of micron-sized particles on TPM-droplets by exploiting either avidin-biotin interactions or double-stranded DNA with complementary single-stranded end groups. While the single molecules are mobile, the particles that are attached to them are not. We propose that this is caused by the heterogeneous nature of emulsified TPM, which forms an oligomer network that limits the collective motion of linkers, but allows the surface mobility of individual molecules.

Impact of MIE-Resonances on the Atmospheric Absorption of Water Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Wiscombe, W.; Kinne, S.; Nussenzveig, H.; Lau, William K. M. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Clouds strongly modulate radiative transfer processes in the Earth's atmosphere. Studies, which simulate bulk properties of clouds, such as absorption, require methods that accurately account for multiple scattering among individual cloud particles. Multiple scattering processes are well described by MIE-theory, if interacting particles have a spherical shape. This is a good assumption for water droplets. Thus, simulations for water clouds (especially for interactions with solar radiation) usually apply readily available MIE-codes. The presence of different drop-sizes, however, necessitates repetitive calculations for many sizes. The usual representation by a few sizes is likely to miss contributions from densely distributed, sharp resonances. Despite their usually narrow width, integrated over the entire size-spectrum of a cloud droplet distribution, the impact of missed resonances could add up. The consideration of these resonances tends to increase cloud extinction and cloud absorption. This mechanism for a larger (than by MIE-methods predicted) solar absorption has the potential to explain observational evidence of larger than predicted cloud absorption at solar wavelengths. The presentation will address the absorption impact of added resonances for typical properties of water clouds (e.g. drop size distributions, drop concentrations and cloud geometry). Special attention will be given to scenarios with observational evidence of law than simulated solar absorption; particularly if simultaneous measurements of cloud micro- and macrophysical properties are available.

Contrasting Cloud Composition Between Coupled and Decoupled Marine Boundary Layer Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

WANG, Z.; Mora, M.; Dadashazar, H.; MacDonald, A.; Crosbie, E.; Bates, K. H.; Coggon, M. M.; Craven, J. S.; Xian, P.; Campbell, J. R.; AzadiAghdam, M.; Woods, R. K.; Jonsson, H.; Flagan, R. C.; Seinfeld, J.; Sorooshian, A.

2016-12-01

Marine stratocumulus clouds often become decoupled from the vertical layer immediately above the ocean surface. This study contrasts cloud chemical composition between coupled and decoupled marine stratocumulus clouds. Cloud water and droplet residual particle composition were measured in clouds off the California coast during three airborne experiments in July-August of separate years (E-PEACE 2011, NiCE 2013, BOAS 2015). Decoupled clouds exhibited significantly lower overall mass concentrations in both cloud water and droplet residual particles, consistent with reduced cloud droplet number concentration and sub-cloud aerosol (Dp > 100 nm) number concentration, owing to detachment from surface sources. Non-refractory sub-micrometer aerosol measurements show that coupled clouds exhibit higher sulfate mass fractions in droplet residual particles, owing to more abundant precursor emissions from the ocean and ships. Consequently, decoupled clouds exhibited higher mass fractions of organics, nitrate, and ammonium in droplet residual particles, owing to effects of long-range transport from more distant sources. Total cloud water mass concentration in coupled clouds was dominated by sodium and chloride, and their mass fractions and concentrations exceeded those in decoupled clouds. Conversely, with the exception of sea salt constituents (e.g., Cl, Na, Mg, K), cloud water mass fractions of all species examined were higher in decoupled clouds relative to coupled clouds. These results suggest that an important variable is the extent to which clouds are coupled to the surface layer when interpreting microphysical data relevant to clouds and aerosol particles.

Velocity and size distribution measurement of suspension droplets using PDPA technique

Science.gov (United States)

Amiri, Shahin; Akbarnozari, Ali; Moreau, Christian; Dolatabadi, Ali

2015-11-01

The creation of fine and uniform droplets from a bulk of liquid is a vital process in a variety of engineering applications, such as atomization in suspension plasma spray (SPS) in which the submicron coating materials are injected to the plasma gas through the suspension droplets. The size and velocity of these droplets has a great impact on the interaction of the suspension with the gas flow emanating from a plasma torch and can consequently affect the mechanical and chemical properties of the resultant coatings. In the current study, an aqueous suspension of small glass particles (2-8 μm) was atomized by utilizing an effervescent atomizer of 1 mm orifice diameter which involves bubbling gas (air) directly into the liquid stream. The gas to liquid ratio (GLR) was kept constant at 6% throughout this study. The mass concentration of glass particles varied in the range between 0.5 to 5% in order to investigate the effect of suspension viscosity and surface tension on the droplet characteristics, such as velocity and size distributions. These characteristics were simultaneously measured by using a non-intrusive optical technique, Phase Doppler Particle Anemometry (PDPA), which is based on the light signal scattered from the droplets moving in a measurement volume. The velocity and size distribution of suspension droplets were finally compared to those of distilled water under identical conditions. The results showed a different atomization behaviors due to the reduction in surface tension of the suspension spray.

THE MASS-SIZE RELATION FROM CLOUDS TO CORES. II. SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD CLOUDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kauffmann, J.; Shetty, R.; Goodman, A. A.; Pillai, T.; Myers, P. C.

2010-01-01

We measure the mass and size of cloud fragments in several molecular clouds continuously over a wide range of spatial scales (0.05 ∼ 2 , is not well suited to describe the derived mass-size data. Solar neighborhood clouds not forming massive stars (∼ sun ; Pipe Nebula, Taurus, Perseus, and Ophiuchus) obey m(r) ≤ 870 M sun (r/pc) 1.33 . In contrast to this, clouds forming massive stars (Orion A, G10.15 - 0.34, G11.11 - 0.12) do exceed the aforementioned relation. Thus, this limiting mass-size relation may approximate a threshold for the formation of massive stars. Across all clouds, cluster-forming cloud fragments are found to be-at given radius-more massive than fragments devoid of clusters. The cluster-bearing fragments are found to roughly obey a mass-size law m ∝ r 1.27 (where the exponent is highly uncertain in any given cloud, but is certainly smaller than 1.5).

Constraining Aerosol-Cloud-Precipitation Interactions of Orographic Mixed-Phase Clouds with Trajectory Budgets

Science.gov (United States)

Glassmeier, F.; Lohmann, U.

2016-12-01

Orographic precipitation is prone to strong aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions because the time for precipitation development is limited to the ascending section of mountain flow. At the same time, cloud microphysical development is constraint by the strong dynamical forcing of the orography. In this contribution, we discuss how changes in the amount and composition of droplet- and ice-forming aerosols influence precipitation in idealized simulations of stratiform orographic mixed-phase clouds. We find that aerosol perturbations trigger compensating responses of different precipitation formation pathways. The effect of aerosols is thus buffered. We explain this buffering by the requirement to fulfill aerosol-independent dynamical constraints. For our simulations, we use the regional atmospheric model COSMO-ART-M7 in a 2D setup with a bell-shaped mountain. The model is coupled to a 2-moment warm and cold cloud microphysics scheme. Activation and freezing rates are parameterized based on prescribed aerosol fields that are varied in number, size and composition. Our analysis is based on the budget of droplet water along trajectories of cloud parcels. The budget equates condensation as source term with precipitation formation from autoconversion, accretion, riming and the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process as sink terms. Condensation, and consequently precipitation formation, is determined by dynamics and largely independent of the aerosol conditions. An aerosol-induced change in the number of droplets or crystals perturbs the droplet budget by affecting precipitation formation processes. We observe that this perturbation triggers adjustments in liquid and ice water content that re-equilibrate the budget. As an example, an increase in crystal number triggers a stronger glaciation of the cloud and redistributes precipitation formation from collision-coalescence to riming and from riming to vapor deposition. We theoretically confirm the dominant effect of water

Numerical analyses of flashing jet structure and droplet size characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Riqiang; Jiang Shengyao; Koshizuka, Seiichi; Oka, Yoshiaki; Yamaguchi, Akira; Takata, Takashi

2006-01-01

In this paper, flashing jets are numerically simulated using the MPS method. The boiling mode for flashing is identified as surface boiling mode, based on the postulation of jets from a short nozzle under high depressurization. The Homogeneous Non-equilibrium Relaxation Model (HRM) is used for calculating the evaporation rate of flashing. The numerical simulation results show that flashing jets comprise an inner intact core which is surrounded by two-phase droplet flow. The effect of degree of superheat on the jet topological geometry is investigated. With increasing degree of superheat, the topological shape of flashing jets evolves from cylindrical core for low degree of superheat to cone-shaped core for high degree of superheat, and meanwhile the extinction length comes to decrease and tends asymptotically constant as the injection temperature approaches the saturation temperature corresponding to the injection pressure. The analyses of the droplet size distribution engendered from primary breakup of flashing jets show that: two peaks exist for droplet size distribution at lower degree of superheat; however, merely one peak for higher degree of superheat. From droplet size distribution, it is revealed that the primary breakup mechanism of flashing jets can be attributed to dominant mechanical breakup mode plus enhancement via surface evaporation. (author)

Distribution of droplet sizes for seed solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marwah, R.K.; Dixit, N.S.; Venkataramani, N.; Rohatgi, V.K.

In open cycle MHD power generation, power is generated by passing seeded hot combustion products of a fossil fuel through a magnetic field. Seeding is done with a salt which is readily ionizable, preferably in the form of an aqueous solution, such as potassium carbonate, potassium sulphate, etc. Methods of atomization and the theoretical drop size calculations are presented. Basic parameters necessary for droplet size determination and their measurement are also described. (K.B.)

Approach for measuring the chemistry of individual particles in the size range critical for cloud formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zauscher, Melanie D; Moore, Meagan J K; Lewis, Gregory S; Hering, Susanne V; Prather, Kimberly A

2011-03-15

Aerosol particles, especially those ranging from 50 to 200 nm, strongly impact climate by serving as nuclei upon which water condenses and cloud droplets form. However, the small number of analytical methods capable of measuring the composition of particles in this size range, particularly at the individual particle level, has limited our knowledge of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) composition and hence our understanding of aerosols effect on climate. To obtain more insight into particles in this size range, we developed a method which couples a growth tube (GT) to an ultrafine aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UF-ATOFMS), a combination that allows in situ measurements of the composition of individual particles as small as 38 nm. The growth tube uses water to grow particles to larger sizes so they can be optically detected by the UF-ATOFMS, extending the size range to below 100 nm with no discernible changes in particle composition. To gain further insight into the temporal variability of aerosol chemistry and sources, the GT-UF-ATOFMS was used for online continuous measurements over a period of 3 days.

Observational study of the relationship between entrainment rate and relative dispersion in deep convective clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Xiaohao; Lu, Chunsong; Zhao, Tianliang; Liu, Yangang; Zhang, Guang Jun; Luo, Shi

2018-01-01

This study investigates the influence of entrainment rate (λ) on relative dispersion (ε) of cloud droplet size distributions (CDSD) in the 99 growing precipitating deep convective clouds during TOGA-COARE. The results show that entrainment suppresses ε, which is opposite to the traditional understanding that entrainment-mixing broadens CDSD. To examine how the relationship between ε and λ is affected by droplets with different sizes, CDSDs are divided into three portions with droplet radius processes is developed to illustrate the possible scenarios entailing different relationships between ε and λ. The number concentration of small droplets and the degree of evaporation of small droplets are found to be key factors that shift the sign (i.e., positive or negative) of the ε-λ relationship.

Droplet size characteristics and energy input requirements of emulsions formed using high-intensity-pulsed electric fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, T.C.; Sisson, W.G.

1987-01-01

Experimental methods have been developed to measure droplet size characteristics and energy inputs associated with the rupture of aqueous droplets by high-intensity-pulsed electric fields. The combination of in situ microscope optics and high-speed video cameras allows reliable observation of liquid droplets down to 0.5 μm in size. Videotapes of electric-field-created emulsions reveal that average droplet sizes of less than 5 μm are easily obtained in such systems. Analysis of the energy inputs into the fluids indicates that the electric field method requires less than 1% of the energy required from mechanical agitation to create comparable droplet sizes. 11 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs

Local Interactions of Hydrometeors by Diffusion in Mixed-Phase Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Baumgartner, Manuel; Spichtinger, Peter

2017-04-01

Mixed-phase clouds, containing both ice particles and liquid droplets, are important for the Earth-Atmosphere system. They modulate the radiation budget by a combination of albedo effect and greenhouse effect. In contrast to liquid water clouds, the radiative impact of clouds containing ice particles is still uncertain. Scattering and absorption highly depends in microphysical properties of ice crystals, e.g. size and shape. In addition, most precipitation on Earth forms via the ice phase. Thus, better understanding of ice processes as well as their representation in models is required. A key process for determining shape and size of ice crystals is diffusional growth. Diffusion processes in mixed-phase clouds are highly uncertain; in addition they are usually highly simplified in cloud models, especially in bulk microphysics parameterizations. The direct interaction between cloud droplets and ice particles, due to spatial inhomogeneities, is ignored; the particles can only interact via their environmental conditions. Local effects as supply of supersaturation due to clusters of droplets around ice particles are usually not represented, although they form the physical basis of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process. We present direct numerical simulations of the interaction of single ice particles and droplets, especially their local competition for the available water vapor. In addition, we show an approach to parameterize local interactions by diffusion. The suggested parameterization uses local steady-state solutions of the diffusion equations for water vapor for an ice particle as well as a droplet. The individual solutions are coupled together to obtain the desired interaction. We show some results of the scheme as implemented in a parcel model.

Droplet activation, separation, and compositional analysis: laboratory studies and atmospheric measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Hiranuma, N.; Kohn, M.; Pekour, M. S.; Nelson, D. A.; Shilling, J. E.; Cziczo, D. J.

2011-10-01

Droplets produced in a cloud condensation nuclei chamber (CCNC) as a function of supersaturation have been separated from unactivated aerosol particles using counterflow virtual impaction. Residual material after droplets were evaporated was chemically analyzed with an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and the Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) instrument. Experiments were initially conducted to verify activation conditions for monodisperse ammonium sulfate particles and to determine the resulting droplet size distribution as a function of supersaturation. Based on the observed droplet size, the counterflow virtual impactor cut-size was set to differentiate droplets from unactivated interstitial particles. Validation experiments were then performed to verify that only droplets with sufficient size passed through the counterflow virtual impactor for subsequent analysis. A two-component external mixture of monodisperse particles was also exposed to a supersaturation which would activate one of the types (hygroscopic salts) but not the other (polystyrene latex spheres or adipic acid). The mass spectrum observed after separation indicated only the former, validating separation of droplets from unactivated particles. Results from ambient measurements using this technique and AMS analysis were inconclusive, showing little chemical differentiation between ambient aerosol and activated droplet residuals, largely due to low signal levels. When employing as single particle mass spectrometer for compositional analysis, however, we observed enhancement of sulfate in droplet residuals.

Global simulations of aerosol processing in clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Hoose

2008-12-01

Full Text Available An explicit and detailed representation of in-droplet and in-crystal aerosol particles in stratiform clouds has been introduced in the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM. The new scheme allows an evaluation of the cloud cycling of aerosols and an estimation of the relative contributions of nucleation and collision scavenging, as opposed to evaporation of hydrometeors in the global aerosol processing by clouds. On average an aerosol particle is cycled through stratiform clouds 0.5 times. The new scheme leads to important changes in the simulated fraction of aerosol scavenged in clouds, and consequently in the aerosol wet deposition. In general, less aerosol is scavenged into clouds with the new prognostic treatment than what is prescribed in standard ECHAM5-HAM. Aerosol concentrations, size distributions, scavenged fractions and cloud droplet concentrations are evaluated and compared to different observations. While the scavenged fraction and the aerosol number concentrations in the marine boundary layer are well represented in the new model, aerosol optical thickness, cloud droplet number concentrations in the marine boundary layer and the aerosol volume in the accumulation and coarse modes over the oceans are overestimated. Sensitivity studies suggest that a better representation of below-cloud scavenging, higher in-cloud collision coefficients, or a reduced water uptake by seasalt aerosols could reduce these biases.

Stochastic coalescence in Lagrangian cloud microphysics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Dziekan

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Stochasticity of the collisional growth of cloud droplets is studied using the super-droplet method (SDM of Shima et al.(2009. Statistics are calculated from ensembles of simulations of collision–coalescence in a single well-mixed cell. The SDM is compared with direct numerical simulations and the master equation. It is argued that SDM simulations in which one computational droplet represents one real droplet are at the same level of precision as the master equation. Such simulations are used to study fluctuations in the autoconversion time, the sol–gel transition and the growth rate of lucky droplets, which is compared with a theoretical prediction. The size of the coalescence cell is found to strongly affect system behavior. In small cells, correlations in droplet sizes and droplet depletion slow down rain formation. In large cells, collisions between raindrops are more frequent and this can also slow down rain formation. The increase in the rate of collision between raindrops may be an artifact caused by assuming an overly large well-mixed volume. The highest ratio of rain water to cloud water is found in cells of intermediate sizes. Next, we use these precise simulations to determine the validity of more approximate methods: the Smoluchowski equation and the SDM with multiplicities greater than 1. In the latter, we determine how many computational droplets are necessary to correctly model the expected number and the standard deviation of the autoconversion time. The maximal size of a volume that is turbulently well mixed with respect to coalescence is estimated at Vmix  =  1.5  ×  10−2 cm3. The Smoluchowski equation is not valid in such small volumes. It is argued that larger volumes can be considered approximately well mixed, but such approximation needs to be supported by a comparison with fine-grid simulations that resolve droplet motion.

Cryogen spray cooling: Effects of droplet size and spray density on heat removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Pikkula, B M; Torres, J H; Tunnell, J W; Anvari, B

2001-01-01

Cryogen spray cooling (CSC) is an effective method to reduce or eliminate non-specific injury to the epidermis during laser treatment of various dermatological disorders. In previous CSC investigations, fuel injectors have been used to deliver the cryogen onto the skin surface. The objective of this study was to examine cryogen atomization and heat removal characteristics of various cryogen delivery devices. Various cryogen delivery device types including fuel injectors, atomizers, and a device currently used in clinical settings were investigated. Cryogen mass was measured at the delivery device output orifice. Cryogen droplet size profiling for various cryogen delivery devices was estimated by optically imaging the droplets in flight. Heat removal for various cryogen delivery devices was estimated over a range of spraying distances by temperature measurements in an skin phantom used in conjunction with an inverse heat conduction model. A substantial range of mass outputs were measured for the cryogen delivery devices while heat removal varied by less than a factor of two. Droplet profiling demonstrated differences in droplet size and spray density. Results of this study show that variation in heat removal by different cryogen delivery devices is modest despite the relatively large difference in cryogen mass output and droplet size. A non-linear relationship between heat removal by various devices and droplet size and spray density was observed. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Time dependent charging of layer clouds in the global electric circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Limin; Tinsley, Brian A.

2012-09-01

There is much observational data consistent with the hypothesis that the ionosphere-earth current density (Jz) in the global electric circuit, which is modulated by both solar activity and thunderstorm activity, affects atmospheric dynamics and cloud cover. One candidate mechanism involves Jz causing the accumulation of space charge on droplets and aerosol particles, that affects the rate of scavenging of the latter, notably those of Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) and Ice Forming Nuclei (IFN) (Tinsley, 2008, 2010). Space charge is the difference, per unit volume, between total positive and total negative electrical charge that is on droplets, aerosol particles (including the CCN and IFN) and air ions. The cumulative effects of the scavenging in stratiform clouds and aerosol layers in an air mass over the lifetime of the aerosol particles of 1-10 days affects the concentration and size distribution of the CCN, so that in subsequent episodes of cloud formation (including deep convective clouds) there can be effects on droplet size distribution, coagulation, precipitation processes, and even storm dynamics.Because the time scales for charging for some clouds can be long compared to cloud lifetimes, the amount of charge at a given time, and its effect on scavenging, depend more on the charging rate than on the equilibrium charge that would eventually be attained. To evaluate this, a new time-dependent charging model has been developed. The results show that for typical altostratus clouds with typical droplet radii 10 μm and aerosol particles of radius of 0.04 μm, the time constant for charging in response to a change in Jz is about 800 s, which is comparable to cloud formation and dissipation timescales for some cloud situations. The charging timescale is found to be strong functions of altitude and aerosol concentration, with the time constant for droplet charging at 2 km in air with a high concentration of aerosols being about an hour, and for clouds at 10 km in

Resolving both entrainment-mixing and number of activated CCN in deep convective clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Freud

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The number concentration of activated CCN (N_a is the most fundamental microphysical property of a convective cloud. It determines the rate of droplet growth with cloud depth and conversion into precipitation-sized particles and affects the radiative properties of the clouds. However, measuring N_a is not always possible, even in the cores of the convective clouds, because entrainment of sub-saturated ambient air deeper into the cloud lowers the concentrations by dilution and may cause partial or total droplet evaporation, depending on whether the mixing is homogeneous or extreme inhomogeneous, respectively.

Here we describe a methodology to derive N_a based on the rate of cloud droplet effective radius (R_e growth with cloud depth and with respect to the cloud mixing with the entrained ambient air. We use the slope of the tight linear relationship between the adiabatic liquid water mixing ratio and R_e³ (or R_v³ to derive an upper limit for N_a assuming extreme inhomogeneous mixing. Then we tune N_a down to find the theoretical relative humidity that the entrained ambient air would have for each horizontal cloud penetration, in case of homogeneous mixing. This allows us to evaluate both the entrainment and mixing process in the vertical dimension in addition to getting a better estimation for N_a.

We found that the derived N_a from the entire profile data is highly correlated with the independent CCN measurements from below cloud base. Moreover, it was found that mixing of sub-saturated ambient air into the cloud at scales of ~100 m and above is inclined towards the extreme inhomogeneous limit, i.e. that the time scale of droplet evaporation is significantly smaller than that for turbulent mixing. This means that ambient air that entrains

The Role of Aerosols on Precipitation Processes: Cloud Resolving Model Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Wei-Kuo; Li, X.; Matsui, T.

2012-01-01

Cloud microphysics is inevitably affected by the smoke particle (CCN, cloud condensation nuclei) size distributions below the clouds. Therefore, size distributions parameterized as spectral bin microphysics are needed to explicitly study the effects of atmospheric aerosol concentration on cloud development, rainfall production, and rainfall rates for convective clouds. Recently, a detailed spectral-bin microphysical scheme was implemented into the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble (GCE) model. The formulation for the explicit spectral bin microphysical processes is based on solving stochastic kinetic equations for the size distribution functions of water droplets (i.e., cloud droplets and raindrops), and several types of ice particles [i.e. pristine ice crystals (columnar and plate-like), snow (dendrites and aggregates), graupel and frozen drops/hail]. Each type is described by a special size distribution function containing many categories (i.e., 33 bins). Atmospheric aerosols are also described using number density size-distribution functions. The model is tested by studying the evolution of deep cloud systems in the west Pacific warm pool region, the sub-tropics (Florida) and midlatitudes using identical thermodynamic conditions but with different concentrations of CCN: a low "clean" concentration and a high "dirty" concentration. Results indicate that the low CCN concentration case produces rainfall at the surface sooner than the high CeN case but has less cloud water mass aloft. Because the spectral-bin model explicitly calculates and allows for the examination of both the mass and number concentration of species in each size category, a detailed analysis of the instantaneous size spectrum can be obtained for these cases. It is shown that since the low (CN case produces fewer droplets, larger sizes develop due to greater condensational and collection growth, leading to a broader size spectrum in comparison to the high CCN case. Sensitivity tests were performed to

The Impact of Aerosols on Cloud and Precipitation Processes: Cloud-Resolving Model Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Wei-Kuo; Li, Xiaowen; Khain, Alexander; Matsui, Toshihisa; Lang, Stephen; Simpson, Joanne

2008-01-01

Aerosols and especially their effect on clouds are one of the key components of the climate system and the hydrological cycle [Ramanathan et al., 2001]. Yet, the aerosol effect on clouds remains largely unknown and the processes involved not well understood. A recent report published by the National Academy of Science states "The greatest uncertainty about the aerosol climate forcing - indeed, the largest of all the uncertainties about global climate forcing - is probably the indirect effect of aerosols on clouds [NRC, 2001]." The aerosol effect on clouds is often categorized into the traditional "first indirect (i.e., Twomey)" effect on the cloud droplet sizes for a constant liquid water path [Twomey, 1977] and the "semi-direct" effect on cloud coverage [e.g., Ackerman et al ., 2001]." Enhanced aerosol concentrations can also suppress warm rain processes by producing a narrow droplet spectrum that inhibits collision and coalescence processes [e.g., Squires and Twomey, 1961; Warner and Twomey, 1967; Warner, 1968; Rosenfeld, 19991. The aerosol effect on precipitation processes, also known as the second type of aerosol indirect effect [Albrecht, 1989], is even more complex, especially for mixed-phase convective clouds. Table 1 summarizes the key observational studies identifying the microphysical properties, cloud characteristics, thermodynamics and dynamics associated with cloud systems from high-aerosol continental environments. For example, atmospheric aerosol concentrations can influence cloud droplet size distributions, warm-rain process, cold-rain process, cloud-top height, the depth of the mixed phase region, and occurrence of lightning. In addition, high aerosol concentrations in urban environments could affect precipitation variability by providing an enhanced source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Hypotheses have been developed to explain the effect of urban regions on convection and precipitation [van den Heever and Cotton, 2007 and Shepherd, 2005

Observation of Droplet Size Oscillations in a Two-Phase Fluid under Shear Flow

Science.gov (United States)

Courbin, Laurent; Panizza, Pascal; Salmon, Jean-Baptiste

2004-01-01

Experimental observations of droplet size sustained oscillations are reported in a two-phase flow between a lamellar and a sponge phase. Under shear flow, this system presents two different steady states made of monodisperse multilamellar droplets, separated by a shear-thinning transition. At low and high shear rates, the droplet size results from a balance between surface tension and viscous stress, whereas for intermediate shear rates it becomes a periodic function of time. A possible mechanism for such kinds of oscillations is discussed.

Measuring Spray Droplet Size from Agricultural Nozzles Using Laser Diffraction

Science.gov (United States)

Fritz, Bradley K.; Hoffmann, W. Clint

2016-01-01

When making an application of any crop protection material such as an herbicide or pesticide, the applicator uses a variety of skills and information to make an application so that the material reaches the target site (i.e., plant). Information critical in this process is the droplet size that a particular spray nozzle, spray pressure, and spray solution combination generates, as droplet size greatly influences product efficacy and how the spray moves through the environment. Researchers and product manufacturers commonly use laser diffraction equipment to measure the spray droplet size in laboratory wind tunnels. The work presented here describes methods used in making spray droplet size measurements with laser diffraction equipment for both ground and aerial application scenarios that can be used to ensure inter- and intra-laboratory precision while minimizing sampling bias associated with laser diffraction systems. Maintaining critical measurement distances and concurrent airflow throughout the testing process is key to this precision. Real time data quality analysis is also critical to preventing excess variation in the data or extraneous inclusion of erroneous data. Some limitations of this method include atypical spray nozzles, spray solutions or application conditions that result in spray streams that do not fully atomize within the measurement distances discussed. Successful adaption of this method can provide a highly efficient method for evaluation of the performance of agrochemical spray application nozzles under a variety of operational settings. Also discussed are potential experimental design considerations that can be included to enhance functionality of the data collected. PMID:27684589

Parameterization of clouds and radiation in climate models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roeckner, E. [Max Planck Institute for Meterology, Hamburg (Germany)

1995-09-01

Clouds are a very important, yet poorly modeled element in the climate system. There are many potential cloud feedbacks, including those related to cloud cover, height, water content, phase change, and droplet concentration and size distribution. As a prerequisite to studying the cloud feedback issue, this research reports on the simulation and validation of cloud radiative forcing under present climate conditions using the ECHAM general circulation model and ERBE top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes.

Measurements of the size dependence of the concentration of nonvolatile material in fog droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Ogren, J. A.; Noone, K. J.; Hallberg, A.; Heintzenberg, J.; Schell, D.; Berner, A.; Solly, I.; Kruisz, C.; Reischl, G.; Arends, B. G.; Wobrock, W.

1992-11-01

Measurements of the size dependence of the mass concentration of nonvolatile material dissolved and suspended in fog droplets were obtained with three complementary approaches, covering a size range from c. 1 50µm diameter: a counterflow virtual impactor, an eight-stage aerosol impactor, and a two-stage fogwater impactor. Concentrations were observed to decrease with size over the entire range, contrary to expectations of increasing concentrations at larger sizes. It is possible that the larger droplets had solute concentrations that increased with increasing size, but that the increase was too weak for the measurements to resolve. Future studies should consider the hypothesis that the droplets were coated with a surface-active substance that hindered their uptake of water.

The analysis of size-segregated cloud condensation nuclei counter (CCNC data and its implications for cloud droplet activation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Paramonov

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Ambient aerosol, CCN (cloud condensation nuclei and hygroscopic properties were measured with a size-segregated CCNC (cloud condensation nuclei counter in a boreal environment of southern Finland at the SMEAR (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations II station. The instrumental setup operated at five levels of supersaturation S covering a range from 0.1–1% and measured particles with a size range of 20–300 nm; a total of 29 non-consecutive months of data are presented. The median critical diameter Dc ranged from 150 nm at S of 0.1% to 46 nm at S of 1.0%. The median aerosol hygroscopicity parameter κ ranged from 0.41 at S of 0.1% to 0.14 at S of 1.0%, indicating that ambient aerosol in Hyytiälä is less hygroscopic than the global continental or European continental averages. It is, however, more hygroscopic than the ambient aerosol in an Amazon rainforest, a European high Alpine site or a forested mountainous site. A fairly low hygroscopicity in Hyytiälä is likely a result of a large organic fraction present in the aerosol mass comparative to other locations within Europe. A considerable difference in particle hygroscopicity was found between particles smaller and larger than ~100 nm in diameter, possibly pointing out to the effect of cloud processing increasing κ of particles > 100 nm in diameter. The hygroscopicity of the smaller, ~50 nm particles did not change seasonally, whereas particles with a diameter of ~150 nm showed a decreased hygroscopicity in the summer, likely resulting from the increased VOC emissions of the surrounding boreal forest and secondary organic aerosol (SOA formation. For the most part, no diurnal patterns of aerosol hygroscopic properties were found. Exceptions to this were the weak diurnal patterns of small, ~50 nm particles in the spring and summer, when a peak in hygroscopicity around noon was observed. No difference in CCN activation and hygroscopic properties was found on days with or

Dispersion bias, dispersion effect, and the aerosol-cloud conundrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yangang; Daum, Peter H; Guo Huan; Peng Yiran

2008-01-01

This work examines the influences of relative dispersion (the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean radius of the cloud droplet size distribution) on cloud albedo and cloud radiative forcing, derives an analytical formulation that accounts explicitly for the contribution from droplet concentration and relative dispersion, and presents a new approach to parameterize relative dispersion in climate models. It is shown that inadequate representation of relative dispersion in climate models leads to an overestimation of cloud albedo, resulting in a negative bias of global mean shortwave cloud radiative forcing that can be comparable to the warming caused by doubling CO 2 in magnitude, and that this dispersion bias is likely near its maximum for ambient clouds. Relative dispersion is empirically expressed as a function of the quotient between cloud liquid water content and droplet concentration (i.e., water per droplet), yielding an analytical formulation for the first aerosol indirect effect. Further analysis of the new expression reveals that the dispersion effect not only offsets the cooling from the Twomey effect, but is also proportional to the Twomey effect in magnitude. These results suggest that unrealistic representation of relative dispersion in cloud parameterization in general, and evaluation of aerosol indirect effects in particular, is at least in part responsible for several outstanding puzzles of the aerosol-cloud conundrum: for example, overestimation of cloud radiative cooling by climate models compared to satellite observations; large uncertainty and discrepancy in estimates of the aerosol indirect effect; and the lack of interhemispheric difference in cloud albedo.

Individual aerosol particles in ambient and updraft conditions below convective cloud bases in the Oman mountain region

Science.gov (United States)

Semeniuk, T. A.; Bruintjes, R. T.; Salazar, V.; Breed, D. W.; Jensen, T. L.; Buseck, P. R.

2014-03-01

An airborne study of cloud microphysics provided an opportunity to collect aerosol particles in ambient and updraft conditions of natural convection systems for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Particles were collected simultaneously on lacey carbon and calcium-coated carbon (Ca-C) TEM grids, providing information on particle morphology and chemistry and a unique record of the particle's physical state on impact. In total, 22 particle categories were identified, including single, coated, aggregate, and droplet types. The fine fraction comprised up to 90% mixed cation sulfate (MCS) droplets, while the coarse fraction comprised up to 80% mineral-containing aggregates. Insoluble (dry), partially soluble (wet), and fully soluble particles (droplets) were recorded on Ca-C grids. Dry particles were typically silicate grains; wet particles were mineral aggregates with chloride, nitrate, or sulfate components; and droplets were mainly aqueous NaCl and MCS. Higher numbers of droplets were present in updrafts (80% relative humidity (RH)) compared with ambient conditions (60% RH), and almost all particles activated at cloud base (100% RH). Greatest changes in size and shape were observed in NaCl-containing aggregates (>0.3 µm diameter) along updraft trajectories. Their abundance was associated with high numbers of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and cloud droplets, as well as large droplet sizes in updrafts. Thus, compositional dependence was observed in activation behavior recorded for coarse and fine fractions. Soluble salts from local pollution and natural sources clearly affected aerosol-cloud interactions, enhancing the spectrum of particles forming CCN and by forming giant CCN from aggregates, thus, making cloud seeding with hygroscopic flares ineffective in this region.

Adjoint sensitivity of global cloud droplet number to aerosol and dynamical parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Karydis

2012-10-01

Full Text Available We present the development of the adjoint of a comprehensive cloud droplet formation parameterization for use in aerosol-cloud-climate interaction studies. The adjoint efficiently and accurately calculates the sensitivity of cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC to all parameterization inputs (e.g., updraft velocity, water uptake coefficient, aerosol number and hygroscopicity with a single execution. The adjoint is then integrated within three dimensional (3-D aerosol modeling frameworks to quantify the sensitivity of CDNC formation globally to each parameter. Sensitivities are computed for year-long executions of the NASA Global Modeling Initiative (GMI Chemical Transport Model (CTM, using wind fields computed with the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS Global Circulation Model (GCM II', and the GEOS-Chem CTM, driven by meteorological input from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS of the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO. We find that over polluted (pristine areas, CDNC is more sensitive to updraft velocity and uptake coefficient (aerosol number and hygroscopicity. Over the oceans of the Northern Hemisphere, addition of anthropogenic or biomass burning aerosol is predicted to increase CDNC in contrast to coarse-mode sea salt which tends to decrease CDNC. Over the Southern Oceans, CDNC is most sensitive to sea salt, which is the main aerosol component of the region. Globally, CDNC is predicted to be less sensitive to changes in the hygroscopicity of the aerosols than in their concentration with the exception of dust where CDNC is very sensitive to particle hydrophilicity over arid areas. Regionally, the sensitivities differ considerably between the two frameworks and quantitatively reveal why the models differ considerably in their indirect forcing estimates.

Dissolution process of atmospheric aerosol particles into cloud droplets; Processus de dissolution des aerosols atmospheriques au sein des gouttes d'eau nuageuses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Desboeufs, K

2001-01-15

Clouds affect both climate via the role they play in the Earth's radiation balance and tropospheric chemistry since they are efficient reaction media for chemical transformation of soluble species. Cloud droplets are formed in the atmosphere by condensation of water vapour onto aerosol particles, the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The water soluble fraction of these CCN governs the cloud micro-physics, which is the paramount factor playing on the radiative properties of clouds. Moreover, this soluble fraction is the source of species imply in the oxidation/reduction reactions in the aqueous phase. Thus, it is of particular importance to understand the process controlling the solubilization of aerosols in the cloud droplets. The main purpose of this work is to investigate experimentally and theoretically the dissolution of particles incorporated in the aqueous phase. From the studies conducted up to now, we have identify several factors playing on the dissolution reaction of aerosols. However, the quantification of the effects of these factors is difficult since the current means of study are not adapted to the complexity of cloud systems. First, this work consisted to perform a experimental system, compound by an open flow reactor, enabling to follow the kinetic of dissolution in conditions representative of cloud. This experimental device is used to a systematic characterisation of the known factors playing on the dissolution, i.e. pH, aerosol nature, aerosol weathering... and also for the identification and the quantification of the effects of other factors: ionic strength, acid nature, clouds processes. These experiments gave quantitative results, which are used to elaborate a simple model of aerosol dissolution in the aqueous phase. This model considers the main factors playing on the dissolution and results in a general mechanism of aerosol dissolution extrapolated to the cloud droplets. (author)

Observation of Droplet Size Oscillations in a Two Phase Fluid under Shear Flow

Science.gov (United States)

Courbin, Laurent; Panizza, Pascal

2004-11-01

It is well known that complex fluids exhibit strong couplings between their microstructure and the flow field. Such couplings may lead to unusual non linear rheological behavior. Because energy is constantly brought to the system, richer dynamic behavior such as non linear oscillatory or chaotic response is expected. We report on the observation of droplet size oscillations at fixed shear rate. At low shear rates, we observe two steady states for which the droplet size results from a balance between capillary and viscous stress. For intermediate shear rates, the droplet size becomes a periodic function of time. We propose a phenomenological model to account for the observed phenomenon and compare numerical results to experimental data.

Effects of emulsion droplet sizes on the crystallisation of milk fat.

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Tuyen; Bansal, Nidhi; Sharma, Ranjan; Palmer, Martin; Bhandari, Bhesh

2014-02-15

The crystallisation properties of milk fat emulsions containing dairy-based ingredients as functions of emulsion droplet size, cooling rate, and emulsifier type were investigated using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Anhydrous milk fat and its fractions (stearin and olein) were emulsified with whey protein concentrate, sodium caseinate, and Tween80 by homogenisation to produce emulsions in various size ranges (0.13-3.10 μm). Particle size, cooling rate, and types of emulsifier all had an influence on the crystallisation properties of fat in the emulsions. In general, the crystallisation temperature of emulsified fats decreased with decreasing average droplet size and was of an exponent function of size, indicating that the influence of particle size on crystallisation temperature is more pronounced in the sub-micron range. This particle size effect was also verified by electron microscopy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Twomey effect in subtropical stratocumulus clouds from UV depolarization lidar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Graaf, M.; Brown, Jessica; Donovan, D.P.; Nicolae, D.; Makoto, A.; Vassilis, A.; Balis, D.; Behrendt, A.; Comeron, A.; Gibert, F.; Landulfo, E.; McCormick, M.P.; Senff, C.; Veselovskii, I.; Wandinger, U.

2018-01-01

Marine stratocumulus clouds are important climate regulators, reflecting sunlight over a dark ocean background. A UV-depolarization lidar on Ascension, a small remote island in the south Atlantic, measured cloud droplet sizes and number concentration using an inversion method based on Monte Carlo

Volume-of-fluid simulations in microfluidic T-junction devices: Influence of viscosity ratio on droplet size

Science.gov (United States)

Nekouei, Mehdi; Vanapalli, Siva A.

2017-03-01

We used volume-of-fluid (VOF) method to perform three-dimensional numerical simulations of droplet formation of Newtonian fluids in microfluidic T-junction devices. To evaluate the performance of the VOF method we examined the regimes of drop formation and determined droplet size as a function of system parameters. Comparison of the simulation results with four sets of experimental data from the literature showed good agreement, validating the VOF method. Motivated by the lack of adequate studies investigating the influence of viscosity ratio (λ) on the generated droplet size, we mapped the dependence of drop volume on capillary number (0.001 1. In addition, we find that at a given capillary number, the size of droplets does not vary appreciably when λ 1. We develop an analytical model for predicting the droplet size that includes a viscosity-dependent breakup time for the dispersed phase. This improved model successfully predicts the effects of the viscosity ratio observed in simulations. Results from this study are useful for the design of lab-on-chip technologies and manufacture of microfluidic emulsions, where there is a need to know how system parameters influence the droplet size.

Cloud droplet activation mechanisms of amino acid aerosol particles: insight from molecular dynamics simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Li

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric amino acids constitute a large fraction of water-soluble organic nitrogen compounds in aerosol particles, and have been confirmed as effective cloud condensation nuclei (CCN materials in laboratory experiments. We present a molecular dynamics (MD study of six amino acids with different structures and chemical properties that are relevant to the remote marine atmospheric aerosol–cloud system, with the aim of investigating the detailed mechanism of their induced changes in surface activity and surface tension, which are important properties for cloud drop activation. Distributions and orientations of the amino acid molecules are studied; these l-amino acids are serine (SER, glycine (GLY, alanine (ALA, valine (VAL, methionine (MET and phenylalanine (PHE and are categorised as hydrophilic and amphiphilic according to their affinities to water. The results suggest that the presence of surface-concentrated amphiphilic amino acid molecules give rise to enhanced Lennard–Jones repulsion, which in turn results in decreased surface tension of a planar interface and an increased surface tension of the spherical interface of droplets with diameters below 10 nm. The observed surface tension perturbation for the different amino acids under study not only serves as benchmark for future studies of more complex systems, but also shows that amphiphilic amino acids are surface active. The MD simulations used in this study reproduce experimental results of surface tension measurements for planar interfaces and the method is therefore applicable for spherical interfaces of nano-size for which experimental measurements are not possible to conduct.

Dissolution process of atmospheric aerosol particles into cloud droplets; Processus de dissolution des aerosols atmospheriques au sein des gouttes d'eau nuageuses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Desboeufs, K.

2001-01-15

Clouds affect both climate via the role they play in the Earth's radiation balance and tropospheric chemistry since they are efficient reaction media for chemical transformation of soluble species. Cloud droplets are formed in the atmosphere by condensation of water vapour onto aerosol particles, the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The water soluble fraction of these CCN governs the cloud micro-physics, which is the paramount factor playing on the radiative properties of clouds. Moreover, this soluble fraction is the source of species imply in the oxidation/reduction reactions in the aqueous phase. Thus, it is of particular importance to understand the process controlling the solubilization of aerosols in the cloud droplets. The main purpose of this work is to investigate experimentally and theoretically the dissolution of particles incorporated in the aqueous phase. From the studies conducted up to now, we have identify several factors playing on the dissolution reaction of aerosols. However, the quantification of the effects of these factors is difficult since the current means of study are not adapted to the complexity of cloud systems. First, this work consisted to perform a experimental system, compound by an open flow reactor, enabling to follow the kinetic of dissolution in conditions representative of cloud. This experimental device is used to a systematic characterisation of the known factors playing on the dissolution, i.e. pH, aerosol nature, aerosol weathering... and also for the identification and the quantification of the effects of other factors: ionic strength, acid nature, clouds processes. These experiments gave quantitative results, which are used to elaborate a simple model of aerosol dissolution in the aqueous phase. This model considers the main factors playing on the dissolution and results in a general mechanism of aerosol dissolution extrapolated to the cloud droplets. (author)

Arrested of coalescence of emulsion droplets of arbitrary size

Science.gov (United States)

Mbanga, Badel L.; Burke, Christopher; Blair, Donald W.; Atherton, Timothy J.

2013-03-01

With applications ranging from food products to cosmetics via targeted drug delivery systems, structured anisotropic colloids provide an efficient way to control the structure, properties and functions of emulsions. When two fluid emulsion droplets are brought in contact, a reduction of the interfacial tension drives their coalescence into a larger droplet of the same total volume and reduced exposed area. This coalescence can be partially or totally hindered by the presence of nano or micron-size particles that coat the interface as in Pickering emulsions. We investigate numerically the dependance of the mechanical stability of these arrested shapes on the particles size, their shape anisotropy, their polydispersity, their interaction with the solvent, and the particle-particle interactions. We discuss structural shape changes that can be induced by tuning the particles interactions after arrest occurs, and provide design parameters for the relevant experiments.

Aerosol-Cloud Interactions During Puijo Cloud Experiments - The effects of weather and local sources

Science.gov (United States)

Komppula, Mika; Portin, Harri; Leskinen, Ari; Romakkaniemi, Sami; Brus, David; Neitola, Kimmo; Hyvärinen, Antti-Pekka; Kortelainen, Aki; Hao, Liqing; Miettinen, Pasi; Jaatinen, Antti; Ahmad, Irshad; Lihavainen, Heikki; Laaksonen, Ari; Lehtinen, Kari E. J.

2013-04-01

The Puijo measurement station has provided continuous data on aerosol-cloud interactions since 2006. The station is located on top of the Puijo observation tower (306 m a.s.l, 224 m above the surrounding lake level) in Kuopio, Finland. The top of the tower is covered by cloud about 15 % of the time, offering perfect conditions for studying aerosol-cloud interactions. With a twin-inlet setup (total and interstitial inlets) we are able to separate the activated particles from the interstitial (non-activated) particles. The continuous twin-inlet measurements include aerosol size distribution, scattering and absorption. In addition cloud droplet number and size distribution are measured continuously with weather parameters. During the campaigns the twin-inlet system was additionally equipped with aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP-2). This way we were able to define the differences in chemical composition of the activated and non-activated particles. Potential cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in different supersaturations were measured with two CCN counters (CCNC). The other CCNC was operated with a Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA) to obtain size selected CCN spectra. Other additional measurements included Hygroscopic Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (HTDMA) for particle hygroscopicity. Additionally the valuable vertical wind profiles (updraft velocities) are available from Halo Doppler lidar during the 2011 campaign. Cloud properties (droplet number and effective radius) from MODIS instrument onboard Terra and Aqua satellites were retrieved and compared with the measured values. This work summarizes the two latest intensive campaigns, Puijo Cloud Experiments (PuCE) 2010 & 2011. We study especially the effect of the local sources on the cloud activation behaviour of the aerosol particles. The main local sources include a paper mill, a heating plant, traffic and residential areas. The sources can be categorized and identified

Cloud Condensation Nuclei Measurements During the First Year of the ORACLES Study

Science.gov (United States)

Kacarab, M.; Howell, S. G.; Wood, R.; Redemann, J.; Nenes, A.

2016-12-01

Aerosols have significant impacts on air quality and climate. Their ability to scatter and absorb radiation and to act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) plays a very important role in the global climate. Biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) can drastically elevate the concentration of CCN in clouds, but the response in droplet number may be strongly suppressed (or even reversed) owing to low supersaturations that may develop from the strong competition of water vapor (Bougiatioti et al. 2016). Understanding and constraining the magnitude of droplet response to biomass burning plumes is an important component of the aerosol-cloud interaction problem. The southeastern Atlantic (SEA) cloud deck provides a unique opportunity to study these cloud-BBOA interactions for marine stratocumulus, as it is overlain by a large, optically thick biomass burning aerosol plume from Southern Africa during the burning season. The interaction between these biomass burning aerosols and the SEA cloud deck is being investigated in the NASA ObseRvations of Aerosols above Clouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) study. The CCN activity of aerosol around the SEA cloud deck and associated biomass burning plume was evaluated during the first year of the ORACLES study with direct measurements of CCN concentration, aerosol size distribution and composition onboard the NASA P-3 aircraft during August and September of 2016. Here we present analysis of the observed CCN activity of the BBOA aerosol in and around the SEA cloud deck and its relationship to aerosol size, chemical composition, and plume mixing and aging. We also evaluate the predicted and observed droplet number sensitivity to the aerosol fluctuations and quantify, using the data, the drivers of droplet number variability (vertical velocity or aerosol properties) as a function of biomass burning plume characteristics.

Differences in liquid cloud droplet effective radius and number concentration estimates between MODIS collections 5.1 and 6 over global oceans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Rausch

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Differences in cloud droplet effective radius and cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC estimates inferred from the Aqua–MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer collections 5.1 (C5.1 and 6 (C6 cloud products (MYD06 are examined for warm clouds over global oceans for the year 2008. Individual pixel level retrievals for both collections are aggregated to 1°  ×  1° and compared globally and regionally for the three main spectral channel pairs used for MODIS cloud optical property retrievals. Comparisons between both collections are performed for cases in which all three effective radii retrievals are classified by the MODIS cloud product as valid. The contribution to the observed differences of several key MYD06 Collection 6 algorithm updates are also explored, with a focus on changes to the surface reflectance model, assumed solar irradiance, above-cloud emission, cloud-top pressure (CTP, and pixel registration. Global results show a neutral to positive (> 50 cm−3 change for C6-derived CDNC relative to C5.1 for the 1.6 and 2.1 µm channel retrievals, corresponding to a neutral to −2 µm difference in droplet effective radius (re. For 3.7 µm retrievals, CDNC results show a negative change in the tropics, with differences transitioning toward positive values with increasing latitude spanning −25 to +50 cm−3 related to a +2.5 to −1 µm transition in effective radius. Cloud optical thickness (τ differences were small relative to effective radius and found to not significantly impact CDNC estimates. Regionally, the magnitude and behavior of the annual CDNC cycle are compared for each effective radius retrieval. Results from this study indicate significant inter-collection differences in aggregated values of effective radius due to changes to the precomputed retrieval lookup tables (LUTs for ocean scenes, changes to retrieved cloud-top pressure, solar irradiance, or above-cloud thermal emission

Theoretical model of the Bergeron-Findeisen mechanism of ice crystal growth in clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Castellano, N. E.; Avila, E. E.; Saunders, C. P. R.

A numerical study of growth rate of ice particles in an array of water droplets (Bergeron-Findeisen mechanism) has used the method of electrostatic image charges to determine the vapour field in which a particle grows. Analysis of growth rate in various conditions of relevance to clouds has shown that it is proportional to liquid water content and to ice particle size, while it is inversely proportional to cloud droplet size. The results show that growth rate is enhanced by several percent relative to the usual treatment in which vapour is assumed to diffuse from infinity towards a growing ice particle. The study was performed for ice particles between 25 and 150 μm radii, water droplet sizes between 6 and 20 μm diameter and a wide range of liquid water contents. A study was also made to determine the effect of reducing the vapour source at infinity so that the droplets alone provided the vapour for particle growth. A parameterisation of ice particle growth rate is given as a function of liquid water content and ice particle and droplet sizes. These studies are of importance to considerations in thunderstorm electrification processes, where the mechanism of charge transfer between ice particles and graupel could take place.

Supercooling release of micro-size water droplets on microporous surfaces with cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Chun Wan; Kang, Chae Dong [Chonbuk National University, Jeonju (Korea, Republic of)

2012-06-15

The gas diffusion layer (GDL) of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells plays a key role in controlling moisture in these cells. When the GDL is exposed to a cold environment, the water droplets or water nets in the GDL freeze. This work observed the supercooling and freezing behaviors of water droplets under low temperature. A GDL made of carbon fiber was coated with a waterproof material with 0%, 40%, and 60% PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) contents. The cooling process was investigated according to temperature, and the water droplets on the GDL were supercooled and frozen. Delay in the supercooling release was correlated with the size of water droplets on the GDL and the coating rate of the layer. Moreover, the supercooling degree of the droplets decreased as the number of freeze thaw cycles in the GDL increased.

Experimental observation of the droplet size change across a wet grid spacer in a 6 × 6 rod bundle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Hyoung Kyu; Choi, Ki Yong; Cho, Seok; Song, Chul-Hwa

2011-01-01

Highlights: ► In this study, an experiment on the droplet behavior inside a heated rod bundle has been performed. ► The experiment was focused on the change of droplet size induced by a spacer grid in a rod bundle. ► The major measuring parameters of the experiment were the droplet size and velocity. ► This test provided the data on the change of the droplet size after collision with a wet grid spacer. - Abstract: During the reflood phase of a postulated loss of coolant accident in a nuclear reactor, entrainment of liquid droplets can occur at a quench front of reflooding water. It is widely recognized that the behavior of the entrained droplets crucially affects the reflood heat transfer phenomena by decreasing the superheated steam temperature and interacting with a rod bundle and spacer grids. For this reason, various experimental and numerical studies have been performed to examine droplet behavior such as the droplet size, velocity and droplet fraction inside a rod array. In this study, an experiment on the droplet behavior inside a heated rod bundle has been performed. The experiment was focused on the change of droplet size induced by a spacer grid in a rod bundle geometry, which results in the change of the interfacial heat transfer between droplets and superheated steam. A 6 × 6 rod bundle test facility in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute was used for the experiment. Steam was supplied by an external boiler into the bottom of the test channel, and a droplet injection nozzle was equipped instead of simulating a quench front of reflooding water. The major measuring parameters of the experiment were the droplet size and velocity, which were measured by a high-speed camera and a digital image processing technique. A series of experiments were conducted with various flow conditions of a steam injection velocity, heater temperature, droplet size, and droplet flow rate. The experiments provided the data on the change of the Sauter mean diameter of

Sodium leakage and combustion tests. Measurement and distribution of droplet size using various spray nozzles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagai, Keiichi; Hirabayashi, Masaru; Onojima, T.; Gunji, Minoru; Ara, Kuniaki; Oki, Yoshihisa

1999-04-01

In order to develop a numerical code simulating sodium fires initiated frame dispersion of droplets, measured data of droplet diameter as well as its distribution are needed. In the present experiment the distribution of droplet diameter was measured using water, oil and sodium. The tests elucidated the influential factors with respect to the droplet diameter. In addition, we sought to develop a similarity law between water and sodium. The droplet size distribution of sodium using the large diameter droplet (Elnozzle) was predicted. (J.P.N.)

Potential transformation of trace species including aircraft exhaust in a cloud environment. The `Chedrom model`

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ozolin, Y.E.; Karol, I.L. [Main Geophysical Observatory, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Ramaroson, R. [Office National d`Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales (ONERA), 92 - Chatillon (France)

1997-12-31

Box model for coupled gaseous and aqueous phases is used for sensitivity study of potential transformation of trace gases in a cloud environment. The rate of this transformation decreases with decreasing of pH in droplets, with decreasing of photodissociation rates inside the cloud and with increasing of the droplet size. Model calculations show the potential formation of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} in aqueous phase and transformation of gaseous HNO{sub 3} into NO{sub x} in a cloud. This model is applied for exploration of aircraft exhausts evolution in plume inside a cloud. (author) 10 refs.

Potential transformation of trace species including aircraft exhaust in a cloud environment. The `Chedrom model`

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ozolin, Y E; Karol, I L [Main Geophysical Observatory, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Ramaroson, R [Office National d` Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales (ONERA), 92 - Chatillon (France)

1998-12-31

Box model for coupled gaseous and aqueous phases is used for sensitivity study of potential transformation of trace gases in a cloud environment. The rate of this transformation decreases with decreasing of pH in droplets, with decreasing of photodissociation rates inside the cloud and with increasing of the droplet size. Model calculations show the potential formation of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} in aqueous phase and transformation of gaseous HNO{sub 3} into NO{sub x} in a cloud. This model is applied for exploration of aircraft exhausts evolution in plume inside a cloud. (author) 10 refs.

Size Distribution and Dispersion of Droplets Generated by Impingement of Breaking Waves on Oil Slicks

Science.gov (United States)

Li, C.; Miller, J.; Wang, J.; Koley, S. S.; Katz, J.

2017-10-01

This laboratory experimental study investigates the temporal evolution of the size distribution of subsurface oil droplets generated as breaking waves entrain oil slicks. The measurements are performed for varying wave energy, as well as large variations in oil viscosity and oil-water interfacial tension, the latter achieved by premixing the oil with dispersant. In situ measurements using digital inline holography at two magnifications are applied for measuring the droplet sizes and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) for determining the temporal evolution of turbulence after wave breaking. All early (2-10 s) size distributions have two distinct size ranges with different slopes. For low dispersant to oil ratios (DOR), the transition between them could be predicted based on a turbulent Weber (We) number in the 2-4 range, suggesting that turbulence plays an important role. For smaller droplets, all the number size distributions have power of about -2.1, and for larger droplets, the power decreases well below -3. The measured steepening of the size distribution over time is predicted by a simple model involving buoyant rise and turbulence dispersion. Conversely, for DOR 1:100 and 1:25 oils, the diameter of slope transition decreases from ˜1 mm to 46 and 14 µm, respectively, much faster than the We-based prediction, and the size distribution steepens with increasing DOR. Furthermore, the concentration of micron-sized droplets of DOR 1:25 oil increases for the first 10 min after entrainment. These phenomena are presumably caused by the observed formation and breakup oil microthreads associated with tip streaming.

Parameterizing Size Distribution in Ice Clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DeSlover, Daniel; Mitchell, David L.

2009-09-25

PARAMETERIZING SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS IN ICE CLOUDS David L. Mitchell and Daniel H. DeSlover ABSTRACT An outstanding problem that contributes considerable uncertainty to Global Climate Model (GCM) predictions of future climate is the characterization of ice particle sizes in cirrus clouds. Recent parameterizations of ice cloud effective diameter differ by a factor of three, which, for overcast conditions, often translate to changes in outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) of 55 W m-2 or more. Much of this uncertainty in cirrus particle sizes is related to the problem of ice particle shattering during in situ sampling of the ice particle size distribution (PSD). Ice particles often shatter into many smaller ice fragments upon collision with the rim of the probe inlet tube. These small ice artifacts are counted as real ice crystals, resulting in anomalously high concentrations of small ice crystals (D < 100 µm) and underestimates of the mean and effective size of the PSD. Half of the cirrus cloud optical depth calculated from these in situ measurements can be due to this shattering phenomenon. Another challenge is the determination of ice and liquid water amounts in mixed phase clouds. Mixed phase clouds in the Arctic contain mostly liquid water, and the presence of ice is important for determining their lifecycle. Colder high clouds between -20 and -36 oC may also be mixed phase but in this case their condensate is mostly ice with low levels of liquid water. Rather than affecting their lifecycle, the presence of liquid dramatically affects the cloud optical properties, which affects cloud-climate feedback processes in GCMs. This project has made advancements in solving both of these problems. Regarding the first problem, PSD in ice clouds are uncertain due to the inability to reliably measure the concentrations of the smallest crystals (D < 100 µm), known as the “small mode”. Rather than using in situ probe measurements aboard aircraft, we employed a treatment of ice

Measurements of the relation between aerosol properties and microphysics and chemistry of low level liquid water clouds in Northern Finland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Lihavainen

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Physical and chemical properties of boundary layer clouds, together with relevant aerosol properties, were investigated during the first Pallas Cloud Experiment (First Pace conducted in northern Finland between 20 October and 9 November 2004. Two stations located 6 km apart from each other at different altitudes were employed in measurements. The low-altitude station was always below the cloud layer, whereas the high-altitude station was inside clouds about 75% of the time during the campaign. Direct measurements of cloud droplet populations showed that our earlier approach of determining cloud droplet residual particle size distributions and corresponding activated fractions using continuous aerosol number size distribution measurements at the two stations is valid, as long as the cloud events are carefully screened to exclude precipitating clouds and to make sure the same air mass has been measured at both stations. We observed that a non-negligible fraction of cloud droplets originated from Aitken mode particles even at moderately-polluted air masses. We found clear evidence on first indirect aerosol effect on clouds but demonstrated also that no simple relation between the cloud droplet number concentration and aerosol particle number concentration exists for this type of clouds. The chemical composition of aerosol particles was dominated by particulate organic matter (POM and sulphate in continental air masses and POM, sodium and chlorine in marine air masses. The inorganic composition of cloud water behaved similarly to that of the aerosol phase and was not influenced by inorganic trace gases.

Retrieval of collision kernels from the change of droplet size distributions with linear inversion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Onishi, Ryo; Takahashi, Keiko [Earth Simulator Center, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3173-25 Showa-machi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama Kanagawa 236-0001 (Japan); Matsuda, Keigo; Kurose, Ryoichi; Komori, Satoru [Department of Mechanical Engineering and Science, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501 (Japan)], E-mail: onishi.ryo@jamstec.go.jp, E-mail: matsuda.keigo@t03.mbox.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp, E-mail: takahasi@jamstec.go.jp, E-mail: kurose@mech.kyoto-u.ac.jp, E-mail: komori@mech.kyoto-u.ac.jp

2008-12-15

We have developed a new simple inversion scheme for retrieving collision kernels from the change of droplet size distribution due to collision growth. Three-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) of steady isotropic turbulence with colliding droplets are carried out in order to investigate the validity of the developed inversion scheme. In the DNS, air turbulence is calculated using a quasi-spectral method; droplet motions are tracked in a Lagrangian manner. The initial droplet size distribution is set to be equivalent to that obtained in a wind tunnel experiment. Collision kernels retrieved by the developed inversion scheme are compared to those obtained by the DNS. The comparison shows that the collision kernels can be retrieved within 15% error. This verifies the feasibility of retrieving collision kernels using the present inversion scheme.

Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Cloud Microphysical Properties in the Asir Region of Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Kucera, P. A.; Axisa, D.; Burger, R. P.; Li, R.; Collins, D. R.; Freney, E. J.; Buseck, P. R.

2009-12-01

In recent advertent and inadvertent weather modification studies, a considerable effort has been made to understand the impact of varying aerosol properties and concentration on cloud properties. Significant uncertainties exist with aerosol-cloud interactions for which complex microphysical processes link the aerosol and cloud properties. Under almost all environmental conditions, increased aerosol concentrations within polluted air masses will enhance cloud droplet concentration relative to that in unperturbed regions. The interaction between dust particles and clouds are significant, yet the conditions in which dust particles become cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are uncertain. In order to quantify this aerosol effect on clouds and precipitation, a field campaign was launched in the Asir region, located adjacent to the Red Sea in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia. Ground measurements of aerosol size distributions, hygroscopic growth factors, CCN concentrations as well as aircraft measurements of cloud hydrometeor size distributions were observed in the Asir region in August 2009. The presentation will include a summary of the analysis and results with a focus on aerosol-cloud interactions and cloud microphysical properties observed during the convective season in the Asir region.

Broken-cloud enhancement of solar radiation absorption

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Byrne, R.N. [Science Applications International Corporation, San Diego, CA (United States); Somerville, R.C. [Univ. of California, La Jolla, CA (United States); Subasilar, B. [Curtain Univ. of Technology, Perth (Australia)

1996-04-01

Two papers recently published in Science have shown that there is more absorption of solar radiation than estimated by current atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs) and that the discrepancy is associated with cloudy scenes. We have devised a simple model which explains this as an artifact of stochastic radiative transport. We first give a heuristic description, unencumbered by mathematical detail. Consider a simple case with clouds distributed at random within a single level whose upper and lower boundaries are fixed. The solar zenith angle is small to moderate; this is therefore an energetically important case. Fix the average areal liquid water content of the cloud layer, and take the statistics of the cloud distribution to be homogeneous within the layer. Furthermore, assume that all the clouds in the layer have the same liquid water content, constant throughout the cloud, and that apart from their droplet content they are identical to the surrounding clear sky. Let the clouds occupy on the average a fraction p{sub cld} of the volume of the cloudy layer, and let them have a prescribed distribution of sizes about some mean. This is not a fractal distribution, because it has a scale. Cloud shape is unimportant so long as cloud aspect ratios are not far from unity. Take the single-scattering albedo to be unity for the droplets in the clouds. All of the absorption is due to atmospheric gases, so the absorption coefficient at a point is the same for cloud and clear sky. Absorption by droplets is less than 10% effect in the numerical stochastic radiation calculations described below, so it is reasonable to neglect it at this level of idealization.

Seed-mediated synthesis of silver nanocrystals with controlled sizes and shapes in droplet microreactors separated by air.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lei; Wang, Yi; Tong, Limin; Xia, Younan

2013-12-17

Silver nanocrystals with uniform sizes were synthesized in droplet microreactors through seed-mediated growth. The key to the success of this synthesis is the use of air as a carrier phase to generate the droplets. The air not only separates the reaction solution into droplets but also provides O2 for the generation of reducing agent (glycolaldehyde). It also serves as a buffer space for the diffusion of NO, which is formed in situ due to the oxidative etching of Ag nanocrystals with twin defects. For the first time, we were able to generate Ag nanocrystals with controlled sizes and shapes in continuous production by using droplet microreactors. For Ag nanocubes, their edge lengths could be readily controlled in the range of 30-100 nm by varying the reaction time, the amount of seeds, and the concentration of AgNO3 in the droplets. Furthermore, we demonstrated the synthesis of Ag octahedra in the droplet microreactors. We believe that the air-driven droplet generation device can be extended to other noble metals for the production of nanocrystals with controlled sizes and shapes.

Emulsion oil droplet size significantly affects satiety: A pre-ingestive approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lett, Aaron M; Norton, Jennifer E; Yeomans, Martin R

2016-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that the manipulation of oil droplet size within oil-in-water emulsions significantly affects sensory characteristics, hedonics and expectations of food intake, independently of energy content. Smaller oil droplets enhanced perceived creaminess, increased Liking and generated greater expectations of satiation and satiety, indicating that creaminess is a satiety-relevant sensory cue within these systems. This paper extends these findings by investigating the effect of oil droplet size (d4,3: 2 and 50 μm) on food intake and appetite. Male participants (n = 34 aged 18-37; BMI of 22.7 ± 1.6 kg/m(2); DEBQ restricted eating score of 1.8 ± 0.1.) completed two test days, where they visited the laboratory to consume a fixed-portion breakfast, returning 3 h later for a "drink", which was the emulsion preload containing either 2 or 50 μm oil droplets. This was followed 20 min later with an ad libitum pasta lunch. Participants consumed significantly less at the ad libitum lunch after the preload containing 2 μm oil droplets than after the 50 μm preload, with an average reduction of 12% (62.4 kcal). Despite the significant differences in intake, no significant differences in sensory characteristics were noted. The findings show that the impact that an emulsion has on satiety can be enhanced without producing significantly perceivable differences in sensory properties. Therefore, by introducing a processing step which results in a smaller droplets, emulsion based liquid food products can be produced that enhance satiety, allowing covert functional redesign. Future work should consider the mechanism responsible for this effect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of droplet velocity and size from nasal spray devices using phase Doppler anemometry (PDA).

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiaofei; Doub, William H; Guo, Changning

2010-03-30

To determine aerosol deposition during the inhalation drug delivery, it is important to understand the combination of velocity and droplet size together. In this study, phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) was used to simultaneously characterize the aerosol velocity and droplet size distribution (DSD) of three nasal spray pumps filled with water. Thirteen sampling positions were located in the horizontal cross-sectional area of the nasal spray plumes at a distance of 3cm from the pump orifice. The results showed droplet velocities near the center of the spray plume were higher and more consistent than those near the edge. The pumps examined showed significant differences in their aerosol velocity at the center of the spray plume, which suggest that this metric might be used as a discriminating parameter for in vitro testing of nasal sprays. Droplet size measurements performed using PDA were compared with results from laser light scattering measurements. The ability of PDA to provide simultaneous measurements of aerosol velocity and size makes it a powerful tool for the detailed investigation of nasal spray plume characteristics. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Sizing of single evaporating droplet with Near-Forward Elastic Scattering Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Woźniak, M.; Jakubczyk, D.; Derkachov, G.; Archer, J.

2017-11-01

We have developed an optical setup and related numerical models to study evolution of single evaporating micro-droplets by analysis of their spectral properties. Our approach combines the advantages of the electrodynamic trapping with the broadband spectral analysis with the supercontinuum laser illumination. The elastically scattered light within the spectral range of 500-900 nm is observed by a spectrometer placed at the near-forward scattering angles between 4.3 ° and 16.2 ° and compared with the numerically generated lookup table of the broadband Mie scattering. Our solution has been successfully applied to infer the size evolution of the evaporating droplets of pure liquids (diethylene and ethylene glycol) and suspensions of nanoparticles (silica and gold nanoparticles in diethylene glycol), with maximal accuracy of ± 25 nm. The obtained results have been compared with the previously developed sizing techniques: (i) based on the analysis of the Mie scattering images - the Mie Scattering Lookup Table Method and (ii) the droplet weighting. Our approach provides possibility to handle levitating objects with much larger size range (radius from 0.5 μm to 30 μm) than with the use of optical tweezers (typically radius below 8 μm) and analyse them with much wider spectral range than with commonly used LED sources.

Electron cloud sizes in gas-filled detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boggende, A.J.F. den; Schrijver, C.J.

1984-01-01

Electron cloud sizes have been calculated for gas mixtures containing Ar, Xe, CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 for drifts through a constant electric field. The transport coefficients w and D/μ are in good agreement with experimental data of various sources for pure gases. Results of measurements, also performed in this work, for Ar+CO 2 , Ar+CH 4 , and Ar+Xe+CO 2 mixtures are in fair agreement with the calculated cloud sizes. For a large number of useful gas mixtures calculated electron cloud sizes are presented and discussed, most of which are given for the first time. A suggestion is made for an optimal gas mixture for an X-ray position sensitive proportional counter for medium and low energies. (orig.)

A model of the microphysical evolution of a cloud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zinn, J.

1994-01-01

The earth's weather and climate are influenced strongly by phenomena associated with clouds. Therefore, a general circulation model (GCM) that models the evolution of weather and climate must include an accurate physical model of the clouds. This paper describes efforts to develop a suitable cloud model. It concentrates on the microphysical processes that determine the evolution of droplet and ice crystal size distributions, precipitation rates, total and condensed water content, and radiative extinction coefficients

Sensitivity of aerosol indirect forcing and autoconversion to cloud droplet parameterization: an assessment with the NASA Global Modeling Initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Sotiropoulou, R. P.; Meshkhidze, N.; Nenes, A.

2006-12-01

The aerosol indirect forcing is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in assessments of anthropogenic climate change [IPCC, 2001]. Much of this uncertainty arises from the approach used for linking cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) to precursor aerosol. Global Climate Models (GCM) use a wide range of cloud droplet activation mechanisms ranging from empirical [Boucher and Lohmann, 1995] to detailed physically- based formulations [e.g., Abdul-Razzak and Ghan, 2000; Fountoukis and Nenes, 2005]. The objective of this study is to assess the uncertainties in indirect forcing and autoconversion of cloud water to rain caused by the application of different cloud droplet parameterization mechanisms; this is an important step towards constraining the aerosol indirect effects (AIE). Here we estimate the uncertainty in indirect forcing and autoconversion rate using the NASA Global Model Initiative (GMI). The GMI allows easy interchange of meteorological fields, chemical mechanisms and the aerosol microphysical packages. Therefore, it is an ideal tool for assessing the effect of different parameters on aerosol indirect forcing. The aerosol module includes primary emissions, chemical production of sulfate in clear air and in-cloud aqueous phase, gravitational sedimentation, dry deposition, wet scavenging in and below clouds, and hygroscopic growth. Model inputs include SO2 (fossil fuel and natural), black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), mineral dust and sea salt. The meteorological data used in this work were taken from the NASA Data Assimilation Office (DAO) and two different GCMs: the NASA GEOS4 finite volume GCM (FVGCM) and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies version II' (GISS II') GCM. Simulations were carried out for "present day" and "preindustrial" emissions using different meteorological fields (i.e. DAO, FVGCM, GISS II'); cloud droplet number concentration is computed from the correlations of Boucher and Lohmann [1995], Abdul-Razzak and Ghan [2000

Estimation and control of droplet size and frequency in projected spray mode of a gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process.

Science.gov (United States)

Anzehaee, Mohammad Mousavi; Haeri, Mohammad

2011-07-01

New estimators are designed based on the modified force balance model to estimate the detaching droplet size, detached droplet size, and mean value of droplet detachment frequency in a gas metal arc welding process. The proper droplet size for the process to be in the projected spray transfer mode is determined based on the modified force balance model and the designed estimators. Finally, the droplet size and the melting rate are controlled using two proportional-integral (PI) controllers to achieve high weld quality by retaining the transfer mode and generating appropriate signals as inputs of the weld geometry control loop. Copyright © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Numerical evaluation of droplet sizing based on the ratio of fluorescent and scattered light intensities (LIF/Mie technique)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charalampous, Georgios; Hardalupas, Yannis

2011-01-01

The dependence of fluorescent and scattered light intensities from spherical droplets on droplet diameter was evaluated using Mie theory. The emphasis is on the evaluation of droplet sizing, based on the ratio of laser-induced fluorescence and scattered light intensities (LIF/Mie technique). A parametric study is presented, which includes the effects of scattering angle, the real part of the refractive index and the dye concentration in the liquid (determining the imaginary part of the refractive index). The assumption that the fluorescent and scattered light intensities are proportional to the volume and surface area of the droplets for accurate sizing measurements is not generally valid. More accurate sizing measurements can be performed with minimal dye concentration in the liquid and by collecting light at a scattering angle of 60 deg. rather than the commonly used angle of 90 deg. Unfavorable to the sizing accuracy are oscillations of the scattered light intensity with droplet diameter that are profound at the sidescatter direction (90 deg.) and for droplets with refractive indices around 1.4.

Droplet size effects on NO/x/ formation in a one-dimensional monodisperse spray combustion system

Science.gov (United States)

Sarv, H.; Nizami, A. A.; Cernansky, N. P.

1982-01-01

A one-dimensional monodisperse aerosol spray combustion facility is described and experimental results of post flame NO/NO(x) emissions are presented. Four different hydrocarbon fuels were studied: isopropanol, methanol, n-heptane, and n-octane. The results indicate an optimum droplet size in the range of 48-58 microns for minimizing NO/NO(x) production for all of the test fuels. This NO(x) behavior is associated with droplet interactions and the transition from diffusive type of spray burning to that of a prevaporized and premixed case. Decreasing the droplet size results in a trend of increasing droplet interactions, which suppresses temperatures and reduces NO(x). This trend continues until prevaporization effects begin to dominate and the system tends towards the premixed limit. The occurrence of the minimum NO(x) point at different droplet diameters for the different fuels appears to be governed by the extent of prevaporization of the fuel in the spray, and is consistent with theoretical calculations based on each fuel's physical properties.

Scavenging of particulate elemental carbon into stratus cloud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaneyasu, Naoki; Maeda, Takahisa [National Inst. for Resources and Environment, Tsukuba (Japan)

1995-12-31

The role of atmospheric aerosols on the alternation of cloud radiative properties has widely been recognized since 1977 when Tomey and his coworkers have numerically demonstrated the effect of increased cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). At the same time, cloud processes are one of the most important factor in controlling the residence time of atmospheric aerosols through the wet removal process. The redistribution of the size and the composition of pre-cloud aerosols is also the important role of cloud process on the nature of atmospheric aerosols. In order to study these cloud-aerosol interaction phenomena, the incorporation of aerosols into cloud droplets is the first mechanism to be investigated. Among the several mechanisms for the incorporation of aerosols into cloud droplets, nucleation scavenging, is the potentially important process in the view of cloud-aerosol interactions. This critical supersaturation for a given radius of a particle can be theoretically calculated only for pure species, e.g., NaCl. However, a significant portion of the atmospheric aerosols is in the form of internal mixture of multiple components, such as SO{sub 4}{sup 2-}, NO{sub 3}{sup -}, NH{sub 4}{sup +} and particulate elemental carbon. The knowledge acquired by field measurements is therefore essential on this subject. The present study focuses on the scavenging of major components of urban atmospheric aerosols, in particular the incorporation of particulate elemental carbon into stratus cloud. Particulate elemental carbon is the strongest light absorbing species in visible region, and has potential to change the optical property of cloud. On the basis of the measurements conducted at a mountain located in the suburb of Tokyo Metropolitan area, Japan, some insights on the scavenging of particulate elemental carbon into cloud droplet will be presented

Scavenging of particulate elemental carbon into stratus cloud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaneyasu, Naoki; Maeda, Takahisa [National Inst. for Resources and Environment, Tsukuba (Japan)

1996-12-31

The role of atmospheric aerosols on the alternation of cloud radiative properties has widely been recognized since 1977 when Tomey and his coworkers have numerically demonstrated the effect of increased cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). At the same time, cloud processes are one of the most important factor in controlling the residence time of atmospheric aerosols through the wet removal process. The redistribution of the size and the composition of pre-cloud aerosols is also the important role of cloud process on the nature of atmospheric aerosols. In order to study these cloud-aerosol interaction phenomena, the incorporation of aerosols into cloud droplets is the first mechanism to be investigated. Among the several mechanisms for the incorporation of aerosols into cloud droplets, nucleation scavenging, is the potentially important process in the view of cloud-aerosol interactions. This critical supersaturation for a given radius of a particle can be theoretically calculated only for pure species, e.g., NaCl. However, a significant portion of the atmospheric aerosols is in the form of internal mixture of multiple components, such as SO{sub 4}{sup 2-}, NO{sub 3}{sup -}, NH{sub 4}{sup +} and particulate elemental carbon. The knowledge acquired by field measurements is therefore essential on this subject. The present study focuses on the scavenging of major components of urban atmospheric aerosols, in particular the incorporation of particulate elemental carbon into stratus cloud. Particulate elemental carbon is the strongest light absorbing species in visible region, and has potential to change the optical property of cloud. On the basis of the measurements conducted at a mountain located in the suburb of Tokyo Metropolitan area, Japan, some insights on the scavenging of particulate elemental carbon into cloud droplet will be presented

Influence of palmitoyl pentapeptide and Ceramide III B on the droplet size of nanoemulsion

Science.gov (United States)

Sondari, Dewi; Haryono, Agus; Harmami, Sri Budi; Randy, Ahmad

2010-05-01

The influence of the Palmitoyl Pentapeptide (PPp) and Ceramide IIIB (Cm III B) as active ingredients on the droplet size of nano-emulsion was studied using different kinds of oil (avocado oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, mineral oil and squalene). The formation of nano-emulsions were prepared in water mixed non ionic surfactant/oils system using the spontaneous emulsification mechanism. The aqueous solution, which consist of water and Tween® 20 as a hydrophilic surfactant was mixed homogenously. The organic solution, which consist of oil and Span® 80 as a lipophilic surfactant was mixed homogenously in ethanol. Ethanol was used as a water miscible solvent, which can help the formation of nano-emulsion. The oil phase (containing the blend of surfactant Span® 80, ethanol, oil and active ingredient) and the aqueous phase (containing water and Tween® 20) were separately prepared at room temperatures. The oil phase was slowly added into aqueous phase under continuous mechanical agitation (18000 rpm). All samples were subsequently homogenized with Ultra-Turrax for 30 minutes. The characterizations of nano-emulsion were carried out using photo-microscope and particle size analyzer. Addition of active ingredients on the formation of nano-emulsion gave smallest droplet size compared without active ingredients addition on the formation of nano-emulsion. Squalene oil with Palmitoyl Pentapeptide (PPm) and Ceramide IIIB (Cm IIIB) gave smallest droplet size (184.0 nm) compared without Palmitoyl Pentapeptide and Ceramide IIIB (214.9 nm), however the droplets size of the emulsion prepared by the other oils still in the range of nano-emulsion (below 500 nm). The stability of nano-emulsion was observed using two methods. In one method, the stability of nano-emulsion was observed for three months at temperature of 5°C and 50°C, while in the other method, the stability nano-emulsion was observed by centrifuged at 12000 rpm for 30 minutes. Nanoemulsion with active ingredient

The regulation of lipid droplet size and phospholipid composition by stearoyl-CoA desaturase

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shi, Xun; Li, Juan; Zou, Xiaoju

2013-01-01

Fatty acid desaturation regulates membrane function and fat storage in animals. To determine the contribution of stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) activity on fat storage and development in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, we analyzed the lipid composition and lipid droplet size in the fat-6;fat-7...... desaturase mutants, independently, and in combination with mutants disrupted in conserved lipid metabolic pathways. C. elegans with impaired SCD activity displayed both reduced fat stores and decreased lipid droplet size. Mutants in the daf-2 (insulin-like growth factor receptor), rsks-1 (homolog of p70S6......-2;fat-6;fat-7 triple mutants, which had increased de novo fatty acid synthesis and wild type levels of fat stores. Notably, stearoyl-CoA desaturase activity is required for the formation of large-sized lipid droplets in all mutant backgrounds, as well as for normal ratios of phosphatidylcholine (PC...

Analysis of CCN activity of Remote and Combustion Aerosol over the South East Pacific during autumn 2008 and links to Sc cloud properties

Science.gov (United States)

Freitag, S.; Clarke, A. D.; Howell, S. G.; Twohy, C. H.; Snider, J. R.; Toohey, D. W.; Shank, L.; McNaughton, C. S.; Brekhovskikh, V.; Kapustin, V.

2013-12-01

The earth's most extensive Stratocumulus (Sc) deck, situated off the coast of Northern Chile and Southern Peru, strongly influences the radiation budget and climate over the South East Pacific (SEP) by enhancing solar reflection. This feature makes Sc clouds an important constituent for climate modeling, yet these clouds are poorly represented in models. A large uncertainty in understanding the variability in these low cloud fields arises from our deficit in understanding the role of aerosol. Hence, a major goal of the VOCALS (www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/vocals) campaign in 2008 was to further explore and assess interactions of natural and anthropogenic aerosol with Sc clouds in both the more polluted coastal environment and west of 80W where we encountered nearly pristine boundary layer clouds often exposed to cloud-top entrainment of pollution aerosol from the free troposphere. Extensive airborne measurements of size-resolved aerosol volatility and chemical composition collected aboard the NCAR C-130 were analyzed with an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and a single particle soot photometer (SP2) to calculate aerosol hygroscopicity (κ) and predict cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration for all observed air mass types above and below cloud utilizing estimated Sc cloud supersaturations deduced from cloud-processed aerosol size distribution information. The predicted CCN agree to within 10% to measured CCN. Results from this analysis are presented here and CCN variability observed along VOCALS flight tracks is discussed in conjunction with size-resolved cloud droplet information. This includes assessing the impact of aerosol perturbations on the shape of the cloud droplet size distribution parameterized in models and satellite algorithms such as cloud top effective radius retrievals. We will further discuss cloud droplet residual composition collected using a counterflow virtual impactor (CVI) and analyzed with the AMS and SP2. Size resolved variations in

Droplet size prediction in ultrasonic nebulization for non-oxide ceramic powder synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Muñoz, Mariana; Goutier, Simon; Foucaud, Sylvie; Mariaux, Gilles; Poirier, Thierry

2018-03-01

Spray pyrolysis process has been used for the synthesis of non-oxide ceramic powders from liquid precursors in the Si/C/N system. Particles with a high thermal stability and with variable composition and size distribution have been obtained. In this process, the mechanisms involved in precursor decomposition and gas phase recombination of species are still unknown. The final aim of this work consists in improving the whole process comprehension by an experimental/modelling approach that helps to connect the synthesized particles characteristics to the precursor properties and process operating parameters. It includes the following steps: aerosol formation by a piezoelectric nebulizer, its transport and the chemical-physical phenomena involved in the reaction processes. This paper focuses on the aerosol characterization to understand the relationship between the liquid precursor properties and the liquid droplet diameter distribution. Liquids with properties close to the precursor of interest (hexamethyldisilazane) have been used. Experiments have been performed using a shadowgraphy technique to determine the drop size distribution of the aerosol. For all operating parameters of the nebulizer device and liquids used, bimodal droplet size distributions have been obtained. Correlations proposed in the literature for the droplet size prediction by ultrasonic nebulization were used and adapted to the specific nebulizer device used in this study, showing rather good agreement with experimental values. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Chemical Composition of Fogs and Clouds in Southern California.

Science.gov (United States)

Munger, James William

Fog and clouds are frequent occurrences in Southern California. Their chemical composition is of interest due to their potential role in the transformation of sulfur and nitrogen oxides to sulfuric and nitric acid and in the subsequent deposition of those acids. In addition, cloud and fog droplets may be involved in the chemistry of low-molecular-weight carboxylic acids and carbonyl compounds. The major inorganic species in cloud and fogwater samples were NH_4^+, H ^+, NO_3^-, and SO_4^{2-}. Concentrations in fogwater samples were 1-10 times 10^ {-3} M; pH values ranged from ~eq2 to 6. Nitrate usually exceeded sulfate. Acidity depended on the availability of of NH_3 from agricultural operations. Stratus cloudwater had somewhat lower concentrations; pH values were in the range 3-4. The major factors accounting for variation in fog- or cloudwater composition were the preexisting aerosol and gas concentrations and variations in liquid water content. Deposition and entrainment or advection of different air masses were also important during extended cloud or fog episodes. The droplet size dependence of cloudwater composition was investigated on one occasion in an intercepted coastal stratus clouds. The observations were consistent with the hypothesis that small droplets form on small secondary aerosol composed of H_2SO _4, HNO_3, and their NH_4^+ salts, while large droplets form on large sea-salt and soil-dust aerosol. Species that can exist in the gas phase, such as HCl and HNO _3, may be found in either droplet-size fraction. Concentrations of S(IV) and CH_2 O in the range 100-1000 μm were observed in fogwater from urban sites in Southern California. Lower concentrations were observed in stratus clouds. The high levels of S(IV) and CH_2 O were attributed to the formation of hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMSA), the S(IV) adduct of CH_2O. Direct measurement of HMSA in fogwater samples from Bakersfield, CA were made by ion-pairing chromatography. Glyoxal and methylglyoxal

Large Scale Behavior and Droplet Size Distributions in Crude Oil Jets and Plumes

Science.gov (United States)

Katz, Joseph; Murphy, David; Morra, David

2013-11-01

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout introduced several million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Injected initially as a turbulent jet containing crude oil and gas, the spill caused formation of a subsurface plume stretching for tens of miles. The behavior of such buoyant multiphase plumes depends on several factors, such as the oil droplet and bubble size distributions, current speed, and ambient stratification. While large droplets quickly rise to the surface, fine ones together with entrained seawater form intrusion layers. Many elements of the physics of droplet formation by an immiscible turbulent jet and their resulting size distribution have not been elucidated, but are known to be significantly influenced by the addition of dispersants, which vary the Weber Number by orders of magnitude. We present experimental high speed visualizations of turbulent jets of sweet petroleum crude oil (MC 252) premixed with Corexit 9500A dispersant at various dispersant to oil ratios. Observations were conducted in a 0.9 m × 0.9 m × 2.5 m towing tank, where large-scale behavior of the jet, both stationary and towed at various speeds to simulate cross-flow, have been recorded at high speed. Preliminary data on oil droplet size and spatial distributions were also measured using a videoscope and pulsed light sheet. Sponsored by Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI).

Study on Droplet Size and Velocity Distributions of a Pressure Swirl Atomizer Based on the Maximum Entropy Formalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Yan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A predictive model for droplet size and velocity distributions of a pressure swirl atomizer has been proposed based on the maximum entropy formalism (MEF. The constraint conditions of the MEF model include the conservation laws of mass, momentum, and energy. The effects of liquid swirling strength, Weber number, gas-to-liquid axial velocity ratio and gas-to-liquid density ratio on the droplet size and velocity distributions of a pressure swirl atomizer are investigated. Results show that model based on maximum entropy formalism works well to predict droplet size and velocity distributions under different spray conditions. Liquid swirling strength, Weber number, gas-to-liquid axial velocity ratio and gas-to-liquid density ratio have different effects on droplet size and velocity distributions of a pressure swirl atomizer.

Predicting decadal trends in cloud droplet number concentration using reanalysis and satellite data

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McCoy, Daniel T.; Bender, Frida A.-M.; Grosvenor, Daniel P.; Mohrmann, Johannes K.; Hartmann, Dennis L.; Wood, Robert; Field, Paul R.

2018-02-01

Cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) is the key state variable that moderates the relationship between aerosol and the radiative forcing arising from aerosol-cloud interactions. Uncertainty related to the effect of anthropogenic aerosol on cloud properties represents the largest uncertainty in total anthropogenic radiative forcing. Here we show that regionally averaged time series of the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observed CDNC of low, liquid-topped clouds is well predicted by the MERRA2 reanalysis near-surface sulfate mass concentration over decadal timescales. A multiple linear regression between MERRA2 reanalyses masses of sulfate (SO4), black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), sea salt (SS), and dust (DU) shows that CDNC across many different regimes can be reproduced by a simple power-law fit to near-surface SO4, with smaller contributions from BC, OC, SS, and DU. This confirms previous work using a less sophisticated retrieval of CDNC on monthly timescales. The analysis is supported by an examination of remotely sensed sulfur dioxide (SO2) over maritime volcanoes and the east coasts of North America and Asia, revealing that maritime CDNC responds to changes in SO2 as observed by the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI). This investigation of aerosol reanalysis and top-down remote-sensing observations reveals that emission controls in Asia and North America have decreased CDNC in their maritime outflow on a decadal timescale.

Endocytosis of Corn Oil-Caseinate Emulsions In Vitro: Impacts of Droplet Sizes

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Yuting; Yokoyama, Wally; Yi, Jiang

2017-01-01

The relative uptake and mechanisms of lipid-based emulsions of three different particle diameters by Caco-2 cells were studied. The corn oil-sodium caseinate emulsions showed little or no cytotoxicity even at 2 mg/mL protein concentration for any of the three droplet size emulsions. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) of Nile red containing emulsions showed that the lipid-based emulsions were absorbed by Caco-2 cells. A negative correlation between the mean droplet size and cellular uptake was observed. There was a time-dependent and energy-dependent uptake as shown by incubation at different times and treatment with sodium azide a general inhibitor of active transport. The endocytosis of lipid-based emulsions was size-dependent. The internalization of nanoemulsion droplets into Caco-2 cells mainly occurred through clathrin- and caveolae/lipid raft-related pathways, while macropinocytosis route played the most important role for 556 nm emulsion endocytosis as shown by the use of specific pathway inhibitors. Permeability of the emulsion through the apical or basal routes also suggested that active transport may be the main route for lipid-based nanoemulsions. The results may assist in the design and application of lipid-based nanoemulsions in nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals delivery. PMID:29072633

Endocytosis of Corn Oil-Caseinate Emulsions In Vitro: Impacts of Droplet Sizes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuting Fan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The relative uptake and mechanisms of lipid-based emulsions of three different particle diameters by Caco-2 cells were studied. The corn oil-sodium caseinate emulsions showed little or no cytotoxicity even at 2 mg/mL protein concentration for any of the three droplet size emulsions. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM of Nile red containing emulsions showed that the lipid-based emulsions were absorbed by Caco-2 cells. A negative correlation between the mean droplet size and cellular uptake was observed. There was a time-dependent and energy-dependent uptake as shown by incubation at different times and treatment with sodium azide a general inhibitor of active transport. The endocytosis of lipid-based emulsions was size-dependent. The internalization of nanoemulsion droplets into Caco-2 cells mainly occurred through clathrin- and caveolae/lipid raft-related pathways, while macropinocytosis route played the most important role for 556 nm emulsion endocytosis as shown by the use of specific pathway inhibitors. Permeability of the emulsion through the apical or basal routes also suggested that active transport may be the main route for lipid-based nanoemulsions. The results may assist in the design and application of lipid-based nanoemulsions in nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals delivery.

Impacts of cloud water droplets on the OH production rate from peroxide photolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Martins-Costa, M T C; Anglada, J M; Francisco, J S; Ruiz-López, Manuel F

2017-12-06

Understanding the difference between observed and modeled concentrations of HO x radicals in the troposphere is a current major issue in atmospheric chemistry. It is widely believed that existing atmospheric models miss a source of such radicals and several potential new sources have been proposed. In recent years, interest has increased on the role played by cloud droplets and organic aerosols. Computer modeling of ozone photolysis, for instance, has shown that atmospheric aqueous interfaces accelerate the associated OH production rate by as much as 3-4 orders of magnitude. Since methylhydroperoxide is a main source and sink of HO x radicals, especially at low NO x concentrations, it is fundamental to assess what is the influence of clouds on its chemistry and photochemistry. In this study, computer simulations for the photolysis of methylhydroperoxide at the air-water interface have been carried out showing that the OH production rate is severely enhanced, reaching a comparable level to ozone photolysis.

Bringing Clouds into Our Lab! - The Influence of Turbulence on the Early Stage Rain Droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Yavuz, Mehmet Altug; Kunnen, Rudie; Heijst, Gertjan; Clercx, Herman

2015-11-01

We are investigating a droplet-laden flow in an air-filled turbulence chamber, forced by speaker-driven air jets. The speakers are running in a random manner; yet they allow us to control and define the statistics of the turbulence. We study the motion of droplets with tunable size (Stokes numbers ~ 0.13 - 9) in a turbulent flow, mimicking the early stages of raindrop formation. 3D Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) together with Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) methods are chosen as the experimental method to track the droplets and collect data for statistical analysis. Thereby it is possible to study the spatial distribution of the droplets in turbulence using the so-called Radial Distribution Function (RDF), a statistical measure to quantify the clustering of particles. Additionally, 3D-PTV technique allows us to measure velocity statistics of the droplets and the influence of the turbulence on droplet trajectories, both individually and collectively. In this contribution, we will present the clustering probability quantified by the RDF for different Stokes numbers. We will explain the physics underlying the influence of turbulence on droplet cluster behavior. This study supported by FOM/NWO Netherlands.

submitter Phase transition observations and discrimination of small cloud particles by light polarization in expansion chamber experiments

CERN Document Server

Nichman, Leonid; Järvinen, Emma; Ignatius, Karoliina; Höppel, Niko Florian; Dias, Antonio; Heinritzi, Martin; Simon, Mario; Tröstl, Jasmin; Wagner, Andrea Christine; Wagner, Robert; Williamson, Christina; Yan, Chao; Connolly, Paul James; Dorsey, James Robert; Duplissy, Jonathan; Ehrhart, Sebastian; Frege, Carla; Gordon, Hamish; Hoyle, Christopher Robert; Kristensen, Thomas Bjerring; Steiner, Gerhard; McPherson Donahue, Neil; Flagan, Richard; Gallagher, Martin William; Kirkby, Jasper; Möhler, Ottmar; Saathoff, Harald; Schnaiter, Martin; Stratmann, Frank; Tomé, António

2016-01-01

Cloud microphysical processes involving the ice phase in tropospheric clouds are among the major uncertainties in cloud formation, weather, and general circulation models. The detection of aerosol particles, liquid droplets, and ice crystals, especially in the small cloud particle-size range below 50 μm, remains challenging in mixed phase, often unstable environments. The Cloud Aerosol Spectrometer with Polarization (CASPOL) is an airborne instrument that has the ability to detect such small cloud particles and measure the variability in polarization state of their backscattered light. Here we operate the versatile Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets (CLOUD) chamber facility at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to produce controlled mixed phase and other clouds by adiabatic expansions in an ultraclean environment, and use the CASPOL to discriminate between different aerosols, water, and ice particles. In this paper, optical property measurements of mixed-phase clouds and viscous secondary ...

Black carbon mixing state impacts on cloud microphysical properties: effects of aerosol plume and environmental conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ching, Ping Pui; Riemer, Nicole; West, Matthew

2016-05-27

Black carbon (BC) is usually mixed with other aerosol species within individual aerosol particles. This mixture, along with the particles' size and morphology, determines the particles' optical and cloud condensation nuclei properties, and hence black carbon's climate impacts. In this study the particle-resolved aerosol model PartMC-MOSAIC was used to quantify the importance of black carbon mixing state for predicting cloud microphysical quantities. Based on a set of about 100 cloud parcel simulations a process level analysis framework was developed to attribute the response in cloud microphysical properties to changes in the underlying aerosol population ("plume effect") and the cloud parcel cooling rate ("parcel effect"). It shows that the response of cloud droplet number concentration to changes in BC emissions depends on the BC mixing state. When the aerosol population contains mainly aged BC particles an increase in BC emission results in increasing cloud droplet number concentrations ("additive effect"). In contrast, when the aerosol population contains mainly fresh BC particles they act as sinks for condensable gaseous species, resulting in a decrease in cloud droplet number concentration as BC emissions are increased ("competition effect"). Additionally, we quantified the error in cloud microphysical quantities when neglecting the information on BC mixing state, which is often done in aerosol models. The errors ranged from -12% to +45% for the cloud droplet number fraction, from 0% to +1022% for the nucleation-scavenged black carbon (BC) mass fraction, from -12% to +4% for the effective radius, and from -30% to +60% for the relative dispersion.

Radiative Importance of Aerosol-Cloud Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Tsay, Si-Chee

1999-01-01

Aerosol particles are input into the troposphere by biomass burning, among other sources. These aerosol palls cover large expanses of the earth's surface. Aerosols may directly scatter solar radiation back to space, thus increasing the earth's albedo and act to cool the earth's surface and atmosphere. Aerosols also contribute to the earth's energy balance indirectly. Hygroscopic aerosol act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and thus affects cloud properties. In 1977, Twomey theorized that additional available CCN would create smaller but more numerous cloud droplets in a cloud with a given amount of liquid water. This in turn would increase the cloud albedo which would scatter additional radiation back to space and create a similar cooling pattern as the direct aerosol effect. Estimates of the magnitude of the aerosol indirect effect on a global scale range from 0.0 to -4.8 W/sq m. Thus the indirect effect can be of comparable magnitude and opposite in sign to the estimates of global greenhouse gas forcing Aerosol-cloud interaction is not a one-way process. Just as aerosols have an influence on clouds through the cloud microphysics, clouds have an influence on aerosols. Cloud droplets are solutions of liquid water and CCN, now dissolved. When the cloud droplet evaporates it leaves behind an aerosol particle. This new particle does not have to have the same properties as the original CCN. In fact, studies show that aerosol particles that result from cloud processing are larger in size than the original CCN. Optical properties of aerosol particles are dependent on the size of the particles. Larger particles have a smaller backscattering fraction, and thus less incoming solar radiation will be backscattered to space if the aerosol particles are larger. Therefore, we see that aerosols and clouds modify each other to influence the radiative balance of the earth. Understanding and quantifying the spatial and seasonal patterns of the aerosol indirect forcing may have

Transdermal delivery of forskolin from emulsions differing in droplet size.

Science.gov (United States)

Sikora, Elżbieta; Llinas, Meritxell; Garcia-Celma, Maria Jose; Escribano, Elvira; Solans, Conxita

2015-02-01

The skin permeation of forskolin, a diterpene isolated from Coleus forsholii, was studied using oil in water (O/W) emulsions as delivery formulations and also an oil solution for comparative purposes. Two forskolin-loaded emulsions of water/Brij 72:Symperonic A7/Miglyol 812:Isohexadecane, at 0.075 wt% forskolin concentration were prepared with the same composition and only differing in droplet size (0.38 μm and 10 μm). The emulsions showed high kinetic stability at 25 °C. In vitro study of forskolin penetration through human skin was carried out using the MicroettePlus(®) system. The concentration of the active in the receptor solution (i.e. ethanol/phosphate buffer 40/60, v/v) was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. The obtained results showed that forskolin permeation from the emulsions and the oil solution, through human skin, was very high (up to 72.10%), and no effect of droplet size was observed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Size-density relations in dark clouds: Non-LTE effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maloney, P.

1986-01-01

One of the major goals of molecular astronomy has been to understand the physics and dynamics of dense interstellar clouds. Because the interpretation of observations of giant molecular clouds is complicated by their very complex structure and the dynamical effects of star formation, a number of studies have concentrated on dark clouds. Leung, Kutner and Mead (1982) (hereafter LKM) and Myers (1983), in studies of CO and NH 3 emission, concluded that dark clouds exhibit significant correlations between linewidth and cloud radius of the form delta v varies as R(0.5) and between mean density and radius of the form n varies as R(-1), as originally suggested by Larson (1981). This result suggests that these objects are in virial equilibrium. However, the mean densities inferred from the CO data of LKM are based on an local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) analysis of their 13CO data. At the very low mean densities inferred by LKM for the larger clouds in their samples, the assumption of LTE becomes very questionable. As most of the range in R in the density-size correlation comes from the clouds observed in CO, it seems worthwhile to examine how non-LTE effects will influence the derived densities. Microturbulent models of inhomogeneous clouds of varying central concentration with the linewidth-size and mean density-size relations found by Myers show sub-thermal excitation of the 13CO line in the larger clouds, with the result that LTE analysis considerbly underestimates the actual column density. A more general approach which doesn't require detailed modeling of the clouds is to consider whether the observed T/sub R/*(13CO)/T/sub R/*(12CO) ratios in the clouds studied by LKM are in the range where the LTE-derived optical depths be seriously in error due to sub-thermal excitation of the 13CO molecule

Effects of droplet size and type of binder on the agglomerate growth mechanisms by melt agglomeration in a fluidised bed.

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Anette; Holm, Per; Schaefer, Torben

2002-08-01

This study was performed in order to evaluate the effects of binder droplet size and type of binder on the agglomerate growth mechanisms by melt agglomeration in a fluidised bed granulator. Lactose monohydrate was agglomerated with melted polyethylene glycol (PEG) 3000 or Gelucire 50/13 (esters of polyethylene glycol and glycerol), which was atomised at different nozzle air flow rates giving rise to median droplet sizes of 40, 60, and 80 microm. Different product temperatures were investigated, below the melting range, in the middle of the melting range, and above the melting range for each binder. The agglomerates were found to be formed by initial nucleation of lactose particles immersed in the melted binder droplets. Agglomerate growth occurred by coalescence between nuclei followed by coalescence between agglomerates. Complex effects of binder droplet size and type of binder were seen at low product temperatures. Low product temperatures resulted in smaller agglomerate sizes, because the agglomerate growth was counteracted by very high binder viscosity or solidification of the binder. At higher product temperatures, neither the binder droplet size nor the type of binder had a clear effect on the final agglomerate size.

Aerosol-cloud feedbacks in a turbulent environment: Laboratory measurements representative of conditions in boundary layer clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Cantrell, W. H.; Chandrakar, K. K.; Karki, S.; Kinney, G.; Shaw, R.

2017-12-01

Many of the climate impacts of boundary layer clouds are modulated by aerosol particles. As two examples, their interactions with incoming solar and upwelling terrestrial radiation and their propensity for precipitation are both governed by the population of aerosol particles upon which the cloud droplets formed. In turn, clouds are the primary removal mechanism for aerosol particles smaller than a few micrometers and larger than a few nanometers. Aspects of these interconnected phenomena are known in exquisite detail (e.g. Köhler theory), but other parts have not been as amenable to study in the laboratory (e.g. scavenging of aerosol particles by cloud droplets). As a complicating factor, boundary layer clouds are ubiquitously turbulent, which introduces fluctuations in the water vapor concentration and temperature, which govern the saturation ratio which mediates aerosol-cloud interactions. We have performed laboratory measurements of aerosol-cloud coupling and feedbacks, using Michigan Tech's Pi Chamber (Chang et al., 2016). In conditions representative of boundary layer clouds, our data suggest that the lifetime of most interstitial particles in the accumulation mode is governed by cloud activation - particles are removed from the Pi Chamber when they activate and settle out of the chamber as cloud droplets. As cloud droplets are removed, these interstitial particles activate until the initially polluted cloud cleans itself and all particulates are removed from the chamber. At that point, the cloud collapses. Our data also indicate that smaller particles, Dp defined through the use of the Dämkohler number, the ratio of the characteristic turbulence timescale to the cloud's microphysical response time. Chang, K., et al., 2016. A laboratory facility to study gas-aerosol-cloud interactions in a turbulent environment: The Π Chamber. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00203.1

Fog and Cloud Induced Aerosol Modification Observed by AERONET

Science.gov (United States)

Eck, T. F.; Holben, B. N.; Reid, J. S.; Giles, D. M.; Rivas, M. A.; Singh, R. P.; Tripathi, S. N.; Bruegge, C. J.; Platnick, S. E.; Arnold, G. T.;

Aerosol and Cloud Microphysical Properties in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Axisa, Duncan; Kucera, Paul; Burger, Roelof; Li, Runjun; Collins, Don; Freney, Evelyn; Posada, Rafael; Buseck, Peter

2010-05-01

In recent advertent and inadvertent weather modification studies, a considerable effort has been made to understand the impact of varying aerosol properties and concentration on cloud properties. Significant uncertainties exist with aerosol-cloud interactions for which complex microphysical processes link the aerosol and cloud properties. Under almost all environmental conditions, increased aerosol concentrations within polluted air masses will enhance cloud droplet concentration relative to that in unperturbed regions. The interaction between dust particles and clouds are significant, yet the conditions in which dust particles become cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are uncertain. In order to quantify this aerosol effect on clouds and precipitation, a field campaign was launched in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia as part of a Precipitation Enhancement Feasibility Study. Ground measurements of aerosol size distributions, hygroscopic growth factor, CCN concentrations as well as aircraft measurements of cloud hydrometeor size distributions were done in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia in August 2009. Research aircraft operations focused primarily on conducting measurements in clouds that are targeted for cloud top-seeding, on their microphysical characterization, especially the preconditions necessary for precipitation; understanding the evolution of droplet coalescence, supercooled liquid water, cloud ice and precipitation hydrometeors is necessary if advances are to be made in the study of cloud modification by cloud seeding. Non-precipitating mixed-phase clouds less than 3km in diameter that developed on top of the stable inversion were characterized by flying at the convective cloud top just above the inversion. Aerosol measurements were also done during the climb to cloud base height. The presentation will include a summary of the analysis and results with a focus on the unique features of the Asir region in producing convective clouds, characterization of the

Maximum Evaporation Rates of Water Droplets Approaching Obstacles in the Atmosphere Under Icing Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Lowell, H. H.

1953-01-01

When a closed body or a duct envelope moves through the atmosphere, air pressure and temperature rises occur ahead of the body or, under ram conditions, within the duct. If cloud water droplets are encountered, droplet evaporation will result because of the air-temperature rise and the relative velocity between the droplet and stagnating air. It is shown that the solution of the steady-state psychrometric equation provides evaporation rates which are the maximum possible when droplets are entrained in air moving along stagnation lines under such conditions. Calculations are made for a wide variety of water droplet diameters, ambient conditions, and flight Mach numbers. Droplet diameter, body size, and Mach number effects are found to predominate, whereas wide variation in ambient conditions are of relatively small significance in the determination of evaporation rates. The results are essentially exact for the case of movement of droplets having diameters smaller than about 30 microns along relatively long ducts (length at least several feet) or toward large obstacles (wings), since disequilibrium effects are then of little significance. Mass losses in the case of movement within ducts will often be significant fractions (one-fifth to one-half) of original droplet masses, while very small droplets within ducts will often disappear even though the entraining air is not fully stagnated. Wing-approach evaporation losses will usually be of the order of several percent of original droplet masses. Two numerical examples are given of the determination of local evaporation rates and total mass losses in cases involving cloud droplets approaching circular cylinders along stagnation lines. The cylinders chosen were of 3.95-inch (10.0+ cm) diameter and 39.5-inch 100+ cm) diameter. The smaller is representative of icing-rate measurement cylinders, while with the larger will be associated an air-flow field similar to that ahead of an airfoil having a leading-edge radius

Impact of Aerosol Processing on Orographic Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Pousse-Nottelmann, Sara; Zubler, Elias M.; Lohmann, Ulrike

2010-05-01

Aerosol particles undergo significant modifications during their residence time in the atmosphere. Physical processes like coagulation, coating and water uptake, and aqueous surface chemistry alter the aerosol size distribution and composition. At this, clouds play a primary role as physical and chemical processing inside cloud droplets contributes considerably to the changes in aerosol particles. A previous study estimates that on global average atmospheric particles are cycled three times through a cloud before being removed from the atmosphere [1]. An explicit and detailed treatment of cloud-borne particles has been implemented in the regional weather forecast and climate model COSMO-CLM. The employed model version includes a two-moment cloud microphysical scheme [2] that has been coupled to the aerosol microphysical scheme M7 [3] as described by Muhlbauer and Lohmann, 2008 [4]. So far, the formation, transfer and removal of cloud-borne aerosol number and mass were not considered in the model. Following the parameterization for cloud-borne particles developed by Hoose et al., 2008 [5], distinction between in-droplet and in-crystal particles is made to more physically account for processes in mixed-phase clouds, such as the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process and contact and immersion freezing. In our model, this approach has been extended to allow for aerosol particles in five different hydrometeors: cloud droplets, rain drops, ice crystals, snow flakes and graupel. We account for nucleation scavenging, freezing and melting processes, autoconversion, accretion, aggregation, riming and selfcollection, collisions between interstitial aerosol particles and hydrometeors, ice multiplication, sedimentation, evaporation and sublimation. The new scheme allows an evaluation of the cloud cycling of aerosol particles by tracking the particles even when scavenged into hydrometeors. Global simulations of aerosol processing in clouds have recently been conducted by Hoose et al

Aerosol particles in the Mexican East Pacific Part I: processing and vertical redistribution by clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Baumgardner

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Airborne measurements of aerosol particle size distributions were made in the Mexican Intertropical Convergence Zone. The volume concentrations of submicron and super micron particles at cloud base were compared with those in near-cloud regions over a range of altitudes. Of 78 near-cloud regions analyzed, 68% and 45% had enhanced volumes of submicron particles and supermicron particles, respectively. In addition, 35% of these regions had supermicron particles removed, presumably by precipitation. In 61% of the cases the enhancement in volume occurred over the size range from 0.1 to 50 μm whereas only submicron volumes were enhanced in 35% of the cases. In regions near clouds that were formed in air of maritime origin the frequency of volume enhancement decreased with increasing altitude and was twice as frequent on the dissipating side of clouds compared to the growing side. No such differences were found in the regions near clouds formed in air originating from the land. The frequency and average magnitude of volume enhancement are in qualitative and quantitative agreement with previous observational and theoretical studies that relate enhancements in particle mass to the uptake by cloud droplets of SO2 accompanied by additional growth by droplet coalescence.

Size-density relations in dark clouds: Non-LTE effects

Science.gov (United States)

Maloney, P.

1986-01-01

One of the major goals of molecular astronomy has been to understand the physics and dynamics of dense interstellar clouds. Because the interpretation of observations of giant molecular clouds is complicated by their very complex structure and the dynamical effects of star formation, a number of studies have concentrated on dark clouds. Leung, Kutner and Mead (1982) (hereafter LKM) and Myers (1983), in studies of CO and NH3 emission, concluded that dark clouds exhibit significant correlations between linewidth and cloud radius of the form delta v varies as R(0.5) and between mean density and radius of the form n varies as R(-1), as originally suggested by Larson (1981). This result suggests that these objects are in virial equilibrium. However, the mean densities inferred from the CO data of LKM are based on an local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) analysis of their 13CO data. At the very low mean densities inferred by LKM for the larger clouds in their samples, the assumption of LTE becomes very questionable. As most of the range in R in the density-size correlation comes from the clouds observed in CO, it seems worthwhile to examine how non-LTE effects will influence the derived densities. One way to assess the validity of LTE-derived densities is to construct cloud models and then to interpret them in the same way as the observed data. Microturbulent models of inhomogeneous clouds of varying central concentration with the linewidth-size and mean density-size relations found by Myers show sub-thermal excitation of the 13CO line in the larger clouds, with the result that LTE analysis considerbly underestimates the actual column density. A more general approach which doesn't require detailed modeling of the clouds is to consider whether the observed T sub R*(13CO)/T sub R*(12CO) ratios in the clouds studied by LKM are in the range where the LTE-derived optical depths (and hence column densities) can be seriously in error due to sub-thermal excitation of the 13CO

Cool-flame Extinction During N-Alkane Droplet Combustion in Microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Nayagam, Vedha; Dietrich, Daniel L.; Hicks, Michael C.; Williams, Forman A.

2014-01-01

Recent droplet combustion experiments onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have revealed that large n-alkane droplets can continue to burn quasi-steadily following radiative extinction in a low-temperature regime, characterized by negative-temperaturecoefficient (NTC) chemistry. In this study we report experimental observations of n-heptane, n-octane, and n-decane droplets of varying initial sizes burning in oxygen/nitrogen/carbon dioxide and oxygen/helium/nitrogen environments at 1.0, 0.7, and 0.5 atmospheric pressures. The oxygen concentration in these tests varied in the range of 14% to 25% by volume. Large n-alkane droplets exhibited quasi-steady low-temperature burning and extinction following radiative extinction of the visible flame while smaller droplets burned to completion or disruptively extinguished. A vapor-cloud formed in most cases slightly prior to or following the "cool flame" extinction. Results for droplet burning rates in both the hot-flame and cool-flame regimes as well as droplet extinction diameters at the end of each stage are presented. Time histories of radiant emission from the droplet captured using broadband radiometers are also presented. Remarkably the "cool flame" extinction diameters for all the three n-alkanes follow a trend reminiscent of the ignition delay times observed in previous studies. The similarities and differences among the n-alkanes during "cool flame" combustion are discussed using simplified theoretical models of the phenomenon

Cloud microphysics and aerosol indirect effects in the global climate model ECHAM5-HAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Lohmann

2007-07-01

Full Text Available The double-moment cloud microphysics scheme from ECHAM4 that predicts both the mass mixing ratios and number concentrations of cloud droplets and ice crystals has been coupled to the size-resolved aerosol scheme ECHAM5-HAM. ECHAM5-HAM predicts the aerosol mass, number concentrations and mixing state. The simulated liquid, ice and total water content and the cloud droplet and ice crystal number concentrations as a function of temperature in stratiform mixed-phase clouds between 0 and −35° C agree much better with aircraft observations in the ECHAM5 simulations. ECHAM5 performs better because more realistic aerosol concentrations are available for cloud droplet nucleation and because the Bergeron-Findeisen process is parameterized as being more efficient.

The total anthropogenic aerosol effect includes the direct, semi-direct and indirect effects and is defined as the difference in the top-of-the-atmosphere net radiation between present-day and pre-industrial times. It amounts to −1.9 W m⁻² in ECHAM5, when a relative humidity dependent cloud cover scheme and aerosol emissions representative for the years 1750 and 2000 from the AeroCom emission inventory are used. The contribution of the cloud albedo effect amounts to −0.7 W m⁻². The total anthropogenic aerosol effect is larger when either a statistical cloud cover scheme or a different aerosol emission inventory are employed because the cloud lifetime effect increases.

Feasibility study of multi-pixel retrieval of optical thickness and droplet effective radius of inhomogeneous clouds using deep learning

Science.gov (United States)

Okamura, Rintaro; Iwabuchi, Hironobu; Schmidt, K. Sebastian

2017-12-01

Three-dimensional (3-D) radiative-transfer effects are a major source of retrieval errors in satellite-based optical remote sensing of clouds. The challenge is that 3-D effects manifest themselves across multiple satellite pixels, which traditional single-pixel approaches cannot capture. In this study, we present two multi-pixel retrieval approaches based on deep learning, a technique that is becoming increasingly successful for complex problems in engineering and other areas. Specifically, we use deep neural networks (DNNs) to obtain multi-pixel estimates of cloud optical thickness and column-mean cloud droplet effective radius from multispectral, multi-pixel radiances. The first DNN method corrects traditional bispectral retrievals based on the plane-parallel homogeneous cloud assumption using the reflectances at the same two wavelengths. The other DNN method uses so-called convolutional layers and retrieves cloud properties directly from the reflectances at four wavelengths. The DNN methods are trained and tested on cloud fields from large-eddy simulations used as input to a 3-D radiative-transfer model to simulate upward radiances. The second DNN-based retrieval, sidestepping the bispectral retrieval step through convolutional layers, is shown to be more accurate. It reduces 3-D radiative-transfer effects that would otherwise affect the radiance values and estimates cloud properties robustly even for optically thick clouds.

Radiative properties of clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Twomey, S.

1993-01-01

The climatic effects of condensation nuclei in the formation of cloud droplets and the subsequent role of the cloud droplets as contributors to the planetary short-wave albedo is emphasized. Microphysical properties of clouds, which can be greatly modified by the degree of mixing with cloud-free air from outside, are discussed. The effect of clouds on visible radiation is assessed through multiple scattering of the radiation. Cloudwater or ice absorbs more with increasing wavelength in the near-infrared region, with water vapor providing the stronger absorption over narrower wavelength bands. Cloud thermal infrared absorption can be solely related to liquid water content at least for shallow clouds and clouds in the early development state. Three-dimensional general circulation models have been used to study the climatic effect of clouds. It was found for such studies (which did not consider variations in cloud albedo) that the cooling effects due to the increase in planetary short-wave albedo from clouds were offset by heating effects due to thermal infrared absorption by the cloud. Two permanent direct effects of increased pollution are discussed in this chapter: (a) an increase of absorption in the visible and near infrared because of increased amounts of elemental carbon, which gives rise to a warming effect climatically, and (b) an increased optical thickness of clouds due to increasing cloud droplet number concentration caused by increasing cloud condensation nuclei number concentration, which gives rise to a cooling effect climatically. An increase in cloud albedo from 0.7 to 0.87 produces an appreciable climatic perturbation of cooling up to 2.5 K at the ground, using a hemispheric general circulation model. Effects of pollution on cloud thermal infrared absorption are negligible

A hurricane modification process, applying a new technology tested for warm cloud seeding to produce artificial rains

Science.gov (United States)

Imai, T.; Martin, I.; Iha, K.

A Hurricane Modification Process with application of a new clean technology attested for seeding warm clouds with collector pure water droplets of controlled size to produce artificial rains in warm clouds is proposed to modify the hurricanes in order to avoid their formation or to modify the trajectory or to weaken hurricanes in action The Process is based on the time-dependent effects of cloud droplets microphysical processes for the formation and growth of the natural water droplets inside the clouds releasing large volumes of Aeolian energy to form the strong rotative upside air movements A new Paradigm proposed explain the strong and rotative winds created with the water droplets formation and grow process releasing the rotative Aeolian Energy in Tornados and Hurricanes This theory receive the Gold Medal Award of the Water Science in the 7th International Water Symposium 2005 in France Artificial seeding in the Process studies condensing a specified percentage of the water vapor to liquid water droplets where we observe the release of larges intensity of the Aeolian energy creates the hurricanes producing appreciable perturbations With they rotating strong wind created by the water droplets releasing Aeolian energy The Amplitudes of these winds are comparable to natural disasters Once this natural thermal process is completely understood artificial process to modify the hurricanes become scientifically possible to avoid them to happen or to deviate their trajectory or to weaken the already formed hurricanes In this work

Continuum Regime Motion of a Growing Droplet in Opposing Thermo-Diffusiophoretic and Gravitational Fields of a Thermal Diffusion Cloud Chamber

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bakanov, S. P.; Smolík, Jiří; Zaripov, S. K.; Ždímal, Vladimír

2001-01-01

Roč. 32, č. 3 (2001), s. 341-350 ISSN 0021-8502 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA104/97/1198 Grant - others:RFBR(RU) 99-01-00-169 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z4072921 Keywords : thermal diffusion cloud chamber * droplet growth * continuum regime Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 1.605, year: 2001

Coalescence preference and droplet size inequality during fluid phase segregation

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Sutapa

2018-02-01

Using molecular dynamics simulations and scaling arguments, we investigate the coalescence preference dynamics of liquid droplets in a phase-segregating off-critical, single-component fluid. It is observed that the preferential distance of the product drop from its larger parent, during a coalescence event, gets smaller for large parent size inequality. The relative coalescence position exhibits a power-law dependence on the parent size ratio with an exponent q ≃ 3.1 . This value of q is in strong contrast with earlier reports 2.1 and 5.1 in the literature. The dissimilarity is explained by considering the underlying coalescence mechanisms.

Effects of aerosol/cloud interactions on the global radiation budget

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chuang, C.C.; Penner, J.E.

1994-01-01

Aerosols may modify the microphysics of clouds by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), thereby enhancing the cloud reflectivity. Aerosols may also alter precipitation development by affecting the mean droplet size, thereby influencing cloud lifetimes and modifying the hydrological cycle. Clouds have a major effect on climate, but aerosol/cloud interactions have not been accounted for in past climate model simulations. However, the worldwide steady rise of global pollutants and emissions makes it imperative to investigate how atmospheric aerosols affect clouds and the global radiation budget. In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between aerosol and cloud drop size distributions by using a detailed micro-physical model. They parameterize the cloud nucleation process in terms of local aerosol characteristics and updraft velocity for use in a coupled climate/chemistry model to predict the magnitude of aerosol cloud forcing. Their simulations indicate that aerosol/cloud interactions may result in important increases in reflected solar radiation, which would mask locally the radiative forcing from increased greenhouse gases. This work is aimed at improving the assessment of the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on cloud optical properties and the global radiation budget

Coupling aerosol-cloud-radiative processes in the WRF-Chem model: Investigating the radiative impact of elevated point sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. G. Chapman

2009-02-01

Full Text Available The local and regional influence of elevated point sources on summertime aerosol forcing and cloud-aerosol interactions in northeastern North America was investigated using the WRF-Chem community model. The direct effects of aerosols on incoming solar radiation were simulated using existing modules to relate aerosol sizes and chemical composition to aerosol optical properties. Indirect effects were simulated by adding a prognostic treatment of cloud droplet number and adding modules that activate aerosol particles to form cloud droplets, simulate aqueous-phase chemistry, and tie a two-moment treatment of cloud water (cloud water mass and cloud droplet number to precipitation and an existing radiation scheme. Fully interactive feedbacks thus were created within the modified model, with aerosols affecting cloud droplet number and cloud radiative properties, and clouds altering aerosol size and composition via aqueous processes, wet scavenging, and gas-phase-related photolytic processes. Comparisons of a baseline simulation with observations show that the model captured the general temporal cycle of aerosol optical depths (AODs and produced clouds of comparable thickness to observations at approximately the proper times and places. The model overpredicted SO₂ mixing ratios and PM_2.5 mass, but reproduced the range of observed SO₂ to sulfate aerosol ratios, suggesting that atmospheric oxidation processes leading to aerosol sulfate formation are captured in the model. The baseline simulation was compared to a sensitivity simulation in which all emissions at model levels above the surface layer were set to zero, thus removing stack emissions. Instantaneous, site-specific differences for aerosol and cloud related properties between the two simulations could be quite large, as removing above-surface emission sources influenced when and where clouds formed within the modeling domain. When summed spatially over the finest

Explicit Cloud Nucleation from Arbitrary Mixtures of Aerosol Types and Sizes Using an Ultra-Efficient In-Line Aerosol Bin Model in High-Resolution Simulations of Hurricanes

Science.gov (United States)

Walko, R. L.; Ashby, T.; Cotton, W. R.

2017-12-01

The fundamental role of atmospheric aerosols in the process of cloud droplet nucleation is well known, and there is ample evidence that the concentration, size, and chemistry of aerosols can strongly influence microphysical, thermodynamic, and ultimately dynamic properties and evolution of clouds and convective systems. With the increasing availability of observation- and model-based environmental representations of different types of anthropogenic and natural aerosols, there is increasing need for models to be able to represent which aerosols nucleate and which do not in supersaturated conditions. However, this is a very complex process that involves competition for water vapor between multiple aerosol species (chemistries) and different aerosol sizes within each species. Attempts have been made to parameterize the nucleation properties of mixtures of different aerosol species, but it is very difficult or impossible to represent all possible mixtures that may occur in practice. As part of a modeling study of the impact of anthropogenic and natural aerosols on hurricanes, we developed an ultra-efficient aerosol bin model to represent nucleation in a high-resolution atmospheric model that explicitly represents cloud- and subcloud-scale vertical motion. The bin model is activated at any time and location in a simulation where supersaturation occurs and is potentially capable of activating new cloud droplets. The bins are populated from the aerosol species that are present at the given time and location and by multiple sizes from each aerosol species according to a characteristic size distribution, and the chemistry of each species is represented by its absorption or adsorption characteristics. The bin model is integrated in time increments that are smaller than that of the atmospheric model in order to temporally resolve the peak supersaturation, which determines the total nucleated number. Even though on the order of 100 bins are typically utilized, this leads only

Rheological and droplet size analysis of W/O/W multiple emulsions containing low concentrations of polymeric emulsifiers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DRAGANA D. VASILJEVIĆ

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Multiple emulsions are complex dispersion systems which have many potential applications in pharmaceutics, cosmetics and the food industry. In practice, however, significant problems may arise because of their thermodynamic instability. In this study, W/O/W multiple emulsion systems containing low concentration levels of lipophilic polymeric primary emulsifiers cetyl dimethicone copolyol and PEG–30 dipolyhydroxystearate were evaluated. The concentrations of the primary emulsifiers were set at 1.6 and 2.4 % w/w in the final emulsions. Rheological and droplet size analysis of the investigated samples showed that the type and concentration of the primary lipophilic polymeric emulsifier markedly affected the characteristics of the multiple emulsions. The multiple emulsion prepared with 2.4 % w/w PEG–30 dipolyhydroxystearate as the primary emulsifier exhibited the highest apparent viscosity, yield stress and elastic modulus values, as well as the smallest droplet size. Furthermore, these parameters remained relatively constant over the study period, confirming the high stability of the investigated sample. The results obtained indicate that the changes observed in the investigated samples over time could be attributed to the swelling/breakdown mechanism of the multiple droplets. Such changes could be adequately monitored by rheological and droplet size analysis.

Particulate size growth in a buoyant aerosol cloud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bathula, Sreekanth; Anand, S.; Sapra, B.K.; Chaturvedi, Shashank; Chaudhury, Probal; Pradeepkumar, K.S.

2018-01-01

Intentional/accidental release of Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear (CBRN) contaminant into environment create air and ground contamination. Preparedness and response towards such incidents require reliable models to predict the contamination levels. If the released contaminant is a gas, then it will undergo dilution by mixing with the atmospheric air hence air concentration will reduce to a greater extent and ground contamination may not be possible unless by means of wet deposition. But if the released contaminant is in the form of an aerosol cloud, significant ground deposition is possible due to dry deposition as well as wet deposition along with the air concentration. Particle size distribution inside the cloud is essential information required in computing the air concentration as well as ground concentration. The particle size distribution inside the cloud also undergoes temporal variation due to microscopic processes like particle-particle interactions (coagulation) and macroscopic like buoyancy, air entrainment and volume expansion etc. In this paper, the numerical computation of particle size and particle number concentration in an instantaneous, uniformly mixed, buoyant spherical puff released from a pressurised container is presented

Post-dryout heat transfer and entrained droplet sizes at low pressure and low flow conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, H.Y.; No, H.C.

1997-01-01

The entrainment mechanisms and the entrained droplet sizes with relation to the flow regimes are investigated. Through the analysis of many experimental post-dryout data, it is shown that the most probable flow regime near dryout or quench front is not annular flow but churn-turbulent flow when the mass flux is low. A correlation describing the initial droplet size just after the CHF position at low mass flux is suggested through regression analysis. The history-dependent post-dryout model of Varone and Rohsenow replaced by the Webb-Chen model for wall-vapor heat transfer is used as a reference model in the analysis. In the post-dryout region at low pressure and low flow, it is found that the suggested one-dimensional mechanistic model is not applicable when the vapor superficial velocity is very low. This is explained by the change of main entrainment mechanism with the change of flow regime. In bubbly or slug flow a number of tiny droplets generated from bubble burst become important in the heat transfer after dryout. Therefore, the suggested correlation is valid only in the churn-turbulent flow regime (j g * = 0.5∼4.5). It is also suggested that the droplet size generated from the churn-turbulent surface is dependent not only on the pressure but also on the vapor velocity. It turns out that the present model can predict the measured cladding and vapor temperatures within 20% and 25%, respectively

Can a droplet break up under flow without elongating? Fragmentation of smectic monodisperse droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Courbin, L.; Engl, W.; Panizza, P.

2004-06-01

We study the fragmentation under shear flow of smectic monodisperse droplets at high volume fraction. Using small angle light scattering and optical microscopy, we reveal the existence of a break-up mechanism for which the droplets burst into daughter droplets of the same size. Surprisingly, this fragmentation process, which is strain controlled and occurs homogeneously in the cell, does not require any transient elongation of the droplets. Systematic experiments as a function of the initial droplet size and the applied shear rate show that the rupture is triggered by an instability of the inner droplet structure.

Cloud Activation Potentials for Atmospheric α-Pinene and β-Caryophyllene Ozonolysis Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray Bé, Ariana; Upshur, Mary Alice; Liu, Pengfei; Martin, Scot T; Geiger, Franz M; Thomson, Regan J

2017-07-26

The formation of atmospheric cloud droplets due to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles is important for quantifying the Earth's radiative balance under future, possibly warmer, climates, yet is only poorly understood. While cloud activation may be parametrized using the surface tension depression that coincides with surfactant partitioning to the gas-droplet interface, the extent to which cloud activation is influenced by both the chemical structure and reactivity of the individual molecules comprising this surfactant pool is largely unknown. We report herein considerable differences in the surface tension depression of aqueous pendant droplets that contain synthetically prepared ozonolysis products derived from α-pinene and β-caryophyllene, the most abundant of the monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, respectively, that are emitted over the planet's vast forest ecosystems. Oxidation products derived from β-caryophyllene were found to exhibit significantly higher surface activity than those prepared from α-pinene, with the critical supersaturation required for cloud droplet activation reduced by 50% for β-caryophyllene aldehyde at 1 mM. These considerable reductions in the critical supersaturation were found to coincide with free energies of adsorption that exceed ∼25 kJ/mol, or just one hydrogen bond equivalent, depending on the ammonium sulfate and oxidation product concentration in the solution. Additional experiments showed that aldehyde-containing oxidation products exist in equilibrium with hydrated forms in aqueous solution, which may modulate their bulk solubility and surface activity. Equilibration time scales on the order of 10 -5 to 10 -4 s calculated for micrometer-sized aerosol particles indicate instantaneous surface tension depression in the activation processes leading to cloud formation in the atmosphere. Our findings highlight the underlying importance of molecular structure and reactivity when considering cloud condensation activity in

THE MASS-SIZE RELATION FROM CLOUDS TO CORES. I. A NEW PROBE OF STRUCTURE IN MOLECULAR CLOUDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kauffmann, J.; Shetty, R.; Goodman, A. A.; Pillai, T.; Myers, P. C.

2010-01-01

We use a new contour-based map analysis technique to measure the mass and size of molecular cloud fragments continuously over a wide range of spatial scales (0.05 ≤ r/pc ≤ 10), i.e., from the scale of dense cores to those of entire clouds. The present paper presents the method via a detailed exploration of the Perseus molecular cloud. Dust extinction and emission data are combined to yield reliable scale-dependent measurements of mass. This scale-independent analysis approach is useful for several reasons. First, it provides a more comprehensive characterization of a map (i.e., not biased toward a particular spatial scale). Such a lack of bias is extremely useful for the joint analysis of many data sets taken with different spatial resolution. This includes comparisons between different cloud complexes. Second, the multi-scale mass-size data constitute a unique resource to derive slopes of mass-size laws (via power-law fits). Such slopes provide singular constraints on large-scale density gradients in clouds.

Marine cloud brightening

OpenAIRE

Latham, John; Bower, Keith; Choularton, Tom; Coe, Hugh; Connolly, Paul; Cooper, Gary; Craft, Tim; Foster, Jack; Gadian, Alan; Galbraith, Lee; Iacovides, Hector; Johnston, David; Launder, Brian; Leslie, Brian; Meyer, John

2012-01-01

The idea behind the marine cloud-brightening (MCB) geoengineering technique is that seeding marine stratocumulus clouds with copious quantities of roughly monodisperse sub-micrometre sea water particles might significantly enhance the cloud droplet number concentration, and thereby the cloud albedo and possibly longevity. This would produce a cooling, which general circulation model (GCM) computations suggest could—subject to satisfactory resolution of technical and scientific problems identi...

Introducing a new formula based on an artificial neural network for prediction of droplet size in venturi scrubbers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Sharifi

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Droplet size is a fundamental parameter for Venturi scrubber performance. For many years, the correlations proposed by Nukiyama and Tanasawa (1938 and Boll et al. (1974 were used for calculating mean droplet size in Venturi scrubbers with limited operating parameters. This study proposes an alternative approach on the basis of artificial neural networks (ANNs to determine the mean droplet size in Venturi scrubbers, in a wide range of operating parameters. Experimental data were used to design the ANNs. A neural network was trained based on the liquid to gas ratio (L/G and throat gas velocity (Vgth, as input parameters, and the Sauter mean diameter (D32 as the desired parameter. The back-propagation learning algorithms were used in the network and the best approach was found. A new formula for the prediction of D32 using the weights of the network was then generated. This formula predicts mean droplet size in Venturi scrubbers more accurately than the correlations of Boll et al. (1974 and Nukiyama and Tanasawa (1938. The Average Absolute Percent Deviation (AAPD of our formula and the Boll et al. and Nukiyama and Tanasawa correlations for the full ranges of experimental data are 26.04%, 40.19% and 32.99%, respectively.

Uniform-droplet spray forming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blue, C.A.; Sikka, V.K. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Chun, Jung-Hoon [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States); Ando, T. [Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States)

1997-04-01

The uniform-droplet process is a new method of liquid-metal atomization that results in single droplets that can be used to produce mono-size powders or sprayed-on to substrates to produce near-net shapes with tailored microstructure. The mono-sized powder-production capability of the uniform-droplet process also has the potential of permitting engineered powder blends to produce components of controlled porosity. Metal and alloy powders are commercially produced by at least three different methods: gas atomization, water atomization, and rotating disk. All three methods produce powders of a broad range in size with a very small yield of fine powders with single-sized droplets that can be used to produce mono-size powders or sprayed-on substrates to produce near-net shapes with tailored microstructures. The economical analysis has shown the process to have the potential of reducing capital cost by 50% and operating cost by 37.5% when applied to powder making. For the spray-forming process, a 25% savings is expected in both the capital and operating costs. The project is jointly carried out at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Tuffs University, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Preliminary interactions with both finished parts and powder producers have shown a strong interest in the uniform-droplet process. Systematic studies are being conducted to optimize the process parameters, understand the solidification of droplets and spray deposits, and develop a uniform-droplet-system (UDS) apparatus appropriate for processing engineering alloys.

The Mechanism of First Raindrops Formation in Deep Convective Clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khain, Alexander; Prabha, Thara; Benmoshe, Nir; Pandithurai, G.; Ovchinnikov, Mikhail

2013-08-22

The formation of first raindrops in deep convective clouds is investigated. A combination of observational data analysis and 2-D and 3-D numerical bin microphysical simulations of deep convective clouds suggests that the first raindrops form at the top of undiluted or slightly diluted cores. It is shown that droplet size distributions in these regions are wider and contain more large droplets than in diluted volumes. The results of the study indicate that the initial raindrop formation is determined by the basic microphysical processes within ascending adiabatic volumes. It allows one to predict the height of the formation of first raindrops considering the processes of nucleation, diffusion growth and collisions. The results obtained in the study explain observational results reported by Freud and Rosenfeld (2012) according to which the height of first raindrop formation depends linearly on the droplet number concentration at cloud base. The results also explain why a simple adiabatic parcel model can reproduce this dependence. The present study provides a physical basis for retrieval algorithms of cloud microphysical properties and aerosol properties using satellites proposed by Rosenfeld et al. ( 2012). The study indicates that the role of mixing and entrainment in the formation of the first raindrops is not of crucial importance. It is also shown that low variability of effective and mean volume radii along horizontal traverses, as regularly observed by in situ measurements, can be simulated by high-resolution cloud models, in which mixing is parameterized by a traditional 1.5 order turbulence closure scheme.

Particle size distribution properties in mixed-phase monsoon clouds from in situ measurements during CAIPEEX

Science.gov (United States)

Patade, Sachin; Prabha, T. V.; Axisa, D.; Gayatri, K.; Heymsfield, A.

2015-10-01

A comprehensive analysis of particle size distributions measured in situ with airborne instrumentation during the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX) is presented. In situ airborne observations in the developing stage of continental convective clouds during premonsoon (PRE), transition, and monsoon (MON) period at temperatures from 25 to -22°C are used in the study. The PRE clouds have narrow drop size and particle size distributions compared to monsoon clouds and showed less development of size spectra with decrease in temperature. Overall, the PRE cases had much lower values of particle number concentrations and ice water content compared to MON cases, indicating large differences in the ice initiation and growth processes between these cloud regimes. This study provided compelling evidence that in addition to dynamics, aerosol and moisture are important for modulating ice microphysical processes in PRE and MON clouds through impacts on cloud drop size distribution. Significant differences are observed in the relationship of the slope and intercept parameters of the fitted particle size distributions (PSDs) with temperature in PRE and MON clouds. The intercept values are higher in MON clouds than PRE for exponential distribution which can be attributed to higher cloud particle number concentrations and ice water content in MON clouds. The PRE clouds tend to have larger values of dispersion of gamma size distributions than MON clouds, signifying narrower spectra. The relationships between PSDs parameters are presented and compared with previous observations.

The single-particle mixing state and cloud scavenging of black carbon: a case study at a high-altitude mountain site in southern China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guohua; Lin, Qinhao; Peng, Long; Bi, Xinhui; Chen, Duohong; Li, Mei; Li, Lei; Brechtel, Fred J.; Chen, Jianxin; Yan, Weijun; Wang, Xinming; Peng, Ping'an; Sheng, Guoying; Zhou, Zhen

2017-12-01

In the present study, a ground-based counterflow virtual impactor (GCVI) was used to sample cloud droplet residual (cloud RES) particles, while a parallel PM2.5 inlet was used to sample cloud-free or cloud interstitial (cloud INT) particles. The mixing state of black carbon (BC)-containing particles and the mass concentrations of BC in the cloud-free, RES and INT particles were investigated using a single-particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SPAMS) and two aethalometers, respectively, at a mountain site (1690 m a. s. l. ) in southern China. The measured BC-containing particles were extensively internally mixed with sulfate and were scavenged into cloud droplets (with number fractions of 0.05-0.45) to a similar (or slightly lower) extent as all the measured particles (0.07-0.6) over the measured size range of 0.1-1.6 µm. The results indicate the preferential activation of larger particles and/or that the production of secondary compositions shifts the BC-containing particles towards larger sizes. BC-containing particles with an abundance of both sulfate and organics were scavenged less than those with sulfate but limited organics, implying the importance of the mixing state on the incorporation of BC-containing particles into cloud droplets. The mass scavenging efficiency of BC with an average of 33 % was similar for different cloud events independent of the air mass. This is the first time that both the mixing state and cloud scavenging of BC in China have been reported. Our results would improve the knowledge on the concentration, mixing state, and cloud scavenging of BC in the free troposphere.

Organic Aerosols as Cloud Condensation Nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, J. G.

2002-05-01

The large organic component of the atmospheric aerosol contributes to both natural and anthropogenic cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Moreover, some organic substances may reduce droplet surface tension (Facchini et al. 1999), while others may be partially soluble (Laaksonen et al. 1998), and others may inhibit water condensation. The interaction of organics with water need to be understood in order to better understand the indirect aerosol effect. Therefore, laboratory CCN spectral measurements of organic aerosols are presented. These are measurements of the critical supersaturation (Sc), the supersaturation needed to produce an activated cloud droplet, as a function of the size of the organic particles. Substances include sodium lauryl (dodecyl) sulfate, oxalic, adipic, pinonic, hexadecanedioic, glutaric, stearic, succinic, phthalic, and benzoic acids. These size-Sc relationships are compared with theoretical and measured size-Sc relationships of common inorganic compounds (e.g., NaCl, KI, ammonium and calcium sulfate). Unlike most inorganics some organics display variations in solubility per unit mass as a function of particle size. Those showing relatively greater solubility at smaller sizes may be attributable to surface tension reduction, which is greater for less water dilution, as is the case for smaller particles, which are less diluted at the critical sizes. This was the case for sodium dodecyl sulfate, which does reduce surface tension. Relatively greater solubility for larger particles may be caused by greater dissolution at the higher dilutions that occur with larger particles; this is partial solubility. Measurements are also presented of internal mixtures of various organic and inorganic substances. These measurements were done with two CCN spectrometers (Hudson 1989) operating simultaneously. These two instruments usually displayed similar results in spite of the fact that they have different flow rates and supersaturation profiles. The degree of

Relationship between concentration of surfactant and pressure for droplet creation, and effect on droplet size in microchannel O/W emulsification; Maikurochaneru ni yoru O/W nyukaho ni okeru kaimen kasseizai nodo to ekiteki seisei atsuryoku no kankei, oyobi koreraga ekitekikei ni oyobosu eikyo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawakatsu, T.; Komori, H.; Oda, N.; Yonemoto, T. [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Graduate School of Engineering

1998-03-01

O/W (oil in water) emulsion is produced by micro-channel emulsification method, and the effects of surfactant concentration on the pressures at which droplet generation starts and stops are evaluated in connection with the water phase and oil phase interfacial tension. In addition, the effects of surfactant concentration and operational pressure on the droplet size are investigated by measuring the generated droplet distribution, mean droplet size, standard deviation, geometrical standard deviation, and the possibility of producing mono-dispersion emulsion whose droplet size is large than 10 micron. The breakthrough pressure and the minimum pressure for droplet generation become low with the increase of SDS (sodium lauryl sulfate) concentration. The surfactant concentration, however, is found to have no effect on the breakthrough pressure and the minimum pressure for droplet generation when the SDS concentration exceeds the critical micelle concentration. It is true also for a system added with NaCl. As regards droplet size, uniform 20{mu}m droplet is obtained irrespective of the surfactant concentration and pressure. 13 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs.

A new airborne Polar Nephelometer for the measurement of optical and microphysical cloud properties. Part II: Preliminary tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Crépel

Full Text Available A new optical sensor, the airborne Polar Nephelometer, has been tested in an open wind tunnel. The wind tunnel was operated in cloudy conditions including either cloud water droplets or ice crystals, or a mixture of these particles. The sensor is designed to measure the optical and microphysical parameters of cloud particles sized from a few micrometers to about 500 µm diameter. Basically, the probe measures the scattering phase function of an ensemble of cloud particles which intersect a collimated laser beam near the focal point of a paraboloidal mirror. From the measured scattering phase function the retrieval of the droplet-size spectra and subsequent derived quantities such as liquid water content and size parameters can be calculated using an inversion method. The particle phase discrimination (water droplets/ice particles can be derived from the shape of the scattering phase function and the sensitivity of the probe allows the detection of small ice crystals (typically of 5 µm diameter. The paper describes the preliminary results obtained by the prototype version of the Polar Nephelometer in various cloudy conditions. These results are compared with direct microphysical measurements obtained by usual PMS probes also mounted in the wind tunnel. Complementary results obtained in a cold chamber are presented in order to illustrate the reliability of the Polar Nephelometer in the presence of small ice crystals.

The CLOUD experiment

CERN Multimedia

Maximilien Brice

2006-01-01

The Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets (CLOUD) experiment as shown by Jasper Kirkby (spokesperson). Kirkby shows a sketch to illustrate the possible link between galactic cosmic rays and cloud formations. The CLOUD experiment uses beams from the PS accelerator at CERN to simulate the effect of cosmic rays on cloud formations in the Earth's atmosphere. It is thought that cosmic ray intensity is linked to the amount of low cloud cover due to the formation of aerosols, which induce condensation.

Top-spray fluid bed coating: Scale-up in terms of relative droplet size and drying force

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hede, Peter Dybdahl; Bach, P.; Jensen, Anker Degn

2008-01-01

in terms of particle size fractions larger than 425 mu m determined by sieve analysis. Results indicated that the particle size distribution may be reproduced across scale with statistical valid precision by keeping the drying force and the relative droplet size constant across scale. It is also shown...

[Micro-droplet characterization and its application for amino acid detection in droplet microfluidic system].

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Huiling; Dong, Libing; Tu, Ran; Du, Wenbin; Ji, Shiru; Wang, Qinhong

2014-01-01

Recently, the droplet microfluidic system attracts interests due to its high throughput and low cost to detect and screen. The picoliter micro-droplets from droplet microfluidics are uniform with respect to the size and shape, and could be used as monodispensed micro-reactors for encapsulation and detection of single cell or its metabolites. Therefore, it is indispensable to characterize micro-droplet and its application from droplet microfluidic system. We first constructed the custom-designed droplet microfluidic system for generating micro-droplets, and then used the micro-droplets to encapsulate important amino acids such as glutamic acid, phenylalanine, tryptophan or tyrosine to test the droplets' properties, including the stability, diffusivity and bio-compatibility for investigating its application for amino acid detection and sorting. The custom-designed droplet microfluidic system could generate the uniformed micro-droplets with a controllable size between 20 to 50 microm. The micro-droplets could be stable for more than 20 h without cross-contamination or fusion each other. The throughput of detection and sorting of the system is about 600 micro-droplets per minute. This study provides a high-throughput platform for the analysis and screening of amino acid-producing microorganisms.

Testing remote sensing on artificial observations: impact of drizzle and 3-D cloud structure on effective radius retrievals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Zinner

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Remote sensing of cloud effective particle size with passive sensors like the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS is an important tool for cloud microphysical studies. As a measure of the radiatively relevant droplet size, effective radius can be retrieved with different combinations of visible through shortwave and midwave infrared channels. In practice, retrieved effective radii from these combinations can be quite different. This difference is perhaps indicative of different penetration depths and path lengths for the spectral reflectances used. In addition, operational liquid water cloud retrievals are based on the assumption of a relatively narrow distribution of droplet sizes; the role of larger precipitation particles in these distributions is neglected. Therefore, possible explanations for the discrepancy in some MODIS spectral size retrievals could include 3-D radiative transport effects, including sub-pixel cloud inhomogeneity, and/or the impact of drizzle formation.

For three cloud cases the possible factors of influence are isolated and investigated in detail by the use of simulated cloud scenes and synthetic satellite data: marine boundary layer cloud scenes from large eddy simulations (LES with detailed microphysics are combined with Monte Carlo radiative transfer calculations that explicitly account for the detailed droplet size distributions as well as 3-D radiative transfer to simulate MODIS observations. The operational MODIS optical thickness and effective radius retrieval algorithm is applied to these and the results are compared to the given LES microphysics.

We investigate two types of marine cloud situations each with and without drizzle from LES simulations: (1 a typical daytime stratocumulus deck at two times in the diurnal cycle and (2 one scene with scattered cumulus. Only small impact of drizzle formation on the retrieved domain average and on the differences between the three

Droplet Growth

Science.gov (United States)

Marder, Michael Paolo

When a mixture of two materials, such as aluminum and tin, or alcohol and water, is cooled below a certain temperature, the two components begin to separate. If one component is dilute in the other, it may separate out in the form of small spheres, and these will begin to enlarge, depleting the supersaturated material around them. If the dynamics is sufficiently slow, thermodynamics gives one considerable information about how the droplets grow. Two types of experiment have explored this behavior and given puzzling results. Nucleation experiments measure the rate at which droplets initially appear from a seemingly homogeneous mixture. Near the critical point in binary liquids, experiments conducted in the 1960's and early 1970's showed that nucleation was vastly slower than theory seemed to predict. The resolution of this problem arises by considering in detail the dynamics of growing droplets and comparing it with what experiments actually measure. Here will be presented a more detailed comparison of theory and experiment than has before been completed, obtaining satisfactory agreement with no free parameters needed. A second type of experiment measures droplet size distributions after long times. In the late stage, droplets compete with each other for material, a few growing at the expense of others. A theory first proposed by Lifshitz and Slyozov claims that this distribution, properly scaled, should be universal, and independent of properties of materials. Yet experimental measurements consistently find distributions that are more broad and squat than the theory would predict. Satisfactory agreement with experiment can be achieved by considering two points. First, one must study the complete time development of droplet size distributions, to understand when the asymptotic regime obtains. Second, droplet size distributions are spread by correlations between droplets. If one finds a small droplet, it is small because large droplets nearby are competing with it

Biomass-burning impact on CCN number, hygroscopicity and cloud formation during summertime in the eastern Mediterranean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Bougiatioti

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the concentration, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN activity and hygroscopic properties of particles influenced by biomass burning in the eastern Mediterranean and their impacts on cloud droplet formation. Air masses sampled were subject to a range of atmospheric processing (several hours up to 3 days. Values of the hygroscopicity parameter, κ, were derived from CCN measurements and a Hygroscopic Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (HTDMA. An Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM was also used to determine the chemical composition and mass concentration of non-refractory components of the submicron aerosol fraction. During fire events, the increased organic content (and lower inorganic fraction of the aerosol decreases the values of κ, for all particle sizes. Particle sizes smaller than 80 nm exhibited considerable chemical dispersion (where hygroscopicity varied up to 100 % for particles of same size; larger particles, however, exhibited considerably less dispersion owing to the effects of condensational growth and cloud processing. ACSM measurements indicate that the bulk composition reflects the hygroscopicity and chemical nature of the largest particles (having a diameter of  ∼  100 nm at dry conditions sampled. Based on positive matrix factorization (PMF analysis of the organic ACSM spectra, CCN concentrations follow a similar trend as the biomass-burning organic aerosol (BBOA component, with the former being enhanced between 65 and 150 % (for supersaturations ranging between 0.2 and 0.7 % with the arrival of the smoke plumes. Using multilinear regression of the PMF factors (BBOA, OOA-BB and OOA and the observed hygroscopicity parameter, the inferred hygroscopicity of the oxygenated organic aerosol components is determined. We find that the transformation of freshly emitted biomass burning (BBOA to more oxidized organic aerosol (OOA-BB can result in a 2-fold increase of the inferred organic

A multi-year data set on aerosol-cloud-precipitation-meteorology interactions for marine stratocumulus clouds.

Science.gov (United States)

Sorooshian, Armin; MacDonald, Alexander B; Dadashazar, Hossein; Bates, Kelvin H; Coggon, Matthew M; Craven, Jill S; Crosbie, Ewan; Hersey, Scott P; Hodas, Natasha; Lin, Jack J; Negrón Marty, Arnaldo; Maudlin, Lindsay C; Metcalf, Andrew R; Murphy, Shane M; Padró, Luz T; Prabhakar, Gouri; Rissman, Tracey A; Shingler, Taylor; Varutbangkul, Varuntida; Wang, Zhen; Woods, Roy K; Chuang, Patrick Y; Nenes, Athanasios; Jonsson, Haflidi H; Flagan, Richard C; Seinfeld, John H

2018-02-27

Airborne measurements of meteorological, aerosol, and stratocumulus cloud properties have been harmonized from six field campaigns during July-August months between 2005 and 2016 off the California coast. A consistent set of core instruments was deployed on the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies Twin Otter for 113 flight days, amounting to 514 flight hours. A unique aspect of the compiled data set is detailed measurements of aerosol microphysical properties (size distribution, composition, bioaerosol detection, hygroscopicity, optical), cloud water composition, and different sampling inlets to distinguish between clear air aerosol, interstitial in-cloud aerosol, and droplet residual particles in cloud. Measurements and data analysis follow documented methods for quality assurance. The data set is suitable for studies associated with aerosol-cloud-precipitation-meteorology-radiation interactions, especially owing to sharp aerosol perturbations from ship traffic and biomass burning. The data set can be used for model initialization and synergistic application with meteorological models and remote sensing data to improve understanding of the very interactions that comprise the largest uncertainty in the effect of anthropogenic emissions on radiative forcing.

Vertical distribution of microphysical properties of Arctic springtime low-level mixed-phase clouds over the Greenland and Norwegian seas

Science.gov (United States)

Mioche, Guillaume; Jourdan, Olivier; Delanoë, Julien; Gourbeyre, Christophe; Febvre, Guy; Dupuy, Régis; Monier, Marie; Szczap, Frédéric; Schwarzenboeck, Alfons; Gayet, Jean-François

2017-10-01

This study aims to characterize the microphysical and optical properties of ice crystals and supercooled liquid droplets within low-level Arctic mixed-phase clouds (MPCs). We compiled and analyzed cloud in situ measurements from four airborne spring campaigns (representing 18 flights and 71 vertical profiles in MPCs) over the Greenland and Norwegian seas mainly in the vicinity of the Svalbard archipelago. Cloud phase discrimination and representative vertical profiles of the number, size, mass and shape of ice crystals and liquid droplets are established. The results show that the liquid phase dominates the upper part of the MPCs. High concentrations (120 cm-3 on average) of small droplets (mean values of 15 µm), with an averaged liquid water content (LWC) of 0.2 g m-3 are measured at cloud top. The ice phase dominates the microphysical properties in the lower part of the cloud and beneath it in the precipitation region (mean values of 100 µm, 3 L-1 and 0.025 g m-3 for diameter, particle concentration and ice water content (IWC), respectively). The analysis of the ice crystal morphology shows that the majority of ice particles are irregularly shaped or rimed particles; the prevailing regular habits found are stellars and plates. We hypothesize that riming and diffusional growth processes, including the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen (WBF) mechanism, are the main growth mechanisms involved in the observed MPCs. The impact of larger-scale meteorological conditions on the vertical profiles of MPC properties was also investigated. Large values of LWC and high concentration of smaller droplets are possibly linked to polluted situations and air mass origins from the south, which can lead to very low values of ice crystal size and IWC. On the contrary, clean situations with low temperatures exhibit larger values of ice crystal size and IWC. Several parameterizations relevant for remote sensing or modeling studies are also determined, such as IWC (and LWC) - extinction

Vertical distribution of microphysical properties of Arctic springtime low-level mixed-phase clouds over the Greenland and Norwegian seas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Mioche

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study aims to characterize the microphysical and optical properties of ice crystals and supercooled liquid droplets within low-level Arctic mixed-phase clouds (MPCs. We compiled and analyzed cloud in situ measurements from four airborne spring campaigns (representing 18 flights and 71 vertical profiles in MPCs over the Greenland and Norwegian seas mainly in the vicinity of the Svalbard archipelago. Cloud phase discrimination and representative vertical profiles of the number, size, mass and shape of ice crystals and liquid droplets are established. The results show that the liquid phase dominates the upper part of the MPCs. High concentrations (120 cm−3 on average of small droplets (mean values of 15 µm, with an averaged liquid water content (LWC of 0.2 g m−3 are measured at cloud top. The ice phase dominates the microphysical properties in the lower part of the cloud and beneath it in the precipitation region (mean values of 100 µm, 3 L−1 and 0.025 g m−3 for diameter, particle concentration and ice water content (IWC, respectively. The analysis of the ice crystal morphology shows that the majority of ice particles are irregularly shaped or rimed particles; the prevailing regular habits found are stellars and plates. We hypothesize that riming and diffusional growth processes, including the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen (WBF mechanism, are the main growth mechanisms involved in the observed MPCs. The impact of larger-scale meteorological conditions on the vertical profiles of MPC properties was also investigated. Large values of LWC and high concentration of smaller droplets are possibly linked to polluted situations and air mass origins from the south, which can lead to very low values of ice crystal size and IWC. On the contrary, clean situations with low temperatures exhibit larger values of ice crystal size and IWC. Several parameterizations relevant for remote sensing or modeling studies are also determined

Activated Fraction Of Black Carbon By Cloud Droplets And Ice Crystals At The High Alpine Site Jungfraujoch (3580 m asl)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cozic, J.; Mertes, S. [IFT Leipzig (Georgia); Verheggen, B.; Petzold, A. [DLR, Oberpfaffenhofen (Georgia); Weingartner, E.; Baltensperger, U.

2005-03-01

Measurements of black carbon (BC) were made in winter and summer 2004 at the high Alpine site Jungfraujoch in order to study the activation of BC into cloud droplets and ice crystals. Main results showed that the activated fraction represents 61% in summer and that for a large temperature range between -25 C and 5 C, the activated BC fraction increases with increasing temperature and increasing liquid water content. (author)

Heterogeneous freezing of super cooled water droplets in micrometre range- freezing on a chip

Science.gov (United States)

Häusler, Thomas; Witek, Lorenz; Felgitsch, Laura; Hitzenberger, Regina; Grothe, Hinrich

2017-04-01

A new setup to analyse the freezing behaviour of ice nucleation particles (INPs) dispersed in aqueous droplets has been developed with the aim to analyse ensembles of droplets with sizes in the micrometre range, in which INPs are immersed. Major disadvantages of conventional drop-freezing experiments like varying drop sizes or interactions between the water- oil mixture and the INP, were solved by introducing a unique freezing- chip consisting of an etched and sputtered 15x15x1 mm gold-plated silicon or pure gold film (Pummer et al., 2012; Zolles et al., 2015). Using this chip, isolated micrometre-sized droplets can be generated with sizes similar to droplets in real world clouds. The experimental set-up for drop-freezing experiments was revised and improved by establishing automated process control and image evaluation. We were able to show the efficiency and accuracy of our setup by comparing measured freezing temperatures of different INPs (Snomax®, K- feldspar, birch pollen (Betula pendula) washing water, juniper pollen suspension (Juniperus communis) and ultrapure water) with already published results (Atkinson et al., 2013; Augustin et al., 2013; Pruppacher and Klett, 1997; Pummer et al., 2012; Wex et al., 2015; Zolles et al., 2015). Comparison of our measurements with literature data show the important impact of droplet size, INP concentration and number of active sites on the T50 values. Here, the new set-up exhibits its strength in reproducibility and accuracy which is due to the defined and isolated droplets. Finally, it opens a temperature window down to -37˚ C for freezing experiments which was not accessible with former traditional approaches .Atkinson, J. D., Murray, B. J., Woodhouse, M. T., Whale, T. F., Baustian, K. J., Carslaw, K. S., Dobbie, S., O'Sullivan, D., and Malkin, T. L.: The importance of feldspar for ice nucleation by mineral dust in mixed-phase clouds (vol 498, pg 355, 2013), Nature, 500, 491-491, 2013. Augustin, S., Wex, H

Spray Droplet Characterization from a Single Nozzle by High Speed Image Analysis Using an In-Focus Droplet Criterion.

Science.gov (United States)

Minov, Sofija Vulgarakis; Cointault, Frédéric; Vangeyte, Jürgen; Pieters, Jan G; Nuyttens, David

2016-02-06

Accurate spray characterization helps to better understand the pesticide spray application process. The goal of this research was to present the proof of principle of a droplet size and velocity measuring technique for different types of hydraulic spray nozzles using a high speed backlight image acquisition and analysis system. As only part of the drops of an agricultural spray can be in focus at any given moment, an in-focus criterion based on the gray level gradient was proposed to decide whether a given droplet is in focus or not. In a first experiment, differently sized droplets were generated with a piezoelectric generator and studied to establish the relationship between size and in-focus characteristics. In a second experiment, it was demonstrated that droplet sizes and velocities from a real sprayer could be measured reliably in a non-intrusive way using the newly developed image acquisition set-up and image processing. Measured droplet sizes ranged from 24 μm to 543 μm, depending on the nozzle type and size. Droplet velocities ranged from around 0.5 m/s to 12 m/s. The droplet size and velocity results were compared and related well with the results obtained with a Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA).

Cloud Computing Adoption Business Model Factors: Does Enterprise Size Matter?

OpenAIRE

Bogataj Habjan, Kristina; Pucihar, Andreja

2017-01-01

This paper presents the results of research investigating the impact of business model factors on cloud computing adoption. The introduced research model consists of 40 cloud computing business model factors, grouped into eight factor groups. Their impact and importance for cloud computing adoption were investigated among enterpirses in Slovenia. Furthermore, differences in opinion according to enterprise size were investigated. Research results show no statistically significant impacts of in...

Droplet number uncertainties associated with CCN: an assessment using observations and a global model adjoint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. H. Moore

2013-04-01

Full Text Available We use the Global Modelling Initiative (GMI chemical transport model with a cloud droplet parameterisation adjoint to quantify the sensitivity of cloud droplet number concentration to uncertainties in predicting CCN concentrations. Published CCN closure uncertainties for six different sets of simplifying compositional and mixing state assumptions are used as proxies for modelled CCN uncertainty arising from application of those scenarios. It is found that cloud droplet number concentrations (Nd are fairly insensitive to the number concentration (Na of aerosol which act as CCN over the continents (∂lnNd/∂lnNa ~10–30%, but the sensitivities exceed 70% in pristine regions such as the Alaskan Arctic and remote oceans. This means that CCN concentration uncertainties of 4–71% translate into only 1–23% uncertainty in cloud droplet number, on average. Since most of the anthropogenic indirect forcing is concentrated over the continents, this work shows that the application of Köhler theory and attendant simplifying assumptions in models is not a major source of uncertainty in predicting cloud droplet number or anthropogenic aerosol indirect forcing for the liquid, stratiform clouds simulated in these models. However, it does highlight the sensitivity of some remote areas to pollution brought into the region via long-range transport (e.g., biomass burning or from seasonal biogenic sources (e.g., phytoplankton as a source of dimethylsulfide in the southern oceans. Since these transient processes are not captured well by the climatological emissions inventories employed by current large-scale models, the uncertainties in aerosol-cloud interactions during these events could be much larger than those uncovered here. This finding motivates additional measurements in these pristine regions, for which few observations exist, to quantify the impact (and associated uncertainty of transient aerosol processes on cloud properties.

Calibration Uncertainties in the Droplet Measurement Technologies Cloud Condensation Nuclei Counter

Science.gov (United States)

Hibert, Kurt James

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) serve as the nucleation sites for the condensation of water vapor in Earth's atmosphere and are important for their effect on climate and weather. The influence of CCN on cloud radiative properties (aerosol indirect effect) is the most uncertain of quantified radiative forcing changes that have occurred since pre-industrial times. CCN influence the weather because intrinsic and extrinsic aerosol properties affect cloud formation and precipitation development. To quantify these effects, it is necessary to accurately measure CCN, which requires accurate calibrations using a consistent methodology. Furthermore, the calibration uncertainties are required to compare measurements from different field projects. CCN uncertainties also aid the integration of CCN measurements with atmospheric models. The commercially available Droplet Measurement Technologies (DMT) CCN Counter is used by many research groups, so it is important to quantify its calibration uncertainty. Uncertainties in the calibration of the DMT CCN counter exist in the flow rate and supersaturation values. The concentration depends on the accuracy of the flow rate calibration, which does not have a large (4.3 %) uncertainty. The supersaturation depends on chamber pressure, temperature, and flow rate. The supersaturation calibration is a complex process since the chamber's supersaturation must be inferred from a temperature difference measurement. Additionally, calibration errors can result from the Kohler theory assumptions, fitting methods utilized, the influence of multiply-charged particles, and calibration points used. In order to determine the calibration uncertainties and the pressure dependence of the supersaturation calibration, three calibrations are done at each pressure level: 700, 840, and 980 hPa. Typically 700 hPa is the pressure used for aircraft measurements in the boundary layer, 840 hPa is the calibration pressure at DMT in Boulder, CO, and 980 hPa is the

Lossless droplet transfer of droplet-based microfluidic analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Ryan T [West Richland, WA; Tang, Keqi [Richland, WA; Page, Jason S [Kennewick, WA; Smith, Richard D [Richland, WA

2011-11-22

A transfer structure for droplet-based microfluidic analysis is characterized by a first conduit containing a first stream having at least one immiscible droplet of aqueous material and a second conduit containing a second stream comprising an aqueous fluid. The interface between the first conduit and the second conduit can define a plurality of apertures, wherein the apertures are sized to prevent exchange of the first and second streams between conduits while allowing lossless transfer of droplets from the first conduit to the second conduit through contact between the first and second streams.

Clouds and aerosols in Puerto Rico ─ a new evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Dusek

2008-03-01

Full Text Available The influence of aerosols, both natural and anthropogenic, remains a major area of uncertainty when predicting the properties and behaviour of clouds and their influence on climate. In an attempt to better understand warm cloud formation in a tropical marine environment, a period of intensive measurements took place in December 2004 in Puerto Rico, using some of the latest developments in online instrumentation such as aerosol mass spectrometers, cloud condensation nuclei counters and a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyser. Simultaneous online measurements of aerosol size distributions, composition, hygroscopicity and optical properties were made near the lighthouse of Cape San Juan in the north-eastern corner of the island and at the top of East Peak mountain (1040 m a.s.l., the two sites separated by 17 km. Additional measurements of the cloud droplet residual and interstitial aerosol properties were made at the mountain site, accompanied by measurements of cloud droplet size distributions, liquid water content and the chemical composition of cloud and rain water samples. Both aerosol composition and cloud properties were found to be sensitive to wind sector. Air from the east-northeast (ENE was mostly free of anthropogenic influences, the submicron fraction being mainly composed of non-sea salt sulphate, while that from the east-southeast (ESE was found to be moderately influenced by populated islands upwind, adding smaller (<100 nm, externally mixed, carbonaceous particles to the aerosol that increased the number concentrations by over a factor of 3. This change in composition was also accompanied with a reduction in the measured hygroscopicity and fractional cloud activation potential of the aerosol. At the mountain site, the average cloud droplet concentrations increased from 193 to 519 cm−3, median volume diameter decreased from 20 to 14 μm and the liquid water content increased from 0.24 to 0.31 g m−3 when the winds

Worldwide data sets constrain the water vapor uptake coefficient in cloud formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Raatikainen, Tomi; Nenes, Athanasios; Seinfeld, John H; Morales, Ricardo; Moore, Richard H; Lathem, Terry L; Lance, Sara; Padró, Luz T; Lin, Jack J; Cerully, Kate M; Bougiatioti, Aikaterini; Cozic, Julie; Ruehl, Christopher R; Chuang, Patrick Y; Anderson, Bruce E; Flagan, Richard C; Jonsson, Haflidi; Mihalopoulos, Nikos; Smith, James N

2013-03-05

Cloud droplet formation depends on the condensation of water vapor on ambient aerosols, the rate of which is strongly affected by the kinetics of water uptake as expressed by the condensation (or mass accommodation) coefficient, αc. Estimates of αc for droplet growth from activation of ambient particles vary considerably and represent a critical source of uncertainty in estimates of global cloud droplet distributions and the aerosol indirect forcing of climate. We present an analysis of 10 globally relevant data sets of cloud condensation nuclei to constrain the value of αc for ambient aerosol. We find that rapid activation kinetics (αc > 0.1) is uniformly prevalent. This finding resolves a long-standing issue in cloud physics, as the uncertainty in water vapor accommodation on droplets is considerably less than previously thought.

Application of global rainbow technique in sprays with a dependence of the refractive index on droplet size

Science.gov (United States)

Saengkaew, S.; Bodoc, V.; Lavergne, G.; Grehan, G.

2013-01-01

In liquid combustion, the evaporation process is one of the key parameters which controls combustion efficiency. To understand the combustion process, and to be able to develop an efficient combustor which produces less pollutant, it is necessary to be able to measure evaporation properties. Several techniques exist to measure the physical properties of fuel droplets, but very few exist to measure the thermo-chemical properties. The global rainbow technique (GRT) has been proposed and successfully used to measure the average temperature and the size distribution of sprays under the assumption that all the droplets are at the same temperature. This paper explores the applicability of GRT to sprays where the refractive index is a function of the particle size. A first result proves that the refractive index measured by GRT is weighted by the droplet diameter to the power of 7/3. This result permits accurate and fast comparisons between the numerical simulations and the experiments. A second result is the measurement of the refractive index by the size class by coupling GRT and Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) measurements (or another measurement technique with a low sensitivity to the refractive index such as holography, diffractometry, etc).

Hydrodynamics of Leidenfrost droplets in one-component fluids

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng; Qian, Tiezheng

2013-01-01

Using the dynamic van der Waals theory [Phys. Rev. E 75, 036304 (2007)], we numerically investigate the hydrodynamics of Leidenfrost droplets under gravity in two dimensions. Some recent theoretical predictions and experimental observations are confirmed in our simulations. A Leidenfrost droplet larger than a critical size is shown to be unstable and break up into smaller droplets due to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of the bottom surface of the droplet. Our simulations demonstrate that an evaporating Leidenfrost droplet changes continuously from a puddle to a circular droplet, with the droplet shape controlled by its size in comparison with a few characteristic length scales. The geometry of the vapor layer under the droplet is found to mainly depend on the droplet size and is nearly independent of the substrate temperature, as reported in a recent experimental study [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 074301 (2012)]. Finally, our simulations demonstrate that a Leidenfrost droplet smaller than a characteristic size takes off from the hot substrate because the levitating force due to evaporation can no longer be balanced by the weight of the droplet, as observed in a recent experimental study [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 034501 (2012)].

Hydrodynamics of Leidenfrost droplets in one-component fluids

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng

2013-04-24

Using the dynamic van der Waals theory [Phys. Rev. E 75, 036304 (2007)], we numerically investigate the hydrodynamics of Leidenfrost droplets under gravity in two dimensions. Some recent theoretical predictions and experimental observations are confirmed in our simulations. A Leidenfrost droplet larger than a critical size is shown to be unstable and break up into smaller droplets due to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of the bottom surface of the droplet. Our simulations demonstrate that an evaporating Leidenfrost droplet changes continuously from a puddle to a circular droplet, with the droplet shape controlled by its size in comparison with a few characteristic length scales. The geometry of the vapor layer under the droplet is found to mainly depend on the droplet size and is nearly independent of the substrate temperature, as reported in a recent experimental study [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 074301 (2012)]. Finally, our simulations demonstrate that a Leidenfrost droplet smaller than a characteristic size takes off from the hot substrate because the levitating force due to evaporation can no longer be balanced by the weight of the droplet, as observed in a recent experimental study [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 034501 (2012)].

Droplet phase characteristics in liquid-dominated steam--water nozzle flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alger, T.W.

1978-01-01

An experimental study was undertaken to determine the droplet size distribution, the droplet spatial distribution and the mean droplet velocity in low-quality, steam-water flow from a rectangular cross-section, converging-diverging nozzle. A unique forward light scattering technique was developed for droplet size distribution measurements. Droplet spatial variations were investigated using light transmission measurements, and droplet velocities were measured with a laser-Doppler velocimeter (LDV) system incorporating a confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer. Nozzle throat radius of curvature and height were varied to investigte their effects on droplet size. Droplet size distribution measurements yielded a nominal Sauter mean droplet diameter of 1.7 μm and a nominal mass-mean droplet diameter of 2.4 μm. Neither the throat radius of curvature nor the throat height were found to have a significant effect upon the nozzle exit droplet size. The light transmission and LDV measurement results confirmed both the droplet size measurements and demonstrated high spatial uniformity of the droplet phase within the nozzle jet flow. One-dimensional numerical calculations indicated that both the dynamic breakup (thermal equilibrium based on a critical Weber number of 6.0) and the boiling breakup (thermal nonequilibrium based on average droplet temperature) models predicted droplet diameters on the order of 7.5 μm, which are approximately equal to the maximum stable droplet diameters within the nozzle jet flow

Numerical simulation of droplet formation regimes and sizes in microfluidic T-junction devices

Science.gov (United States)

Nekouei, Mehdi; Vanapalli, Siva

2014-11-01

The T-junction geometry has been widely used for producing monodisperse droplets in microfluidic devices. Droplet formation regimes and sizes are expected to depend on a variety of conditions including flow rates, capillary number, channel geometry and viscosity ratio. Experiments have investigated drop production at a T-junction in a narrow control parameter space and developed analytical models for specific operating regimes. In this study, we take advantage of numerical simulations based on volume-of-fluid method to explore this broad parameter space systematically, and contrast our results with prior experimental data. We find our simulations predict well the regimes of squeezing, dripping and jetting. We also observe that our drop size data is in good agreement with three different experimental reports. Although our results match experimental data, the analytical models do not agree with each other since they are based on specific operating conditions. We use numerical simulations to elucidate the missing components in the physics of drop formation at a T-junction, with an attempt to reconcile existing analytical models.

Aerosol Chemical Composition and its Effects on Cloud-Aerosol Interactions during the 2007 CHAPS Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Y.; Alexander, L.; Newburn, M.; Jayne, J.; Hubbe, J.; Springston, S.; Senum, G.; Andrews, B.; Ogren, J.; Kleinman, L.; Daum, P.; Berg, L.; Berkowitz, C.

2007-12-01

Chemical composition of submicron aerosol particles was determined using an Aerodyne Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) outfitted on the DOE G-1 aircraft during the Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study (CHAPS) conducted in Oklahoma City area in June 2007. The primary objective of CHAPS was to investigate the effects of urban emissions on cloud aerosol interactions as a function of processing of the emissions. Aerosol composition was typically determined at three different altitudes: below, in, and above cloud, in both upwind and downwind regions of the urban area. Aerosols were sampled from an isokinetic inlet with an upper size cut-off of ~1.5 micrometer. During cloud passages, the AMS also sampled particles that were dried from cloud droplets collected using a counter-flow virtual impactor (CVI) sampler. The aerosol mass concentrations were typically below 10 microgram per cubic meter, and were dominated by organics and sulfate. Ammonium was often less than required for complete neutralization of sulfate. Aerosol nitrate levels were very low. We noted that nitrate levels were significantly enhanced in cloud droplets compared to aerosols, most likely resulting from dissolution of gaseous nitric acid. Organic to sulfate ratios appeared to be lower in cloud droplets than in aerosols, suggesting cloud condensation nuclei properties of aerosol particles might be affected by loading and nature of the organic components in aerosols. In-cloud formation of sulfate was considered unimportant because of the very low SO2 concentration in the region. A detailed examination of the sources of the aerosol organic components (based on hydrocarbons determined using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer) and their effects on cloud formation as a function of atmospheric processing (based on the degree of oxidation of the organic components) will be presented.

Cloud chemistry in eastern China: Observations from Mt. Tai

Science.gov (United States)

Collett, J. L.; Shen, X.; Lee, T.; Wang, X.; Li, Y.; Wang, W.; Wang, T.

2010-07-01

Until recently, studies of fog and cloud chemistry in China have been rare - even though the fate of China’s large sulfur dioxide emissions depends, in part, on the ability of regional clouds to support rapid aqueous oxidation to sulfate. Sulfur dioxide oxidized in regional clouds is more likely to be removed by wet deposition while sulfur dioxide that undergoes slower gas phase oxidation is expected to survive longer in the atmosphere and be transported over a much broader spatial scale. Two 2008 field campaigns conducted at Mt. Tai, an isolated peak on the NE China plain, provide insight into the chemical composition of regional clouds and the importance of various aqueous phase sulfur oxidation pathways. Single and two-stage Caltech Active Strand Cloudwater Collectors were used to collect bulk and drop size-resolved samples of cloudwater. Collected cloudwater was analyzed for key species that influence in-cloud sulfate production, including pH, S(IV), H2O2, Fe and Mn. Other major cloud solutes, including inorganic ions, total organic carbon (TOC), formaldehyde, and organic acids were also analyzed, as were gas phase concentrations of SO2, O3, and H2O2. A wide range of cloud pH was observed, from below 3 to above 6. High concentrations of cloudwater sulfate were consistent with abundant sulfur dioxide emissions in the region. Sampled clouds were also found to contain high concentrations of ammonium, nitrate, and organic carbon. Peak TOC concentrations reached approximately 200 ppmC, among the highest concentrations ever measured in cloudwater. Hydrogen peroxide was found to be the dominant aqueous phase S(IV) oxidant when cloud pH was less than approximately 5.4. Despite its fast reaction with sulfur dioxide in cloud droplets, high concentrations of residual hydrogen peroxide were measured in some clouds implying a substantial additional capacity for sulfate production. Ozone was found to be an important S(IV) oxidant when cloud pH was high. Oxidation of S

Challenges in constraining anthropogenic aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcing using present-day spatiotemporal variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghan, Steven; Wang, Minghuai; Zhang, Shipeng; Ferrachat, Sylvaine; Gettelman, Andrew; Griesfeller, Jan; Kipling, Zak; Lohmann, Ulrike; Morrison, Hugh; Neubauer, David; Partridge, Daniel G; Stier, Philip; Takemura, Toshihiko; Wang, Hailong; Zhang, Kai

2016-05-24

A large number of processes are involved in the chain from emissions of aerosol precursor gases and primary particles to impacts on cloud radiative forcing. Those processes are manifest in a number of relationships that can be expressed as factors dlnX/dlnY driving aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcing. These factors include the relationships between cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration and emissions, droplet number and CCN concentration, cloud fraction and droplet number, cloud optical depth and droplet number, and cloud radiative forcing and cloud optical depth. The relationship between cloud optical depth and droplet number can be further decomposed into the sum of two terms involving the relationship of droplet effective radius and cloud liquid water path with droplet number. These relationships can be constrained using observations of recent spatial and temporal variability of these quantities. However, we are most interested in the radiative forcing since the preindustrial era. Because few relevant measurements are available from that era, relationships from recent variability have been assumed to be applicable to the preindustrial to present-day change. Our analysis of Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models (AeroCom) model simulations suggests that estimates of relationships from recent variability are poor constraints on relationships from anthropogenic change for some terms, with even the sign of some relationships differing in many regions. Proxies connecting recent spatial/temporal variability to anthropogenic change, or sustained measurements in regions where emissions have changed, are needed to constrain estimates of anthropogenic aerosol impacts on cloud radiative forcing.

Preventing droplet deformation during dielectrophoretic centering of a compound emulsion droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Randall, Greg; Blue, Brent

2012-11-01

Compound droplets, or droplets-within-droplets, are traditionally key components in applications ranging from drug delivery to the food industry. Presently, millimeter-sized compound droplets are precursors for shell targets in inertial fusion energy work. However, a key constraint in target fabrication is a uniform shell wall thickness, which in turn requires a centered core droplet in the compound droplet precursor. Previously, Bei et al. (2009, 2010) have shown that compound droplets could be centered in a static fluid using an electric field of 0.7 kV/cm at 20 MHz. Randall et al. (2012) developed a process to center the core of a moving compound droplet, though the ~kV/cm field induced small (fluid mechanics and interfacial rheology perspective and we discuss the effective interfacial charge from an emulsifier and its impact on centering. Work funded by General Atomics Internal R&D.

Cloud MicroAtlas

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We begin by outlining the life cycle of a tall cloud, and thenbriefly discuss cloud systems. We choose one aspect of thislife cycle, namely, the rapid growth of water droplets in ice freeclouds, to then discuss in greater detail. Taking a singlevortex to be a building block of turbulence, we demonstrateone mechanism by which ...

Settling of fixed erythrocyte suspension droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Omenyi, S. N.; Snyder, R. S.

1983-01-01

It is pointed out that when particles behave collectively rather than individually, the fractionation of micron-size particles on the basis of size, density, and surface characteristics by centrifugation and electrophoresis is hindered. The formation and sedimentation of droplets containing particles represent an extreme example of collective behavior and pose a major problem for these separation methods when large quantities of particles need to be fractionated. Experiments are described that measure droplet sizes and settling rates for a variety of particles and droplets. Expressions relating the particle concentration in a drop to measurable quantities of the fluids and particles are developed. The number of particles in each droplet is then estimated, together with the effective droplet density. Red blood cells from different animals fixed in glutaraldehyde provide model particle groups.

Characterization of Mixed-Phase Clouds in the Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, T. C.; Hallett, J.

2005-12-01

A technique was developed in which a mixed-phase cloud of controllable ice and water content is created. First a freezer filled with a water droplet cloud becomes supercooled. Then, in an isolated small volume of the freezer, an adjustable adiabatic expansion locally nucleates ice. Finally the two regions of the cloud are vigorously stirred together producing a mixed-phase cloud throughout the chamber. At this point the water droplets evaporate and the crystals grow at a slow measurable rate, until a fully glaciated cloud results. Experiments were carried out at temperatures near -20 C in a standard top-opening chest freezer. A cloud of supercooled water droplets several micrometers in diameter was produced by a commercial ultrasonic nebulizer. Ice was nucleated using the discharge of an empty compressed air pistol pumped to different initial pressures. In that process high-pressure room temperature air in the pistol expands adiabatically, cooling the air enough to nucleate water droplets which then freeze homogeneously if sufficiently cold. The freezer was partitioned with thick movable walls of foam material to isolate the ice cloud in a small volume of the freezer before mixing occurs. Clouds of supercooled water droplets or of ice particles are readily produced and examined in collimated white light beams. They look similar visually in some cases although normally large crystals with flat reflecting surfaces clearly differ due to the flashes of reflected light. When the pistol is discharged into the supercooled water cloud, it displays a distinct hazy bluish "plume." But discharge into the ice particle cloud leaves no such plume: that discharge only mixes the particles present. This discharge is a test of glaciation in our initially mixed freezer cloud. A visible plume indicates that supercooled water remains in the cloud and no plume indicates the cloud is entirely ice at a high concentration. Our first unsuccessful experiments were done with the freezer

Cloud processing of organic compounds: Secondary organic aerosol and nitrosamine formation

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchings, James W., III

Cloud processing of atmospheric organic compounds has been investigated through field studies, laboratory experiments, and numerical modeling. Observational cloud chemistry studies were performed in northern Arizona and fog studies in central Pennsylvania. At both locations, the cloud and fogs showed low acidity due to neutralization by soil dust components (Arizona) and ammonia (Pennsylvania). The field observations showed substantial concentrations (20-5500 ng•L -1) of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the cloud droplets. The potential generation of secondary organic aerosol mass through the processing of these anthropogenic VOCs was investigated through laboratory and modeling studies. Under simulated atmospheric conditions, in idealized solutions, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) degraded quickly in the aqueous phase with half lives of approximately three hours. The degradation process yielded less volatile products which would contribute to new aerosol mass upon cloud evaporation. However, when realistic cloud solutions containing natural organic matter were used in the experiments, the reaction kinetics decreased with increasing organic carbon content, resulting in half lives of approximately 7 hours. The secondary organic aerosol (SUA) mass formation potential of cloud processing of BTEX was evaluated. SOA mass formation by cloud processing of BTEX, while strongly dependent on the atmospheric conditions, could contribute up to 9% of the ambient atmospheric aerosol mass, although typically ˜1% appears realistic. Field observations also showed the occurrence of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a potent carcinogen, in fogs and clouds (100-340 ng•L -1). Laboratory studies were conducted to investigate the formation of NDMA from nitrous acid and dimethylamine in the homogeneous aqueous phase within cloud droplets. While NDMA was produced in the cloud droplets, the low yields (NDMA with partitioning to droplet must be the source of aqueous

Cross-linking proteins by laccase: Effects on the droplet size and rheology of emulsions stabilized by sodium caseinate.

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, A C K; Perrechil, F A; Costa, A A S; Santana, R C; Cunha, R L

2015-09-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of laccase and ferulic acid on the characteristics of oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by sodium caseinate at different pH (3, 5 and 7). Emulsions were prepared by high pressure homogenization of soybean oil with sodium caseinate solution containing varied concentrations of laccase (0, 1 and 5mg/mL) and ferulic acid (5 and 10mM). Laccase treatment and pH exerted a strong influence on the properties with a consequent effect on stability, structure and rheology of emulsions stabilized by Na-caseinate. At pH7, O/W emulsions were kinetically stable due to the negative protein charge which enabled electrostatic repulsion between oil droplets resulting in an emulsion with small droplet size, low viscosity, pseudoplasticity and viscoelastic properties. The laccase treatment led to emulsions showing shear-thinning behavior as a result of a more structured system. O/W emulsions at pH5 and 3 showed phase separation due to the proximity to protein pI, but the laccase treatment improved their stability of emulsions especially at pH3. At pH3, the addition of ferulic acid and laccase produced emulsions with larger droplet size but with narrower droplet size distribution, increased viscosity, pseudoplasticity and viscoelastic properties (gel-like behavior). Comparing laccase treatments, the combined addition of laccase and ferulic acid generally produced emulsions with lower stability (pH5), larger droplet size (pH3, 5 and 7) and higher pseudoplasticity (pH5 and 7) than emulsion with only ferulic acid. The results suggested that the cross-linking of proteins by laccase and ferulic acid improved protein emulsifying properties by changing functional mechanisms of the protein on emulsion structure and rheology, showing that sodium caseinate can be successfully used in acid products when treated with laccase. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Conserved Role for Atlastin GTPases in Regulating Lipid Droplet Size

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robin W. Klemm

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Lipid droplets (LDs are the major fat storage organelles in eukaryotic cells, but how their size is regulated is unknown. Using genetic screens in C. elegans for LD morphology defects in intestinal cells, we found that mutations in atlastin, a GTPase required for homotypic fusion of endoplasmic reticulum (ER membranes, cause not only ER morphology defects, but also a reduction in LD size. Similar results were obtained after depletion of atlastin or expression of a dominant-negative mutant, whereas overexpression of atlastin had the opposite effect. Atlastin depletion in Drosophila fat bodies also reduced LD size and decreased triglycerides in whole animals, sensitizing them to starvation. In mammalian cells, co-overexpression of atlastin-1 and REEP1, a paralog of the ER tubule-shaping protein DP1/REEP5, generates large LDs. The effect of atlastin-1 on LD size correlates with its activity to promote membrane fusion in vitro. Our results indicate that atlastin-mediated fusion of ER membranes is important for LD size regulation.

Modelling for post-dryout heat transfer and droplet sizes at low pressure and low flow conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, H.Y.; No, H.C.

1996-01-01

A correlation describing the initial droplet size just after the CHF position at low mass flux is suggested through regression analysis. The history-dependent post-dryout model of Varone and Rohsenow replaced by the Webb-Chen model for wall-vapor heat transfer is used as a reference model in the analysis. In the post-dryout region at low pressure and low flow, it is found that the suggested one-dimensional mechanistic model is valid only in the churn-turbulent flow regime (j* g = 0.5 ∼ 4.5). It is also suggested that the droplet size generated from the churn-turbulent surface is dependent not only on the pressure but also on the vapor velocity. It turns out that the present model can predict the measured cladding and vapor temperatures within 20% and 15%, respectively

Comparing droplet activation parameterisations against adiabatic parcel models using a novel inverse modelling framework

Science.gov (United States)

Partridge, Daniel; Morales, Ricardo; Stier, Philip

2015-04-01

Many previous studies have compared droplet activation parameterisations against adiabatic parcel models (e.g. Ghan et al., 2001). However, these have often involved comparisons for a limited number of parameter combinations based upon certain aerosol regimes. Recent studies (Morales et al., 2014) have used wider ranges when evaluating their parameterisations, however, no study has explored the full possible multi-dimensional parameter space that would be experienced by droplet activations within a global climate model (GCM). It is important to be able to efficiently highlight regions of the entire multi-dimensional parameter space in which we can expect the largest discrepancy between parameterisation and cloud parcel models in order to ascertain which regions simulated by a GCM can be expected to be a less accurate representation of the process of cloud droplet activation. This study provides a new, efficient, inverse modelling framework for comparing droplet activation parameterisations to more complex cloud parcel models. To achieve this we couple a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm (Partridge et al., 2012) to two independent adiabatic cloud parcel models and four droplet activation parameterisations. This framework is computationally faster than employing a brute force Monte Carlo simulation, and allows us to transparently highlight which parameterisation provides the closest representation across all aerosol physiochemical and meteorological environments. The parameterisations are demonstrated to perform well for a large proportion of possible parameter combinations, however, for certain key parameters; most notably the vertical velocity and accumulation mode aerosol concentration, large discrepancies are highlighted. These discrepancies correspond for parameter combinations that result in very high/low simulated values of maximum supersaturation. By identifying parameter interactions or regimes within the multi-dimensional parameter space we hope to guide

A GCM study of organic matter in marine aerosol and its potential contribution to cloud drop activation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelofs, G.J.H.

2007-01-01

With the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM we investigate the potential influence of organic aerosol originating from the ocean on aerosol mass and chemical composition and the droplet concentration and size of marine clouds. We present sensitivity simulations in which the uptake of organic

Inhibition of ice crystallisation in highly viscous aqueous organic acid droplets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. J. Murray

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Homogeneous nucleation of ice within aqueous solution droplets and their subsequent crystallisation is thought to play a significant role in upper tropospheric ice cloud formation. It is normally assumed that homogeneous nucleation will take place at a threshold supersaturation, irrespective of the identity of the solute, and that rapid growth of ice particles will follow immediately after nucleation. However, it is shown here through laboratory experiments that droplets may not readily freeze in the very cold tropical tropopause layer (TTL, typical temperatures of 186–200 K. In these experiments ice crystal growth in citric acid solution droplets did not occur when ice nucleated below 197±6 K. Citric acid, 2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxyllic acid, is a molecule with similar functionality to oxygenated organic compounds which are ubiquitous in atmospheric aerosol. It is therefore thought to be a sensible proxy for atmospheric organic material. Evidence is presented that suggests citric acid solution droplets become ultra-viscous and form glassy solids under atmospherically relevant conditions. Diffusion of liquid water molecules to ice nuclei is expected to be very slow in ultra-viscous solution droplets and nucleation is negligible in glassy droplets; this most likely provides an explanation for the experimentally observed inhibition of ice crystallisation. The implications of ultra-viscous and glassy solution droplets for ice cloud formation and supersaturations in the TTL are discussed.

Electron-microscope study of cloud and fog nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ogiwara, S; Okita, T

1952-01-01

Droplets of clouds on a mountain and of fog in an urban area were captured and the form, nature and size of their nuclei were studied by means of an electron-microscope and by a chamber of constant humidity. These nuclei have similar form and nature to the hygroscopic particles in haze and to the artificially produced combustion particles. No sea-salt nuclei were found in our observations, therefore, sea-spray appears to be an insignificant source of condensation nuclei. It was found that both the cloud and the fog nuclei originated in combustion products which were the mixture of hygroscopic and non-hygroscopic substances, and that the greater part of the nuclei did not contain pure sulfuric acid.

Measurements of droplet size distribution and in-cylinder mixture formation from a slit injector in a direct-injection gasoline engine

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, S.; Choi, J.; Yeom, K.; Bae, C.

2007-10-01

The droplet size distribution and in-cylinder mixture formation of a slit injector were investigated under varied fuel temperature and air flow conditions. This variance in fuel temperature and air flow represents the altered spray momentum and external forces acting upon the spray. Phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) was used to investigate the effect of fuel temperature and air flow on droplet size distribution. The in-cylinder mixture formation process and the factors affecting the in-cylinder mixture distribution were analyzed under various fuel temperature and air flow conditions using laser induced fluorescence (LIF). When the fuel temperature and air flow velocity increased, the smaller droplets were entrained to the upper and central parts of the spray altering the initial droplet size distribution. The reduced spray momentum decreased the spray penetration in the combustion chamber, and the interaction between the spray and piston bowl was degraded. This phenomenon eventually caused a relatively lean and dispersed mixture distribution near the spark plug at high fuel temperatures. The optimal spray momentum and external force depend on the fuel quantity (air-fuel ratio) and piston bowl shape. Consequently, the spray momentum and the external forces acting upon the spray should be optimized to form the stoichiometric and well-distributed mixture near the spark plug.

Measurements of droplet size distribution and in-cylinder mixture formation from a slit injector in a direct-injection gasoline engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moon, S; Choi, J; Yeom, K; Bae, C

2007-01-01

The droplet size distribution and in-cylinder mixture formation of a slit injector were investigated under varied fuel temperature and air flow conditions. This variance in fuel temperature and air flow represents the altered spray momentum and external forces acting upon the spray. Phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) was used to investigate the effect of fuel temperature and air flow on droplet size distribution. The in-cylinder mixture formation process and the factors affecting the in-cylinder mixture distribution were analyzed under various fuel temperature and air flow conditions using laser induced fluorescence (LIF). When the fuel temperature and air flow velocity increased, the smaller droplets were entrained to the upper and central parts of the spray altering the initial droplet size distribution. The reduced spray momentum decreased the spray penetration in the combustion chamber, and the interaction between the spray and piston bowl was degraded. This phenomenon eventually caused a relatively lean and dispersed mixture distribution near the spark plug at high fuel temperatures. The optimal spray momentum and external force depend on the fuel quantity (air-fuel ratio) and piston bowl shape. Consequently, the spray momentum and the external forces acting upon the spray should be optimized to form the stoichiometric and well-distributed mixture near the spark plug

Droplet generation during core reflood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kocamustafaogullari, G.; De Jarlais, G.; Ishii, M.

1983-01-01

The process of entrainment and disintegration of liquid droplets by a flow of steam has considerable practical importance in calculating the effectivenes of the emergency core cooling system. Liquid entrainment is also important in determination of the critical heat flux point in general. Thus the analysis of the reflooding phase of a LOCA requires detailed knowledge of droplet size. Droplet size is mainly determined by the droplet generation mechanisms involved. To study these mechanisms, data generated in the PWR FLECHT SEASET series of experiments was analyzed. In addition, an experiment was performed in which the hydrodynamics of low quality post-CHF flow (inverted annular flow) were simulated in an adiabatic test section

A Condensation–coalescence Cloud Model for Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Formulation and Test Applications to Terrestrial and Jovian Clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ohno, Kazumasa; Okuzumi, Satoshi [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan)

2017-02-01

A number of transiting exoplanets have featureless transmission spectra that might suggest the presence of clouds at high altitudes. A realistic cloud model is necessary to understand the atmospheric conditions under which such high-altitude clouds can form. In this study, we present a new cloud model that takes into account the microphysics of both condensation and coalescence. Our model provides the vertical profiles of the size and density of cloud and rain particles in an updraft for a given set of physical parameters, including the updraft velocity and the number density of cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs). We test our model by comparing with observations of trade-wind cumuli on Earth and ammonia ice clouds in Jupiter. For trade-wind cumuli, the model including both condensation and coalescence gives predictions that are consistent with observations, while the model including only condensation overestimates the mass density of cloud droplets by up to an order of magnitude. For Jovian ammonia clouds, the condensation–coalescence model simultaneously reproduces the effective particle radius, cloud optical thickness, and cloud geometric thickness inferred from Voyager observations if the updraft velocity and CCN number density are taken to be consistent with the results of moist convection simulations and Galileo probe measurements, respectively. These results suggest that the coalescence of condensate particles is important not only in terrestrial water clouds but also in Jovian ice clouds. Our model will be useful to understand how the dynamics, compositions, and nucleation processes in exoplanetary atmospheres affect the vertical extent and optical thickness of exoplanetary clouds via cloud microphysics.

A Condensation–coalescence Cloud Model for Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Formulation and Test Applications to Terrestrial and Jovian Clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohno, Kazumasa; Okuzumi, Satoshi

2017-01-01

A number of transiting exoplanets have featureless transmission spectra that might suggest the presence of clouds at high altitudes. A realistic cloud model is necessary to understand the atmospheric conditions under which such high-altitude clouds can form. In this study, we present a new cloud model that takes into account the microphysics of both condensation and coalescence. Our model provides the vertical profiles of the size and density of cloud and rain particles in an updraft for a given set of physical parameters, including the updraft velocity and the number density of cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs). We test our model by comparing with observations of trade-wind cumuli on Earth and ammonia ice clouds in Jupiter. For trade-wind cumuli, the model including both condensation and coalescence gives predictions that are consistent with observations, while the model including only condensation overestimates the mass density of cloud droplets by up to an order of magnitude. For Jovian ammonia clouds, the condensation–coalescence model simultaneously reproduces the effective particle radius, cloud optical thickness, and cloud geometric thickness inferred from Voyager observations if the updraft velocity and CCN number density are taken to be consistent with the results of moist convection simulations and Galileo probe measurements, respectively. These results suggest that the coalescence of condensate particles is important not only in terrestrial water clouds but also in Jovian ice clouds. Our model will be useful to understand how the dynamics, compositions, and nucleation processes in exoplanetary atmospheres affect the vertical extent and optical thickness of exoplanetary clouds via cloud microphysics.

High-Altitude Cirrus Clouds and Climate

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2002-12-03

, thunder or lightning, rainbows or halos. A cloud is a visible aggregate of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air. Most clouds result from cooling due to lifting of moisture containing air. Those associated with ...

Towards an integrated multiscale simulation of turbulent clouds on PetaScale computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Lianping; Ayala, Orlando; Parishani, Hossein; Gao, Guang R; Kambhamettu, Chandra; Li Xiaoming; Rossi, Louis; Orozco, Daniel; Torres, Claudio; Grabowski, Wojciech W; Wyszogrodzki, Andrzej A; Piotrowski, Zbigniew

2011-01-01

The development of precipitating warm clouds is affected by several effects of small-scale air turbulence including enhancement of droplet-droplet collision rate by turbulence, entrainment and mixing at the cloud edges, and coupling of mechanical and thermal energies at various scales. Large-scale computation is a viable research tool for quantifying these multiscale processes. Specifically, top-down large-eddy simulations (LES) of shallow convective clouds typically resolve scales of turbulent energy-containing eddies while the effects of turbulent cascade toward viscous dissipation are parameterized. Bottom-up hybrid direct numerical simulations (HDNS) of cloud microphysical processes resolve fully the dissipation-range flow scales but only partially the inertial subrange scales. it is desirable to systematically decrease the grid length in LES and increase the domain size in HDNS so that they can be better integrated to address the full range of scales and their coupling. In this paper, we discuss computational issues and physical modeling questions in expanding the ranges of scales realizable in LES and HDNS, and in bridging LES and HDNS. We review our on-going efforts in transforming our simulation codes towards PetaScale computing, in improving physical representations in LES and HDNS, and in developing better methods to analyze and interpret the simulation results.

Albedo enhancement of marine clouds to counteract global warming: impacts on the hydrological cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bala, G. [Indian Institute of Science, Divecha Center for Climate Change, Bangalore (India); Indian Institute of Science, Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Bangalore (India); Caldeira, Ken; Cao, Long; Ban-Weiss, George; Shin, Ho-Jeong [Carnegie Institution, Department of Global Ecology, Stanford, CA (United States); Nemani, Rama [NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA (United States)

2011-09-15

Recent studies have shown that changes in solar radiation affect the hydrological cycle more strongly than equivalent CO{sub 2} changes for the same change in global mean surface temperature. Thus, solar radiation management ''geoengineering'' proposals to completely offset global mean temperature increases by reducing the amount of absorbed sunlight might be expected to slow the global water cycle and reduce runoff over land. However, proposed countering of global warming by increasing the albedo of marine clouds would reduce surface solar radiation only over the oceans. Here, for an idealized scenario, we analyze the response of temperature and the hydrological cycle to increased reflection by clouds over the ocean using an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to a mixed layer ocean model. When cloud droplets are reduced in size over all oceans uniformly to offset the temperature increase from a doubling of atmospheric CO{sub 2}, the global-mean precipitation and evaporation decreases by about 1.3% but runoff over land increases by 7.5% primarily due to increases over tropical land. In the model, more reflective marine clouds cool the atmospheric column over ocean. The result is a sinking motion over oceans and upward motion over land. We attribute the increased runoff over land to this increased upward motion over land when marine clouds are made more reflective. Our results suggest that, in contrast to other proposals to increase planetary albedo, offsetting mean global warming by reducing marine cloud droplet size does not necessarily lead to a drying, on average, of the continents. However, we note that the changes in precipitation, evaporation and P-E are dominated by small but significant areas, and given the highly idealized nature of this study, a more thorough and broader assessment would be required for proposals of altering marine cloud properties on a large scale. (orig.)

UCLALES-SALSA v1.0: a large-eddy model with interactive sectional microphysics for aerosol, clouds and precipitation

Science.gov (United States)

Tonttila, Juha; Maalick, Zubair; Raatikainen, Tomi; Kokkola, Harri; Kühn, Thomas; Romakkaniemi, Sami

2017-01-01

Challenges in understanding the aerosol-cloud interactions and their impacts on global climate highlight the need for improved knowledge of the underlying physical processes and feedbacks as well as their interactions with cloud and boundary layer dynamics. To pursue this goal, increasingly sophisticated cloud-scale models are needed to complement the limited supply of observations of the interactions between aerosols and clouds. For this purpose, a new large-eddy simulation (LES) model, coupled with an interactive sectional description for aerosols and clouds, is introduced. The new model builds and extends upon the well-characterized UCLA Large-Eddy Simulation Code (UCLALES) and the Sectional Aerosol module for Large-Scale Applications (SALSA), hereafter denoted as UCLALES-SALSA. Novel strategies for the aerosol, cloud and precipitation bin discretisation are presented. These enable tracking the effects of cloud processing and wet scavenging on the aerosol size distribution as accurately as possible, while keeping the computational cost of the model as low as possible. The model is tested with two different simulation set-ups: a marine stratocumulus case in the DYCOMS-II campaign and another case focusing on the formation and evolution of a nocturnal radiation fog. It is shown that, in both cases, the size-resolved interactions between aerosols and clouds have a critical influence on the dynamics of the boundary layer. The results demonstrate the importance of accurately representing the wet scavenging of aerosol in the model. Specifically, in a case with marine stratocumulus, precipitation and the subsequent removal of cloud activating particles lead to thinning of the cloud deck and the formation of a decoupled boundary layer structure. In radiation fog, the growth and sedimentation of droplets strongly affect their radiative properties, which in turn drive new droplet formation. The size-resolved diagnostics provided by the model enable investigations of these

Microscopic evaluation of trace metals in cloud droplets in an acid precipitation region.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weijun; Wang, Yan; Collett, Jeffrey L; Chen, Jianmin; Zhang, Xiaoye; Wang, Zifa; Wang, Wenxing

2013-05-07

Mass concentrations of soluble trace metals and size, number, and mixing properties of nanometal particles in clouds determine their toxicity to ecosystems. Cloud water was found to be acidic, with a pH of 3.52, at Mt. Lu (elevation 1,165 m) in an acid precipitation region in South China. A combination of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) for the first time demonstrates that the soluble metal concentrations and solid metal particle number are surprisingly high in acid clouds at Mt. Lu, where daily concentrations of SO2, NO2, and PM10 are 18 μg m(-3), 7 μg m(-3), and 22 μg m(-3). The soluble metals in cloudwater with the highest concentrations were zinc (Zn, 200 μg L(-1)), iron (Fe, 88 μg L(-1)), and lead (Pb, 77 μg L(-1)). TEM reveals that 76% of cloud residues include metal particles that range from 50 nm to 1 μm diameter with a median diameter of 250 nm. Four major metal-associated particle types are Pb-rich (35%), fly ash (27%), Fe-rich (23%), and Zn-rich (15%). Elemental mapping shows that minor soluble metals are distributed within sulfates of cloud residues. Emissions of fine metal particles from large, nonferrous industries and coal-fired power plants with tall stacks were transported upward to this high elevation. Our results suggest that the abundant trace metals in clouds aggravate the impacts of acid clouds or associated precipitation on the ecosystem and human health.

Low cloud investigations for project FIRE: Island studies of cloud properties, surface radiation, and boundary layer dynamics. A simulation of the reflectivity over a stratocumulus cloud deck by the Monte Carlo method. M.S. Thesis Final Report

Science.gov (United States)

Ackerman, Thomas P.; Lin, Ruei-Fong

1993-01-01

The radiation field over a broken stratocumulus cloud deck is simulated by the Monte Carlo method. We conducted four experiments to investigate the main factor for the observed shortwave reflectively over the FIRE flight 2 leg 5, in which reflectivity decreases almost linearly from the cloud center to cloud edge while the cloud top height and the brightness temperature remain almost constant through out the clouds. From our results, the geometry effect, however, did not contribute significantly to what has been observed. We found that the variation of the volume extinction coefficient as a function of its relative position in the cloud affects the reflectivity efficiently. Additional check of the brightness temperature of each experiment also confirms this conclusion. The cloud microphysical data showed some interesting features. We found that the cloud droplet spectrum is nearly log-normal distributed when the clouds were solid. However, whether the shift of cloud droplet spectrum toward the larger end is not certain. The decrease of number density from cloud center to cloud edges seems to have more significant effects on the optical properties.

Cloud albedo changes in response to anthropogenic sulfate and non-sulfate aerosol forcings in CMIP5 models

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L. Frey

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The effects of different aerosol types on cloud albedo are analysed using the linear relation between total albedo and cloud fraction found on a monthly mean scale in regions of subtropical marine stratocumulus clouds and the influence of simulated aerosol variations on this relation. Model experiments from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5 are used to separately study the responses to increases in sulfate, non-sulfate and all anthropogenic aerosols. A cloud brightening on the month-to-month scale due to variability in the background aerosol is found to dominate even in the cases where anthropogenic aerosols are added. The aerosol composition is of importance for this cloud brightening, that is thereby region dependent. There is indication that absorbing aerosols to some extent counteract the cloud brightening but scene darkening with increasing aerosol burden is generally not supported, even in regions where absorbing aerosols dominate. Month-to-month cloud albedo variability also confirms the importance of liquid water content for cloud albedo. Regional, monthly mean cloud albedo is found to increase with the addition of anthropogenic aerosols and more so with sulfate than non-sulfate. Changes in cloud albedo between experiments are related to changes in cloud water content as well as droplet size distribution changes, so that models with large increases in liquid water path and/or cloud droplet number show large cloud albedo increases with increasing aerosol. However, no clear relation between model sensitivities to aerosol variations on the month-to-month scale and changes in cloud albedo due to changed aerosol burden is found.

In situ measurements of cloud microphysics and aerosol over coastal Antarctica during the MAC campaign

Science.gov (United States)

O'Shea, Sebastian J.; Choularton, Thomas W.; Flynn, Michael; Bower, Keith N.; Gallagher, Martin; Crosier, Jonathan; Williams, Paul; Crawford, Ian; Fleming, Zoë L.; Listowski, Constantino; Kirchgaessner, Amélie; Ladkin, Russell S.; Lachlan-Cope, Thomas

2017-11-01

During austral summer 2015, the Microphysics of Antarctic Clouds (MAC) field campaign collected unique and detailed airborne and ground-based in situ measurements of cloud and aerosol properties over coastal Antarctica and the Weddell Sea. This paper presents the first results from the experiment and discusses the key processes important in this region, which is critical to predicting future climate change. The sampling was predominantly of stratus clouds, at temperatures between -20 and 0 °C. These clouds were dominated by supercooled liquid water droplets, which had a median concentration of 113 cm-3 and an interquartile range of 86 cm-3. Both cloud liquid water content and effective radius increased closer to cloud top. The cloud droplet effective radius increased from 4 ± 2 µm near cloud base to 8 ± 3 µm near cloud top. Cloud ice particle concentrations were highly variable with the ice tending to occur in small, isolated patches. Below approximately 1000 m, glaciated cloud regions were more common at higher temperatures; however, the clouds were still predominantly liquid throughout. When ice was present at temperatures higher than -10 °C, secondary ice production most likely through the Hallett-Mossop mechanism led to ice concentrations 1 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than the number predicted by commonly used primary ice nucleation parameterisations. The drivers of the ice crystal variability are investigated. No clear dependence on the droplet size distribution was found. The source of first ice in the clouds remains uncertain but may include contributions from biogenic particles, blowing snow or other surface ice production mechanisms. The concentration of large aerosols (diameters 0.5 to 1.6 µm) decreased with altitude and were depleted in air masses that originated over the Antarctic continent compared to those more heavily influenced by the Southern Ocean and sea ice regions. The dominant aerosol in the region was hygroscopic in nature, with

Two-phase flow patterns and size distribution of droplets in a microfluidic T-junction: Experimental observations in the squeezing regime

Science.gov (United States)

Mahdi, Yassine; Daoud, Kamel; Tadrist, Lounès

2017-04-01

Generating micrometer sized droplets has been studied in a microfluidic system with T-junction geometry 250 μm in internal diameter and with PTFE capillary tubing. Several experiments were conducted by varying the flow rate of the dispersed phase from 2.78 ṡ10-11 m3 /s to 5.28 ṡ10-9 m3 /s and that of the continuous phase from 2.78 ṡ10-10 m3 /s to 1.94 ṡ10-9 m3 /s. The visualization of different flow regimes (drop, plug, and annular) was carried out for three configurations (not inverted in a horizontal position, inverted in a horizontal position, and inverted in a vertical position) for low capillary numbers. The model of Gauss was also chosen for a droplet size distribution in the dispersed phase, with the flow quality x varying from 0.016 to 0.44. The evolution of the drop size distribution as a function of the flow quality in the dispersed phase shows that the variation coefficient of the droplet's diameter is inversely proportional to the flow quality.

Aerosol activation and cloud processing in the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM

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G. J. Roelofs

2006-01-01

Full Text Available A parameterization for cloud processing is presented that calculates activation of aerosol particles to cloud drops, cloud drop size, and pH-dependent aqueous phase sulfur chemistry. The parameterization is implemented in the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM. The cloud processing parameterization uses updraft speed, temperature, and aerosol size and chemical parameters simulated by ECHAM5-HAM to estimate the maximum supersaturation at the cloud base, and subsequently the cloud drop number concentration (CDNC due to activation. In-cloud sulfate production occurs through oxidation of dissolved SO2 by ozone and hydrogen peroxide. The model simulates realistic distributions for annually averaged CDNC although it is underestimated especially in remote marine regions. On average, CDNC is dominated by cloud droplets growing on particles from the accumulation mode, with smaller contributions from the Aitken and coarse modes. The simulations indicate that in-cloud sulfate production is a potentially important source of accumulation mode sized cloud condensation nuclei, due to chemical growth of activated Aitken particles and to enhanced coalescence of processed particles. The strength of this source depends on the distribution of produced sulfate over the activated modes. This distribution is affected by uncertainties in many parameters that play a direct role in particle activation, such as the updraft velocity, the aerosol chemical composition and the organic solubility, and the simulated CDNC is found to be relatively sensitive to these uncertainties.

Model simulations of aerosol effects on clouds and precipitation in comparison with ARM data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Penner, Joyce E. [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Zhou, Cheng [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

2017-01-12

Observation-based studies have shown that the aerosol cloud lifetime effect or the increase of cloud liquid water path (LWP) with increased aerosol loading may have been overestimated in climate models. Here, we simulate shallow warm clouds on 05/27/2011 at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) measurement site established by Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program using a single column version of a global climate model (Community Atmosphere Model or CAM) and a cloud resolving model (CRM). The LWP simulated by CAM increases substantially with aerosol loading while that in the CRM does not. The increase of LWP in CAM is caused by a large decrease of the autoconversion rate when cloud droplet number increases. In the CRM, the autoconversion rate is also reduced, but this is offset or even outweighed by the increased evaporation of cloud droplets near cloud top, resulting in an overall decrease in LWP. Our results suggest that climate models need to include the dependence of cloud top growth and the evaporation/condensation process on cloud droplet number concentrations.

Self-propelled oil droplets consuming "fuel" surfactant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toyota, Taro; Maru, Naoto; Hanczyc, Martin M

2009-01-01

A micrometer-sized oil droplet of 4-octylaniline containing 5 mol % of an amphiphilic catalyst exhibited a self-propelled motion, producing tiny oil droplets, in an aqueous dispersion of an amphiphilic precursor of 4-octylaniline. The tiny droplets on the surface of the self-propelled droplet wer...

Spray droplet size, drift potential, and risks to nontarget organisms from aerially applied glyphosate for coca control in Colombia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hewitt, Andrew J; Solomon, Keith R; Marshall, E J P

2009-01-01

A wind tunnel atomization study was conducted to measure the emission droplet size spectra for water and Glyphos (a glyphosate formulation sold in Colombia) + Cosmo-flux sprays for aerial application to control coca and poppy crops in Colombia. The droplet size spectra were measured in a wind tunnel for an Accu-Flo nozzle (with 16 size 0.085 [2.16 mm] orifices), under appropriate simulated aircraft speeds (up to 333 km/h), using a laser diffraction instrument covering a dynamic size range for droplets of 0.5 to 3,500 microm. The spray drift potential of the glyphosate was modeled using the AGDISP spray application and drift model, using input parameters representative of those occurring in Colombia for typical aerial application operations. The droplet size spectra for tank mixes containing glyphosate and Cosmo-Flux were considerably finer than water and became finer with higher aircraft speeds. The tank mix with 44% glyphosate had a D(v0.5) of 128 microm, while the value at the 4.9% glyphosate rate was 140 microm. These are classified as very fine to fine sprays. Despite being relatively fine, modeling showed that the droplets would not evaporate as rapidly as most similarly sized agricultural sprays because the nonvolatile proportion of the tank mix (active and inert adjuvant ingredients) was large. Thus, longer range drift is small and most drift that does occur will deposit relatively close to the application area. Drift will only occur downwind and, with winds of velocity less than the modeled maximum of 9 km/h, the drift distance would be substantially reduced. Spray drift potential might be additionally reduced through various practices such as the selection of nozzles, tank mix adjuvants, aircraft speeds, and spray pressures that would produce coarser sprays. Species sensitivity distributions to glyphosate were constructed for plants and amphibians. Based on modeled drift and 5th centile concentrations, appropriate no-spray buffer zones (distance from the

Investigating the Variability in Cumulus Cloud Number as a Function of Subdomain Size and Organization using large-domain LES

Science.gov (United States)

Neggers, R.

2017-12-01

Recent advances in supercomputing have introduced a "grey zone" in the representation of cumulus convection in general circulation models, in which this process is partially resolved. Cumulus parameterizations need to be made scale-aware and scale-adaptive to be able to conceptually and practically deal with this situation. A potential way forward are schemes formulated in terms of discretized Cloud Size Densities, or CSDs. Advantages include i) the introduction of scale-awareness at the foundation of the scheme, and ii) the possibility to apply size-filtering of parameterized convective transport and clouds. The CSD is a new variable that requires closure; this concerns its shape, its range, but also variability in cloud number that can appear due to i) subsampling effects and ii) organization in a cloud field. The goal of this study is to gain insight by means of sub-domain analyses of various large-domain LES realizations of cumulus cloud populations. For a series of three-dimensional snapshots, each with a different degree of organization, the cloud size distribution is calculated in all subdomains, for a range of subdomain sizes. The standard deviation of the number of clouds of a certain size is found to decrease with the subdomain size, following a powerlaw scaling corresponding to an inverse-linear dependence. Cloud number variability also increases with cloud size; this reflects that subsampling affects the largest clouds first, due to their typically larger neighbor spacing. Rewriting this dependence in terms of two dimensionless groups, by dividing by cloud number and cloud size respectively, yields a data collapse. Organization in the cloud field is found to act on top of this primary dependence, by enhancing the cloud number variability at the smaller sizes. This behavior reflects that small clouds start to "live" on top of larger structures such as cold pools, favoring or inhibiting their formation (as illustrated by the attached figure of cloud mask

Computational Analysis of Droplet Mass and Size Effect on Mist/Air Impingement Cooling Performance

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Zhenglei Yu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Impingement cooling has been widely employed to cool gas turbine hot components such as combustor liners, combustor transition pieces, turbine vanes, and blades. A promising technology is proposed to enhance impingement cooling with water droplets injection. However, previous studies were conducted on blade shower head film cooling, and less attention was given to the transition piece cooling. As a continuous effort to develop a realistic mist impingement cooling scheme, this paper focuses on simulating mist impingement cooling under typical gas turbine operating conditions of high temperature and pressure in a double chamber model. Furthermore, the paper presents the effect of cooling effectiveness by changing the mass and size of the droplets. Based on the heat-mass transfer analogy, the results of these experiments prove that the mass of 3E – 3 kg/s droplets with diameters of 5–35 μm could enhance 90% cooling effectiveness and reduce 122 K of wall temperature. The results of this paper can provide guidance for corresponding experiments and serve as the qualification reference for future more complicated studies with convex surface cooling.

Dual-nozzle microfluidic droplet generator

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Ji Wook; Lee, Jong Min; Kim, Tae Hyun; Ha, Jang Ho; Ahrberg, Christian D.; Chung, Bong Geun

2018-05-01

The droplet-generating microfluidics has become an important technique for a variety of applications ranging from single cell analysis to nanoparticle synthesis. Although there are a large number of methods for generating and experimenting with droplets on microfluidic devices, the dispensing of droplets from these microfluidic devices is a challenge due to aggregation and merging of droplets at the interface of microfluidic devices. Here, we present a microfluidic dual-nozzle device for the generation and dispensing of uniform-sized droplets. The first nozzle of the microfluidic device is used for the generation of the droplets, while the second nozzle can accelerate the droplets and increase the spacing between them, allowing for facile dispensing of droplets. Computational fluid dynamic simulations were conducted to optimize the design parameters of the microfluidic device.

The observed influence of local anthropogenic pollution on northern Alaskan cloud properties

Science.gov (United States)

Maahn, Maximilian; de Boer, Gijs; Creamean, Jessie M.; Feingold, Graham; McFarquhar, Greg M.; Wu, Wei; Mei, Fan

2017-12-01

Due to their importance for the radiation budget, liquid-containing clouds are a key component of the Arctic climate system. Depending on season, they can cool or warm the near-surface air. The radiative properties of these clouds depend strongly on cloud drop sizes, which are governed in part by the availability of cloud condensation nuclei. Here, we investigate how cloud drop sizes are modified in the presence of local emissions from industrial facilities at the North Slope of Alaska. For this, we use aircraft in situ observations of clouds and aerosols from the 5th Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (DOE ARM) Program's Airborne Carbon Measurements (ACME-V) campaign obtained in summer 2015. Comparison of observations from an area with petroleum extraction facilities (Oliktok Point) with data from a reference area relatively free of anthropogenic sources (Utqiaġvik/Barrow) represents an opportunity to quantify the impact of local industrial emissions on cloud properties. In the presence of local industrial emissions, the mean effective radii of cloud droplets are reduced from 12.2 to 9.4 µm, which leads to suppressed drizzle production and precipitation. At the same time, concentrations of refractory black carbon and condensation nuclei are enhanced below the clouds. These results demonstrate that the effects of anthropogenic pollution on local climate need to be considered when planning Arctic industrial infrastructure in a warming environment.

Large and Small Droplet Impingement Data on Airfoils and Two Simulated Ice Shapes

Science.gov (United States)

Papadakis, Michael; Wong, See-Cheuk; Rachman, Arief; Hung, Kuohsing E.; Vu, Giao T.; Bidwell, Colin S.

2007-01-01

Water droplet impingement data were obtained at the NASA Glenn Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) for four wings and one wing with two simulated ice shapes. The wings tested include three 36-in. chord wings (MS(1)-317, GLC-305, and a NACA 652-415) and a 57-in. chord Twin Otter horizontal tail section. The simulated ice shapes were 22.5- and 45-min glaze ice shapes for the Twin Otter horizontal tail section generated using the LEWICE 2.2 ice accretion program. The impingement experiments were performed with spray clouds having median volumetric diameters of 11, 21, 79, 137, and 168 mm. Comparisons to the experimental data were generated which showed good agreement for the clean wings and ice shapes at lower drop sizes. For larger drop sizes LEWICE 2.2 over predicted the collection efficiencies due to droplet splashing effects which were not modeled in the program. Also for the more complex glaze ice shapes interpolation errors resulted in the over prediction of collection efficiencies in cove and shadow regions of ice shapes.

CCN Properties of Organic Aerosol Collected Below and within Marine Stratocumulus Clouds near Monterey, California

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Akua Asa-Awuku

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The composition of aerosol from cloud droplets differs from that below cloud. Its implications for the Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN activity are the focus of this study. Water-soluble organic matter from below cloud, and cloud droplet residuals off the coast of Monterey, California were collected; offline chemical composition, CCN activity and surface tension measurements coupled with Köhler Theory Analysis are used to infer the molar volume and surfactant characteristics of organics in both samples. Based on the surface tension depression of the samples, it is unlikely that the aerosol contains strong surfactants. The activation kinetics for all samples examined are consistent with rapid (NH42SO4 calibration aerosol. This is consistent with our current understanding of droplet kinetics for ambient CCN. However, the carbonaceous material in cloud drop residuals is far more hygroscopic than in sub-cloud aerosol, suggestive of the impact of cloud chemistry on the hygroscopic properties of organic matter.

Preliminary laboratory studies of the optical scattering properties of the crystal clouds

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C. Saunders

Full Text Available Ice crystal clouds have an influence on the radiative budget of the earth; however, the exact size and nature of this influence has yet to be determined. A laboratory cloud chamber experiment has been set up to provide data on the optical scattering behaviour of ice crystals at a visible wavelength in order to gain information which can be used in climate models concerning the radiative characteristics of cirrus clouds. A PMS grey-scale probe is used to monitor simultaneously the cloud microphysical properties in order to correlate these closely with the observed radiative properties. Preliminary results show that ice crystals scatter considerably more at 90° than do water droplets, and that the halo effects are visible in a laboratory-generated cloud when the ice crystal concentration is sufficiently small to prevent masking from multiple scattering.

Key words. Meteorology and atmosphere dynamics · Climatology · Radiative process · Atmospheric composition and structure · Cloud physics and chemistry

Studying the influence of temperature and pressure on microphysical properties of mixed-phase clouds using airborne measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Andreea, Boscornea; Sabina, Stefan; Sorin-Nicolae, Vajaiac; Mihai, Cimpuieru

2015-04-01

One cloud type for which the formation and evolution process is not well-understood is the mixed-phase type. In general mixed-phase clouds consist of liquid droplets and ice crystals. The temperature interval within both liquid droplets and ice crystals can potentially coexist is limited to 0 °C and - 40 °C. Mixed-phase clouds account for 20% to 30% of the global cloud coverage. The need to understand the microphysical characteristics of mixed-phase clouds to improve numerical forecast modeling and radiative transfer calculation is of major interest in the atmospheric community. In the past, studies of cloud phase composition have been significantly limited by a lack of aircraft instruments capable of discriminating between the ice and liquid phase for a wide range of particle sizes. Presently, in situ airborne measurements provide the most accurate information about cloud microphysical characteristics. This information can be used for verification of both numerical models and cloud remote-sensing techniques. The knowledge of the temperature and pressure variation during the airborne measurements is crucial in order to understand their influence on the cloud dynamics and also their role in the cloud formation processes like accretion and coalescence. Therefore, in this paper is presented a comprehensive study of cloud microphysical properties in mixed-phase clouds in focus of the influence of temperature and pressure variation on both, cloud dynamics and the cloud formation processes, using measurements performed with the ATMOSLAB - Airborne Laboratory for Environmental Atmospheric Research in property of the National Institute for Aerospace Research "Elie Carafoli" (INCAS). The airborne laboratory equipped for special research missions is based on a Hawker Beechcraft - King Air C90 GTx aircraft and is equipped with a sensors system CAPS - Cloud, Aerosol and Precipitation Spectrometer (30 bins, 0.51-50 µm) and a HAWKEYE cloud probe. The analyzed data in this

Mean droplet size and local velocity in horizontal isothermal free jets of air and water, respectively, viscous liquid in quiescent ambient air

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al Rabadi, S.; Friedel, L. [Fluid Mechanics Institute, Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg (Germany); Al Salaymeh, A. [Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Jordan (Jordan)

2007-01-15

Measurements using two-dimensional Phase Doppler Anemometry as well as high speed cinematography in free jets at several nozzle exit pressures and mass flow rates, show that the Sauter mean droplet diameter decreases with increasing air and liquid-phase mass flow ratio due to the increase of the air stream impact on the liquid phase. This leads to substantial liquid fragmentation, respectively primary droplet breakup, and hence, satellite droplet formation with small sizes. This trend is also significant in the case of a liquid viscosity higher than that of water. The increased liquid viscosity stabilizes the droplet formation and breakup by reducing the rate of surface perturbations and consequently droplet distortions, ultimately also leading, in total, to the formation of smaller droplets. The droplet velocity decreases with the nozzle downstream distance, basically due to the continual air entrainment and due to the collisions between the droplets. The droplet collisions may induce further liquid fragmentation and, hence, formation of a number of relatively smaller droplets respectively secondary breakup, or may induce agglomeration to comparatively larger liquid fragments that may rain out of the free jet. (Abstract Copyright [2007], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The dynamics of milk droplet-droplet collisions

Science.gov (United States)

Finotello, Giulia; Kooiman, Roeland F.; Padding, Johan T.; Buist, Kay A.; Jongsma, Alfred; Innings, Fredrik; Kuipers, J. A. M.

2018-01-01

Spray drying is an important industrial process to produce powdered milk, in which concentrated milk is atomized into small droplets and dried with hot gas. The characteristics of the produced milk powder are largely affected by agglomeration, combination of dry and partially dry particles, which in turn depends on the outcome of a collision between droplets. The high total solids (TS) content and the presence of milk proteins cause a relatively high viscosity of the fed milk concentrates, which is expected to largely influence the collision outcomes of drops inside the spray. It is therefore of paramount importance to predict and control the outcomes of binary droplet collisions. Only a few studies report on droplet collisions of high viscous liquids and no work is available on droplet collisions of milk concentrates. The current study therefore aims to obtain insight into the effect of viscosity on the outcome of binary collisions between droplets of milk concentrates. To cover a wide range of viscosity values, three milk concentrates (20, 30 and 46% TS content) are investigated. An experimental set-up is used to generate two colliding droplet streams with consistent droplet size and spacing. A high-speed camera is used to record the trajectories of the droplets. The recordings are processed by Droplet Image Analysis in MATLAB to determine the relative velocities and the impact geometries for each individual collision. The collision outcomes are presented in a regime map dependent on the dimensionless impact parameter and Weber ( We) number. The Ohnesorge ( Oh) number is introduced to describe the effect of viscosity from one liquid to another and is maintained constant for each regime map by using a constant droplet diameter ( d ˜ 700 μ m). In this work, a phenomenological model is proposed to describe the boundaries demarcating the coalescence-separation regimes. The collision dynamics and outcome of milk concentrates are compared with aqueous glycerol

Improving aerosol interaction with clouds and precipitation in a regional chemical weather modeling system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, C.; Zhang, X.; Gong, S.; Wang, Y.; Xue, M.

2016-01-01

A comprehensive aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction (ACI) scheme has been developed under a China Meteorological Administration (CMA) chemical weather modeling system, GRAPES/CUACE (Global/Regional Assimilation and PrEdiction System, CMA Unified Atmospheric Chemistry Environment). Calculated by a sectional aerosol activation scheme based on the information of size and mass from CUACE and the thermal-dynamic and humid states from the weather model GRAPES at each time step, the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are interactively fed online into a two-moment cloud scheme (WRF Double-Moment 6-class scheme - WDM6) and a convective parameterization to drive cloud physics and precipitation formation processes. The modeling system has been applied to study the ACI for January 2013 when several persistent haze-fog events and eight precipitation events occurred.The results show that aerosols that interact with the WDM6 in GRAPES/CUACE obviously increase the total cloud water, liquid water content, and cloud droplet number concentrations, while decreasing the mean diameters of cloud droplets with varying magnitudes of the changes in each case and region. These interactive microphysical properties of clouds improve the calculation of their collection growth rates in some regions and hence the precipitation rate and distributions in the model, showing 24 to 48 % enhancements of threat score for 6 h precipitation in almost all regions. The aerosols that interact with the WDM6 also reduce the regional mean bias of temperature by 3 °C during certain precipitation events, but the monthly means bias is only reduced by about 0.3 °C.

Droplet Size-Aware and Error-Correcting Sample Preparation Using Micro-Electrode-Dot-Array Digital Microfluidic Biochips.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zipeng; Lai, Kelvin Yi-Tse; Chakrabarty, Krishnendu; Ho, Tsung-Yi; Lee, Chen-Yi

2017-12-01

Sample preparation in digital microfluidics refers to the generation of droplets with target concentrations for on-chip biochemical applications. In recent years, digital microfluidic biochips (DMFBs) have been adopted as a platform for sample preparation. However, there remain two major problems associated with sample preparation on a conventional DMFB. First, only a (1:1) mixing/splitting model can be used, leading to an increase in the number of fluidic operations required for sample preparation. Second, only a limited number of sensors can be integrated on a conventional DMFB; as a result, the latency for error detection during sample preparation is significant. To overcome these drawbacks, we adopt a next generation DMFB platform, referred to as micro-electrode-dot-array (MEDA), for sample preparation. We propose the first sample-preparation method that exploits the MEDA-specific advantages of fine-grained control of droplet sizes and real-time droplet sensing. Experimental demonstration using a fabricated MEDA biochip and simulation results highlight the effectiveness of the proposed sample-preparation method.

Lipid droplet size and location in human skeletal muscle fibers are associated with insulin sensitivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Joachim; Christensen, Anders E; Nellemann, Birgitte

2017-01-01

In skeletal muscle, an accumulation of lipid droplets (LDs) in the subsarcolemmal space is associated with insulin resistance, but the underlying mechanism is not clear. We aimed to investigate how the size, number and location of LDs are associated with insulin sensitivity and muscle fiber types...... are associated with insulin resistance in skeletal muscle....

Point source atom interferometry with a cloud of finite size

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoth, Gregory W., E-mail: gregory.hoth@nist.gov; Pelle, Bruno; Riedl, Stefan; Kitching, John; Donley, Elizabeth A. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305 (United States)

2016-08-15

We demonstrate a two axis gyroscope by the use of light pulse atom interferometry with an expanding cloud of atoms in the regime where the cloud has expanded by 1.1–5 times its initial size during the interrogation. Rotations are measured by analyzing spatial fringe patterns in the atom population obtained by imaging the final cloud. The fringes arise from a correlation between an atom's initial velocity and its final position. This correlation is naturally created by the expansion of the cloud, but it also depends on the initial atomic distribution. We show that the frequency and contrast of these spatial fringes depend on the details of the initial distribution and develop an analytical model to explain this dependence. We also discuss several challenges that must be overcome to realize a high-performance gyroscope with this technique.

Aerosol size-dependent below-cloud scavenging by rain and snow in the ECHAM5-HAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Posselt

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Wet deposition processes are highly efficient in the removal of aerosols from the atmosphere, and thus strongly influence global aerosol concentrations, and clouds, and their respective radiative forcings. In this study, physically detailed size-dependent below-cloud scavenging parameterizations for rain and snow are implemented in the ECHAM5-HAM global aerosol-climate model. Previously, below-cloud scavenging by rain in the ECHAM5-HAM was simply a function of the aerosol mode, and then scaled by the rainfall rate. The below-cloud scavenging by snow was a function of the snowfall rate alone. The global mean aerosol optical depth, and sea salt burden are sensitive to the below-cloud scavenging coefficients, with reductions near to 15% when the more vigorous size-dependent below-cloud scavenging by rain and snow is implemented. The inclusion of a prognostic rain scheme significantly reduces the fractional importance of below-cloud scavenging since there is higher evaporation in the lower troposphere, increasing the global mean sea salt burden by almost 15%. Thermophoretic effects are shown to produce increases in the global and annual mean number removal of Aitken size particles of near to 10%, but very small increases (near 1% in the global mean below-cloud mass scavenging of carbonaceous and sulfate aerosols. Changes in the assumptions about the below-cloud scavenging by rain of particles with radius smaller than 10 nm do not cause any significant changes to the global and annual mean aerosol mass or number burdens, despite a change in the below-cloud number removal rate for nucleation mode particles by near to five-fold. Annual and zonal mean nucleation mode number concentrations are enhanced by up to 30% in the lower troposphere with the more vigourous size-dependent below-cloud scavenging. Closer agreement with different observations is found when the more physically detailed below-cloud scavenging parameterization is employed in the ECHAM5

The Modification of Orographic Snow Growth Processes by Cloud Nucleating Aerosols

Science.gov (United States)

Cotton, W. R.; Saleeby, S.

2011-12-01

Cloud nucleating aerosols have been found to modify the amount and spatial distribution of snowfall in mountainous areas where riming growth of snow crystals is known to contribute substantially to the total snow water equivalent precipitation. In the Park Range of Colorado, a 2km deep supercooled liquid water orographic cloud frequently enshrouds the mountaintop during snowfall events. This leads to a seeder-feeder growth regime in which snow falls through the orographic cloud and collects cloud water prior to surface deposition. The addition of higher concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) modifies the cloud droplet spectrum toward smaller size droplets and suppresses riming growth. Without rime growth, the density of snow crystals remains low and horizontal trajectories carry them further downwind due to slower vertical fall speeds. This leads to a downwind shift in snowfall accumulation at high CCN concentrations. Cloud resolving model simulations were performed (at 600m horizontal grid spacing) for six snowfall events over the Park Range. The chosen events were well simulated and occurred during intensive observations periods as part of two winter field campaigns in 2007 and 2010 based at Storm Peak Laboratory in Steamboat Springs, CO. For each event, sensitivity simulations were run with various initial CCN concentration vertical profiles that represent clean to polluted aerosol environments. Microphysical budget analyses were performed for these simulations in order to determine the relative importance of the various cloud properties and growth processes that contribute to precipitation production. Observations and modeling results indicate that initial vapor depositional growth of snow tends to be maximized within about 1km of mountaintop above the windward slope while the majority of riming growth occurs within 500m of mountaintop. This suggests that precipitation production is predominantly driven by locally enhanced orography. The large scale

Global cloud database from VIRS and MODIS for CERES

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Minnis, Patrick; Young, David F.; Wielicki, Bruce A.; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Trepte, Qing Z.; Chen, Yan; Heck, Patrick W.; Dong, Xiquan

2003-04-01

The NASA CERES Project has developed a combined radiation and cloud property dataset using the CERES scanners and matched spectral data from high-resolution imagers, the Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra and Aqua. The diurnal cycle can be well-characterized over most of the globe using the combinations of TRMM, Aqua, and Terra data. The cloud properties are derived from the imagers using state-of-the-art methods and include cloud fraction, height, optical depth, phase, effective particle size, emissivity, and ice or liquid water path. These cloud products are convolved into the matching CERES fields of view to provide simultaneous cloud and radiation data at an unprecedented accuracy. Results are available for at least 3 years of VIRS data and 1 year of Terra MODIS data. The various cloud products are compared with similar quantities from climatological sources and instantaneous active remote sensors. The cloud amounts are very similar to those from surface observer climatologies and are 6-7% less than those from a satellite-based climatology. Optical depths are 2-3 times smaller than those from the satellite climatology, but are within 5% of those from the surface remote sensing. Cloud droplet sizes and liquid water paths are within 10% of the surface results on average for stratus clouds. The VIRS and MODIS retrievals are very consistent with differences that usually can be explained by sampling, calibration, or resolution differences. The results should be extremely valuable for model validation and improvement and for improving our understanding of the relationship between clouds and the radiation budget.

High-efficiency single cell encapsulation and size selective capture of cells in picoliter droplets based on hydrodynamic micro-vortices.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamalakshakurup, Gopakumar; Lee, Abraham P

2017-12-05

Single cell analysis has emerged as a paradigm shift in cell biology to understand the heterogeneity of individual cells in a clone for pathological interrogation. Microfluidic droplet technology is a compelling platform to perform single cell analysis by encapsulating single cells inside picoliter-nanoliter (pL-nL) volume droplets. However, one of the primary challenges for droplet based single cell assays is single cell encapsulation in droplets, currently achieved either randomly, dictated by Poisson statistics, or by hydrodynamic techniques. In this paper, we present an interfacial hydrodynamic technique which initially traps the cells in micro-vortices, and later releases them one-to-one into the droplets, controlled by the width of the outer streamline that separates the vortex from the flow through the streaming passage adjacent to the aqueous-oil interface (d gap ). One-to-one encapsulation is achieved at a d gap equal to the radius of the cell, whereas complete trapping of the cells is realized at a d gap smaller than the radius of the cell. The unique feature of this technique is that it can perform 1. high efficiency single cell encapsulations and 2. size-selective capturing of cells, at low cell loading densities. Here we demonstrate these two capabilities with a 50% single cell encapsulation efficiency and size selective separation of platelets, RBCs and WBCs from a 10× diluted blood sample (WBC capture efficiency at 70%). The results suggest a passive, hydrodynamic micro-vortex based technique capable of performing high-efficiency single cell encapsulation for cell based assays.

Clouds and aerosols in Puerto Rico - a new evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Allan, J. D.; Baumgardner, D.; Raga, G. B.; Mayol-Bracero, O. L.; Morales-García, F.; García-García, F.; Montero-Martínez, G.; Borrmann, S.; Schneider, J.; Mertes, S.; Walter, S.; Gysel, M.; Dusek, U.; Frank, G. P.; Krämer, M.

2008-03-01

The influence of aerosols, both natural and anthropogenic, remains a major area of uncertainty when predicting the properties and behaviour of clouds and their influence on climate. In an attempt to better understand warm cloud formation in a tropical marine environment, a period of intensive measurements took place in December 2004 in Puerto Rico, using some of the latest developments in online instrumentation such as aerosol mass spectrometers, cloud condensation nuclei counters and a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyser. Simultaneous online measurements of aerosol size distributions, composition, hygroscopicity and optical properties were made near the lighthouse of Cape San Juan in the north-eastern corner of the island and at the top of East Peak mountain (1040 m a.s.l.), the two sites separated by 17 km. Additional measurements of the cloud droplet residual and interstitial aerosol properties were made at the mountain site, accompanied by measurements of cloud droplet size distributions, liquid water content and the chemical composition of cloud and rain water samples. Both aerosol composition and cloud properties were found to be sensitive to wind sector. Air from the east-northeast (ENE) was mostly free of anthropogenic influences, the submicron fraction being mainly composed of non-sea salt sulphate, while that from the east-southeast (ESE) was found to be moderately influenced by populated islands upwind, adding smaller (residual particles and concentrations of cloudwater nitrate, sulphate and insoluble material increased during polluted conditions. Previous studies in Puerto Rico had reported the presence of a significant non-anthropogenic organic fraction in the aerosols measured and concluded that this was a factor controlling the in situ cloud properties. However, this was not observed in our case. In contrast to the 1.00±0.14 μg m-3 of organic carbon measured in 1992 and 1995, the organic matter measured in the current study of 0

Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation by Soufriere Hills Volcanic Ash Immersed in Water Droplets.

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T P Mangan

Full Text Available Fine particles of ash emitted during volcanic eruptions may sporadically influence cloud properties on a regional or global scale as well as influencing the dynamics of volcanic clouds and the subsequent dispersion of volcanic aerosol and gases. It has been shown that volcanic ash can trigger ice nucleation, but ash from relatively few volcanoes has been studied for its ice nucleating ability. In this study we quantify the efficiency with which ash from the Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat nucleates ice when immersed in supercooled water droplets. Using an ash sample from the 11th February 2010 eruption, we report ice nucleating efficiencies from 246 to 265 K. This wide range of temperatures was achieved using two separate droplet freezing instruments, one employing nanolitre droplets, the other using microlitre droplets. Soufriere Hills volcanic ash was significantly more efficient than all other ash samples that have been previously examined. At present the reasons for these differences are not understood, but may be related to mineralogy, amorphous content and surface chemistry.

Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation by Soufriere Hills Volcanic Ash Immersed in Water Droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Mangan, T P; Atkinson, J D; Neuberg, J W; O'Sullivan, D; Wilson, T W; Whale, T F; Neve, L; Umo, N S; Malkin, T L; Murray, B J

2017-01-01

Fine particles of ash emitted during volcanic eruptions may sporadically influence cloud properties on a regional or global scale as well as influencing the dynamics of volcanic clouds and the subsequent dispersion of volcanic aerosol and gases. It has been shown that volcanic ash can trigger ice nucleation, but ash from relatively few volcanoes has been studied for its ice nucleating ability. In this study we quantify the efficiency with which ash from the Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat nucleates ice when immersed in supercooled water droplets. Using an ash sample from the 11th February 2010 eruption, we report ice nucleating efficiencies from 246 to 265 K. This wide range of temperatures was achieved using two separate droplet freezing instruments, one employing nanolitre droplets, the other using microlitre droplets. Soufriere Hills volcanic ash was significantly more efficient than all other ash samples that have been previously examined. At present the reasons for these differences are not understood, but may be related to mineralogy, amorphous content and surface chemistry.

A simplified treatment of surfactant effects on cloud drop activation

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T. Raatikainen

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Dissolved surface active species, or surfactants, have a tendency to partition to solution surface and thereby decrease solution surface tension. Activating cloud droplets have large surface-to-volume ratios, and the amount of surfactant molecules in them is limited. Therefore, unlike with macroscopic solutions, partitioning to the surface can effectively deplete the droplet interior of surfactant molecules.

Surfactant partitioning equilibrium for activating cloud droplets has so far been solved numerically from a group of non-linear equations containing the Gibbs adsorption equation coupled with a surface tension model and an optional activity coefficient model. This can be a problem when surfactant effects are examined by using large-scale cloud models. Namely, computing time increases significantly due to the partitioning calculations done in the lowest levels of nested iterations.

Our purpose is to reduce the group of non-linear equations to simple polynomial equations with well known analytical solutions. In order to do that, we describe surface tension lowering using the Szyskowski equation, and ignore all droplet solution non-idealities. It is assumed that there is only one surfactant exhibiting bulk-surface partitioning, but the number of non-surfactant solutes is unlimited. It is shown that the simplifications cause only minor errors to predicted bulk solution concentrations and cloud droplet activation. In addition, computing time is decreased at least by an order of magnitude when using the analytical solutions.

Bioaccessibility and Cellular Uptake of β-Carotene Encapsulated in Model O/W Emulsions: Influence of Initial Droplet Size and Emulsifiers

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Wei Lu

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The effects of the initial emulsion structure (droplet size and emulsifier on the properties of β-carotene-loaded emulsions and the bioavailability of β-carotene after passing through simulated gastrointestinal tract (GIT digestion were investigated. Exposure to GIT significantly changed the droplet size, surface charge and composition of all emulsions, and these changes were dependent on their initial droplet size and the emulsifiers used. Whey protein isolate (WPI-stabilized emulsion showed the highest β-carotene bioaccessibility, while sodium caseinate (SCN-stabilized emulsion showed the highest cellular uptake of β-carotene. The bioavailability of emulsion-encapsulated β-carotene based on the results of bioaccessibility and cellular uptake showed the same order with the results of cellular uptake being SCN > TW80 > WPI. An inconsistency between the results of bioaccessibility and bioavailability was observed, indicating that the cellular uptake assay is necessary for a reliable evaluation of the bioavailability of emulsion-encapsulated compounds. The findings in this study contribute to a better understanding of the correlation between emulsion structure and the digestive fate of emulsion-encapsulated nutrients, which make it possible to achieve controlled or potential targeted delivery of nutrients by designing the structure of emulsion-based carriers.

The Role of African Dust Particles on Cloud Chemistry and Microphysics in a Tropical Montane Cloud Forest in the Caribbean

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Delgado, E.; Valle-Diaz, C. J.; Baumgardner, D.; McDowell, W. H.; Gonzalez, G.; Mayol-Bracero, O. L.

2015-12-01

Huge amounts of African dust travels thousands of kilometers from the Sahara and Sahel regions to the Caribbean, northern South America and southern North America. However, not much is understood about how the aging process that takes place during transport changes dust properties, and how it affects cloud's composition and microphysics. In order to improve our understanding of the role of long-range transported African dust (LRTAD) in cloud formation processes we had field campaigns measuring dust physical and chemical properties in summers of 2013, 2014 and 2015, as part of the Puerto Rico African Dust and Cloud Study (PRADACS), and of the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory (LCZO). Measurements were performed at the tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) of Pico del Este (PE, 1051 masl) and at the nature reserve of Cabezas de San Juan (CSJ, 60 masl). In both ground stations we monitored meteorological parameters (e.g., temperature, wind speed, wind direction). At CSJ, we measured light absorption and scattering at three wavelengths (467, 528 and 652 nm). At PE we collected cloud and rainwater for chemical analyses and monitored cloud microphysical properties (e.g., liquid water content, droplet size distribution, droplet number concentration, effective diameter and median volume diameter). Summer 2015 was the first attempt to characterize microphysical properties of the summer period (June to August) at PE, where dust is in its higher concentrations of the year. Samples were classified using data from models and satellites together with CSJ measurements as low or high dust influenced. Soluble ions, insoluble trace metals, pH, conductivity, total and dissolved organic carbon and total and dissolved nitrogen were measured for cloud and rainwater. Enrichment factor analysis was used to determine sea and crustal contribution of species by sample, as well as the neutralization factor and fractional acidity. Some preliminary results show cloud water conductivity for low

Glass formation and unusual hygroscopic growth of iodic acid solution droplets with relevance for iodine mediated particle formation in the marine boundary layer

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B. J. Murray

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Iodine oxide particles are known to nucleate in the marine boundary layer where gas phase molecular iodine and organoiodine species are produced by macroalgae. These ultra-fine particles may then grow through the condensation of other materials to sizes where they may serve as cloud condensation nuclei. There has been some debate over the chemical identity of the initially nucleated particles. In laboratory simulations, hygroscopic measurements have been used to infer that they are composed of insoluble I₂O₄, while elemental analysis of laboratory generated particles suggests soluble I₂O₅ or its hydrated form iodic acid, HIO₃ (I₂O₅·H₂O. In this paper we explore the response of super-micron sized aqueous iodic acid solution droplets to varying humidity using both Raman microscopy and single particle electrodynamic traps. These measurements reveal that the propensity of an iodic acid solution droplet to crystallise is negligible on drying to ~0% relative humidity (RH. On applying mechanical pressure to these droplets they shatter in a manner consistent with an ultra-viscous liquid or a brittle glass. Water retention in amorphous material at low RH is important for understanding the hygroscopic growth of aerosol particles and uptake of other condensable material. Subsequent water uptake between 10 and 20% RH causes their viscosity to reduce sufficiently that the cracked droplets flow and merge. The persistence of iodic acid solution in an amorphous state, rather than a crystalline state, suggests they will more readily accommodate other condensable material and are therefore more likely to grow to sizes where they may serve as cloud condensation nuclei. On increasing the humidity to ~90% the mass of the droplets only increases by ~20% with a corresponding increase in radius of only 6%, which is remarkably small for a highly soluble material. We suggest that the

Influences of in-cloud aerosol scavenging parameterizations on aerosol concentrations and wet deposition in ECHAM5-HAM

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B. Croft

2010-02-01

Full Text Available A diagnostic cloud nucleation scavenging scheme, which determines stratiform cloud scavenging ratios for both aerosol mass and number distributions, based on cloud droplet, and ice crystal number concentrations, is introduced into the ECHAM5-HAM global climate model. This scheme is coupled with a size-dependent in-cloud impaction scavenging parameterization for both cloud droplet-aerosol, and ice crystal-aerosol collisions. The aerosol mass scavenged in stratiform clouds is found to be primarily (>90% scavenged by cloud nucleation processes for all aerosol species, except for dust (50%. The aerosol number scavenged is primarily (>90% attributed to impaction. 99% of this impaction scavenging occurs in clouds with temperatures less than 273 K. Sensitivity studies are presented, which compare aerosol concentrations, burdens, and deposition for a variety of in-cloud scavenging approaches: prescribed fractions, a more computationally expensive prognostic aerosol cloud processing treatment, and the new diagnostic scheme, also with modified assumptions about in-cloud impaction and nucleation scavenging. Our results show that while uncertainties in the representation of in-cloud scavenging processes can lead to differences in the range of 20–30% for the predicted annual, global mean aerosol mass burdens, and near to 50% for accumulation mode aerosol number burden, the differences in predicted aerosol mass concentrations can be up to one order of magnitude, particularly for regions of the middle troposphere with temperatures below 273 K where mixed and ice phase clouds exist. Different parameterizations for impaction scavenging changed the predicted global, annual mean number removal attributed to ice clouds by seven-fold, and the global, annual dust mass removal attributed to impaction by two orders of magnitude. Closer agreement with observations of black carbon profiles from aircraft (increases near to one order of magnitude for mixed phase clouds

Heterogeneous ice nucleation activity of bacteria: new laboratory experiments at simulated cloud conditions

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O. Möhler

2008-10-01

Full Text Available The ice nucleation activities of five different Pseudomonas syringae, Pseudomonas viridiflava and Erwinia herbicola bacterial species and of Snomax™ were investigated in the temperature range between −5 and −15°C. Water suspensions of these bacteria were directly sprayed into the cloud chamber of the AIDA facility of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe at a temperature of −5.7°C. At this temperature, about 1% of the Snomax™ cells induced immersion freezing of the spray droplets before the droplets evaporated in the cloud chamber. The living cells didn't induce any detectable immersion freezing in the spray droplets at −5.7°C. After evaporation of the spray droplets the bacterial cells remained as aerosol particles in the cloud chamber and were exposed to typical cloud formation conditions in experiments with expansion cooling to about −11°C. During these experiments, the bacterial cells first acted as cloud condensation nuclei to form cloud droplets. Then, only a minor fraction of the cells acted as heterogeneous ice nuclei either in the condensation or the immersion mode. The results indicate that the bacteria investigated in the present study are mainly ice active in the temperature range between −7 and −11°C with an ice nucleation (IN active fraction of the order of 10⁻⁴. In agreement to previous literature results, the ice nucleation efficiency of Snomax™ cells was much larger with an IN active fraction of 0.2 at temperatures around −8°C.

The Atmospheric Aerosols And Their Effects On Cloud Albedo And Radiative Forcing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefan, S.; Iorga, G.; Zoran, M.

2007-01-01

The aim of this study is to provide results of the theoretical experiments in order to improve the estimates of indirect effect of aerosol on the cloud albedo and consequently on the radiative forcing. The cloud properties could be changed primarily because of changing of both the aerosol type and concentration in the atmosphere. Only a part of aerosol interacts effectively with water and will, in turn, determine the number concentration of cloud droplets (CDNC). We calculated the CDNC, droplet effective radius (reff), cloud optical thickness (or), cloud albedo and radiative forcing, for various types of aerosol. Our results show into what extent the change of aerosol characteristics (number concentration and chemical composition) on a regional scale can modify the cloud reflectivity. Higher values for cloud albedo in the case of the continental (urban) clouds were obtained

Improving aerosol interaction with clouds and precipitation in a regional chemical weather modeling system

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C. Zhou

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A comprehensive aerosol–cloud–precipitation interaction (ACI scheme has been developed under a China Meteorological Administration (CMA chemical weather modeling system, GRAPES/CUACE (Global/Regional Assimilation and PrEdiction System, CMA Unified Atmospheric Chemistry Environment. Calculated by a sectional aerosol activation scheme based on the information of size and mass from CUACE and the thermal-dynamic and humid states from the weather model GRAPES at each time step, the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN are interactively fed online into a two-moment cloud scheme (WRF Double-Moment 6-class scheme – WDM6 and a convective parameterization to drive cloud physics and precipitation formation processes. The modeling system has been applied to study the ACI for January 2013 when several persistent haze-fog events and eight precipitation events occurred.The results show that aerosols that interact with the WDM6 in GRAPES/CUACE obviously increase the total cloud water, liquid water content, and cloud droplet number concentrations, while decreasing the mean diameters of cloud droplets with varying magnitudes of the changes in each case and region. These interactive microphysical properties of clouds improve the calculation of their collection growth rates in some regions and hence the precipitation rate and distributions in the model, showing 24 to 48 % enhancements of threat score for 6 h precipitation in almost all regions. The aerosols that interact with the WDM6 also reduce the regional mean bias of temperature by 3 °C during certain precipitation events, but the monthly means bias is only reduced by about 0.3 °C.

Aerosol and Cloud Properties during the Cloud Cheju ABC Plume -Asian Monsoon Experiment (CAPMEX) 2008: Linking between Ground-based and UAV Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, S.; Yoon, S.; Venkata Ramana, M.; Ramanathan, V.; Nguyen, H.; Park, S.; Kim, M.

2009-12-01

Cheju Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC) Plume-Monsoon Experiment (CAPMEX), comprehsensive ground-based measurements and a series of data-gathering flights by specially equipped autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs) for aerosol and cloud, had conducted at Jeju (formerly, Cheju), South Korea during August-September 2008, to improve our understanding of how the reduction of anthropogenic emissions in China (so-called “great shutdown” ) during and after the Summer Beijing Olympic Games 2008 effcts on the air quliaty and radiation budgets and how atmospheric brown clouds (ABCs) influences solar radiation budget off Asian continent. Large numbers of in-situ and remote sensing instruments at the Gosan ABC observatory and miniaturized instruments on the aircraft measure a range of properties such as the quantity of soot, size-segregated aerosol particle numbers, total particle numbers, size-segregated cloud droplet numbers (only AUAV), aerosol scattering properties (only ground), aerosol vertical distribution, column-integrated aerosol properties, and meteorological variables. By integrating ground-level and high-elevation AUAV measurements with NASA-satellite observations (e.g., MODIS, CALIPSO), we investigate the long range transport of aerosols, the impact of ABCs on clouds, and the role of biogenic and anthropogenic aerosols on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). In this talk, we will present the results from CAPMEX focusing on: (1) the characteristics of aerosol optical, physical and chemical properties at Gosan observatory, (2) aerosol solar heating calculated from the ground-based micro-pulse lidar and AERONET sun/sky radiometer synergy, and comparison with direct measurements from UAV, and (3) aerosol-cloud interactions in conjunction with measurements by satellites and Gosan observatory.

Manifestation of Aerosol Indirect Effects in Arctic Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Lubin, D.; Vogelmann, A. M.

2009-12-01

The first aerosol indirect effect has traditionally been conceived as an enhancement of shortwave cloud reflectance in response to decreased effective droplet size at fixed liquid water path, as cloud nucleating aerosol becomes entrained in the cloud. The high Arctic, with its pervasive low-level stratiform cloud cover and frequent episodes of anthropogenic aerosol (Artic "haze"), has in recent years served as a natural laboratory for research on actual manifestations of aerosol indirect effects. This paper will review the surprising set of developments: (1) the detection of the indirect effect as a source of surface warming, rather than cooling, throughout early spring, (2) a transition to a cooling effect in late spring, corresponding to the beginning of the sea ice melt season, and (3) detection of an indirect effect during summer, outside of the "Arctic haze" season. This paper will also discuss measurements of spectral shortwave irradiance (350-2200 nm) made at Barrow, Alaska, during the U.S. Department of Energy's Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC), which reveal complications in our conception of the indirect effect related to the ice phase in Arctic stratiform clouds.

In vitro characterization of perfluorocarbon droplets for focused ultrasound therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schad, Kelly C; Hynynen, Kullervo, E-mail: khynynen@sri.utoronto.c [Imaging Research, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Ave, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto (Canada)

2010-09-07

Focused ultrasound therapy can be enhanced with microbubbles by thermal and cavitation effects. However, localization of treatment is difficult as bioeffects can occur outside of the target region. Spatial control of bubbles can be achieved by ultrasound-induced conversion of liquid perfluorocarbon droplets to gas bubbles. This study was undertaken to determine the acoustic parameters for bubble production by droplet conversion and how it depends on the acoustic conditions and droplet physical parameters. Lipid-encapsulated droplets containing dodecafluoropentane were manufactured with sizes ranging from 1.9 to 7.2 {mu}m in diameter and diluted to a concentration of 8 x 10{sup 6} droplets mL{sup -1}. The droplets were sonicated in vitro with a focused ultrasound transducer and varying frequency and exposure under flow conditions through an acoustically transparent vessel. The sonications were 10 ms in duration at frequencies of 0.578, 1.736 and 2.855 MHz. The pressure threshold for droplet conversion was measured with an active transducer operating in pulse-echo mode and simultaneous measurements of broadband acoustic emissions were performed with passive acoustic detection. The results show that droplets cannot be converted at low frequency without broadband emissions occurring. However, the pressure threshold for droplet conversion decreased with increasing frequency, exposure and droplet size. The pressure threshold for broadband emissions was independent of the droplet size and was 2.9, 4.4 and 5.3 MPa for 0.578, 1736 and 2.855 MHz, respectively. In summary, we have demonstrated that droplet conversion is feasible for clinically relevant sized droplets and acoustic exposures.

In vitro characterization of perfluorocarbon droplets for focused ultrasound therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schad, Kelly C; Hynynen, Kullervo

2010-01-01

Focused ultrasound therapy can be enhanced with microbubbles by thermal and cavitation effects. However, localization of treatment is difficult as bioeffects can occur outside of the target region. Spatial control of bubbles can be achieved by ultrasound-induced conversion of liquid perfluorocarbon droplets to gas bubbles. This study was undertaken to determine the acoustic parameters for bubble production by droplet conversion and how it depends on the acoustic conditions and droplet physical parameters. Lipid-encapsulated droplets containing dodecafluoropentane were manufactured with sizes ranging from 1.9 to 7.2 μm in diameter and diluted to a concentration of 8 x 10 6 droplets mL -1 . The droplets were sonicated in vitro with a focused ultrasound transducer and varying frequency and exposure under flow conditions through an acoustically transparent vessel. The sonications were 10 ms in duration at frequencies of 0.578, 1.736 and 2.855 MHz. The pressure threshold for droplet conversion was measured with an active transducer operating in pulse-echo mode and simultaneous measurements of broadband acoustic emissions were performed with passive acoustic detection. The results show that droplets cannot be converted at low frequency without broadband emissions occurring. However, the pressure threshold for droplet conversion decreased with increasing frequency, exposure and droplet size. The pressure threshold for broadband emissions was independent of the droplet size and was 2.9, 4.4 and 5.3 MPa for 0.578, 1736 and 2.855 MHz, respectively. In summary, we have demonstrated that droplet conversion is feasible for clinically relevant sized droplets and acoustic exposures.

In vitro characterization of perfluorocarbon droplets for focused ultrasound therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Schad, Kelly C.; Hynynen, Kullervo

2010-09-01

Focused ultrasound therapy can be enhanced with microbubbles by thermal and cavitation effects. However, localization of treatment is difficult as bioeffects can occur outside of the target region. Spatial control of bubbles can be achieved by ultrasound-induced conversion of liquid perfluorocarbon droplets to gas bubbles. This study was undertaken to determine the acoustic parameters for bubble production by droplet conversion and how it depends on the acoustic conditions and droplet physical parameters. Lipid-encapsulated droplets containing dodecafluoropentane were manufactured with sizes ranging from 1.9 to 7.2 µm in diameter and diluted to a concentration of 8 × 106 droplets mL-1. The droplets were sonicated in vitro with a focused ultrasound transducer and varying frequency and exposure under flow conditions through an acoustically transparent vessel. The sonications were 10 ms in duration at frequencies of 0.578, 1.736 and 2.855 MHz. The pressure threshold for droplet conversion was measured with an active transducer operating in pulse-echo mode and simultaneous measurements of broadband acoustic emissions were performed with passive acoustic detection. The results show that droplets cannot be converted at low frequency without broadband emissions occurring. However, the pressure threshold for droplet conversion decreased with increasing frequency, exposure and droplet size. The pressure threshold for broadband emissions was independent of the droplet size and was 2.9, 4.4 and 5.3 MPa for 0.578, 1736 and 2.855 MHz, respectively. In summary, we have demonstrated that droplet conversion is feasible for clinically relevant sized droplets and acoustic exposures.

Evidence of Chemical Cloud Processing from In Situ Measurements in the Polluted Marine Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, J. G.; Noble, S. R., Jr.

2017-12-01

Chemical cloud processing alters activated cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Aqueous oxidation of trace gases dissolved within cloud droplets adds soluble material. As most cloud droplets evaporate, the residual material produces CCN that are larger and with a different hygroscopicity (κ). This improves the CCN, lowering the critical supersaturation (Sc), making it more easily activated. This process separates the processed (accumulation) and unprocessed (Aitken) modes creating bimodal CCN distributions (Hudson et al., 2015). Various measurements made during the MArine Stratus/stratocumulus Experiment (MASE), including CCN, exhibited aqueous processing signals. Particle size distributions; measured by a differential mobility analyzer; were compared with CCN distributions; measured by the Desert Research Institute CCN spectrometer; by converting size to Sc using κ to overlay concurrent distributions. By tuning each mode to the best agreement, κ for each mode is determined; processed κ (κp), unprocessed κ (κu). In MASE, 59% of bimodal distributions had different κ for the two modes indicating dominance of chemical processing via aqueous oxidation. This is consistent with Hudson et al. (2015). Figure 1A also indicates chemical processing with larger κp between 0.35-0.75. Processed CCN had an influx of soluble material from aqueous oxidation which increased κp versus κu. Above 0.75 κp is lower than κu (Fig. 1A). When κu is high and sulfate material is added, κp tends towards κ of the added material. Thus, κp is reduced by additional material that is less soluble than the original material. Chemistry measurements in MASE also indicate in-cloud aqueous oxidation (Fig. 1B and 1C). Higher fraction of CCN concentrations in the processed mode are also associated with larger amounts of sulfates (Fig. 1B, red) and nitrates (Fig. 1C, orange) while SO2 (Fig. 1B, black) and O3 (Fig. 1C, blue) have lower amounts. This larger amount of sulfate is at the expense of

The observed influence of local anthropogenic pollution on northern Alaskan cloud properties

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M. Maahn

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Due to their importance for the radiation budget, liquid-containing clouds are a key component of the Arctic climate system. Depending on season, they can cool or warm the near-surface air. The radiative properties of these clouds depend strongly on cloud drop sizes, which are governed in part by the availability of cloud condensation nuclei. Here, we investigate how cloud drop sizes are modified in the presence of local emissions from industrial facilities at the North Slope of Alaska. For this, we use aircraft in situ observations of clouds and aerosols from the 5th Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (DOE ARM Program's Airborne Carbon Measurements (ACME-V campaign obtained in summer 2015. Comparison of observations from an area with petroleum extraction facilities (Oliktok Point with data from a reference area relatively free of anthropogenic sources (Utqiaġvik/Barrow represents an opportunity to quantify the impact of local industrial emissions on cloud properties. In the presence of local industrial emissions, the mean effective radii of cloud droplets are reduced from 12.2 to 9.4 µm, which leads to suppressed drizzle production and precipitation. At the same time, concentrations of refractory black carbon and condensation nuclei are enhanced below the clouds. These results demonstrate that the effects of anthropogenic pollution on local climate need to be considered when planning Arctic industrial infrastructure in a warming environment.

Direct numerical simulation of droplet-laden isotropic turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Dodd, Michael S.

Interaction of liquid droplets with turbulence is important in numerous applications ranging from rain formation to oil spills to spray combustion. The physical mechanisms of droplet-turbulence interaction are largely unknown, especially when compared to that of solid particles. Compared to solid particles, droplets can deform, break up, coalesce and have internal fluid circulation. The main goal of this work is to investigate using direct numerical simulation (DNS) the physical mechanisms of droplet-turbulence interaction, both for non-evaporating and evaporating droplets. To achieve this objective, we develop and couple a new pressure-correction method with the volume-of-fluid (VoF) method for simulating incompressible two-fluid flows. The method's main advantage is that the variable coefficient Poisson equation that arises in solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations for two-fluid flows is reduced to a constant coefficient equation. This equation can then be solved directly using, e.g., the FFT-based parallel Poisson solver. For a 10243 mesh, our new pressure-correction method using a fast Poisson solver is ten to forty times faster than the standard pressure-correction method using multigrid. Using the coupled pressure-correction and VoF method, we perform direct numerical simulations (DNS) of 3130 finite-size, non-evaporating droplets of diameter approximately equal to the Taylor lengthscale and with 5% droplet volume fraction in decaying isotropic turbulence at initial Taylor-scale Reynolds number Relambda = 83. In the droplet-laden cases, we vary one of the following three parameters: the droplet Weber number based on the r.m.s. velocity of turbulence (0.1 ≤ Werms ≤ 5), the droplet- to carrier-fluid density ratio (1 ≤ rhod/rho c ≤ 100) or the droplet- to carrier-fluid viscosity ratio (1 ≤ mud/muc ≤ 100). We derive the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) equations for the two-fluid, carrier-fluid and droplet-fluid flow. These equations allow

Influence of film dimensions on film droplet formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmgren, Helene; Ljungström, Evert

2012-02-01

Aerosol particles may be generated from rupturing liquid films through a droplet formation mechanism. The present work was undertaken with the aim to throw some light on the influence of film dimensions on droplet formation with possible consequences for exhaled breath aerosol formation. The film droplet formation process was mimicked by using a purpose-built device, where fluid films were spanned across holes of known diameters. As the films burst, droplets were formed and the number and size distributions of the resulting droplets were determined. No general relation could be found between hole diameter and the number of droplets generated per unit surface area of fluid film. Averaged over all film sizes, a higher surface tension yielded higher concentrations of droplets. Surface tension did not influence the resulting droplet diameter, but it was found that smaller films generated smaller droplets. This study shows that small fluid films generate droplets as efficiently as large films, and that droplets may well be generated from films with diameters below 1 mm. This has implications for the formation of film droplets from reopening of closed airways because human terminal bronchioles are of similar dimensions. Thus, the results provide support for the earlier proposed mechanism where reopening of closed airways is one origin of exhaled particles.

Sensitivity Studies on the Influence of Aerosols on Cloud and Precipitation Development Using WRF Mesoscale Model Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, G.; Eidhammer, T.; Rasmussen, R.

2011-12-01

Using the WRF model in simulations of shallow and deep precipitating cloud systems, we investigated the sensitivity to aerosols initiating as cloud condensation and ice nuclei. A global climatological dataset of sulfates, sea salts, and dust was used as input for a control experiment. Sensitivity experiments with significantly more polluted conditions were conducted to analyze the resulting impacts to cloud and precipitation formation. Simulations were performed using the WRF model with explicit treatment of aerosols added to the Thompson et al (2008) bulk microphysics scheme. The modified scheme achieves droplet formation using pre-tabulated CCN activation tables provided by a parcel model. The ice nucleation is parameterized as a function of dust aerosols as well as homogeneous freezing of deliquesced aerosols. The basic processes of aerosol activation and removal by wet scavenging are considered, but aerosol characteristic size or hygroscopicity does not change due to evaporating droplets. In other words, aerosol processing was ignored. Unique aspects of this study include the usage of one to four kilometer grid spacings and the direct parameterization of ice nucleation from aerosols rather than typical temperature and/or supersaturation relationships alone. Initial results from simulations of a deep winter cloud system and its interaction with significant orography show contrasting sensitivities in regions of warm rain versus mixed liquid and ice conditions. The classical view of higher precipitation amounts in relatively clean maritime clouds with fewer but larger droplets is confirmed for regions dominated by the warm-rain process. However, due to complex interactions with the ice phase and snow riming, the simulations revealed the reverse situation in high terrain areas dominated by snow reaching the surface. Results of other cloud systems will be summarized at the conference.

Electrohydrodynamic simulation of electrically controlled droplet generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouedraogo, Yun; Gjonaj, Erion; Weiland, Thomas; Gersem, Herbert De; Steinhausen, Christoph; Lamanna, Grazia; Weigand, Bernhard

2017-01-01

Highlights: • We develop a full electrohydrodynamic simulation approach which allows for the accurate modeling of droplet dynamics under the influence of transient electric fields. The model takes into account conductive, capacitive as well as convective electrical currents in the fluid. • Simulation results are shown for an electrically driven droplet generator using highly conductive acetone droplets and low conductivity pentane droplets, respectively. Excellent agreement with measurement is found. • We investigate the operation characteristic of the droplet generator by computing droplet sizes and detachment times with respect to the applied voltage. • The droplet charging effect is demonstrated for pentane droplets as well as for acetone droplets under long voltage pulses. We show that due to the very different relaxation times, the charging behavior of the two liquids is very different. • We demonstrate that due to this behavior, also the detachment mechanisms for acetone and pentane droplets are different. For low conductivity (pentane) droplets, droplet detachment is only possible after the electric fields are switched off. This is because the effective electric polarization force points upwards, thus, inhibiting the detachment of the droplet from the capillary tip. - Abstract: An electrohydrodynamic model for the simulation of droplet formation, detachment and motion in an electrically driven droplet generator is introduced. The numerical approach is based on the coupled solution of the multiphase flow problem with the charge continuity equation. For the latter, a modified convection-conduction model is applied, taking into account conductive, capacitive as well as convective electrical currents in the fluid. This allows for a proper description of charge relaxation phenomena in the moving fluid. In particular, the charge received by the droplet after detachment is an important parameter influencing the droplet dynamics in the test chamber

Comparison of cloud optical depth and cloud mask applying BRDF model-based background surface reflectance

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, H. W.; Yeom, J. M.; Woo, S. H.

2017-12-01

Over the thin cloud region, satellite can simultaneously detect the reflectance from thin clouds and land surface. Since the mixed reflectance is not the exact cloud information, the background surface reflectance should be eliminated to accurately distinguish thin cloud such as cirrus. In the previous research, Kim et al (2017) was developed the cloud masking algorithm using the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI), which is one of significant instruments for Communication, Ocean, and Meteorology Satellite (COMS). Although GOCI has 8 spectral channels including visible and near infra-red spectral ranges, the cloud masking has quantitatively reasonable result when comparing with MODIS cloud mask (Collection 6 MYD35). Especially, we noticed that this cloud masking algorithm is more specialized in thin cloud detections through the validation with Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) data. Because this cloud masking method was concentrated on eliminating background surface effects from the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance. Applying the difference between TOA reflectance and the bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model-based background surface reflectance, cloud areas both thick cloud and thin cloud can be discriminated without infra-red channels which were mostly used for detecting clouds. Moreover, when the cloud mask result was utilized as the input data when simulating BRDF model and the optimized BRDF model-based surface reflectance was used for the optimized cloud masking, the probability of detection (POD) has higher value than POD of the original cloud mask. In this study, we examine the correlation between cloud optical depth (COD) and its cloud mask result. Cloud optical depths mostly depend on the cloud thickness, the characteristic of contents, and the size of cloud contents. COD ranges from less than 0.1 for thin clouds to over 1000 for the huge cumulus due to scattering by droplets. With

Sulfur isotope ratios and the origins of the aerosols and cloud droplets in California stratus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ludwig, F.L.

1976-01-01

Marine aerosols often have sulfur-to-chloride ratios greater than that found in seawater. Sulfur isotope ratios ( 34 S/ 32 S) were measured in aerosol and cloud droplet samples collected in the San Francisco Bay Area in an attempt to understand the processes that produce the observed sulfur-to-chloride ratios. Seawater sulfur usually has very high sulfur isotope ratios: fossil fuel sulfur tends to have smaller isotope ratios and sulfur of bacteriogenic origin still smaller. Samples collected in unpolluted marine air over the hills south of San Francisco had sulfur ratios that were significantly lower than the values for samples collected in nearby areas that were subject to urban pollution. The highest sulfur isotope ratios were found in the offshore seawater. The results suggest bacteriogenic origins, of the marine air sulfur aerosol material. The low isotope ratios in the marine air cannot be explained as a mixture of seawater sulfur and pollutant sulfur, because both tend to have higher isotope ratios. (Auth.)

Control of charged droplets using electrohydrodynamic repulsion for circular droplet patterning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Bumjoo; Sung, Jungwoo; Lim, Geunbae; Nam, Hyoryung; Kim, Sung Jae; Joo, Sang W

2011-01-01

We report a novel method to form a circular pattern of monodisperse microdroplets using an electrohydrodynamic repulsion (EDR) mechanism. EDR is a phenomenon of electrostatical bounced microdroplets from an accumulated droplet on a bottom substrate. In addition to a regular EDR system, by placing a ring electrode between the capillary and ground substrate, two separate regions were created. A parameter study of two regions was carried out for droplet formation and falling velocity to control the radius of the generated droplets and the circular patterns independently. Based on energy conservation theory, our experimental results showed that the free-falling region exerted crucial influences on the sizes of the circular patterns

Measurement of airborne droplets by the magnesium oxide method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

May, K R

1950-01-01

A complete calibration has been made for the first time of the method of detecting and measuring airborne droplets whereby the permanent impressions made when they strike a layer of magnesium oxide smoked on a glass slide are measured microscopically. A size range of 200 to 10 microns and a wide range of liquids and impact velocities were investigated, and it was found that the ratio of true drop size to impression size is constant at 0.86 for droplets greater than 20 microns of any liquid. The method fails below 10 microns. The calibration was made against an absolute method of droplet measurement, also against the so-called focal-length method. Droplets of any desired size were generated by a uniform spray apparatus.

A Report of Clouds on Titan

Science.gov (United States)

Corlies, Paul; Hayes, Alexander; Adamkovics, Mate; Rodriguez, Sebastien; Kelland, John; Turtle, Elizabeth P.; Mitchell, Jonathan; Lora, Juan M.; Rojo, Patricio; Lunine, Jonathan I.

2017-10-01

We present in this work a detailed analysis of many of the clouds in the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) dataset in order to understand their global and seasonal properties. Clouds are one of the few direct observables in Titan’s atmosphere (Griffith et al 2009, Rodriguez et al 2009, Adamkovics et al 2010), and so determining their characteristics allows for a better understanding of surface atmosphere interactions, winds, transport of volatile material, and general circulation. We find the clouds on Titan generally reside in at 5-15km altitude, which agrees with previous modelling efforts (Rafkin et al. 2015), as well as a power law distribution for cloud optical depth. We assume an average cloud droplet size of 100um. No seasonal dependence is observed with either cloud altitude or optical depth, suggesting there is no preferred seasonal formation mechanisms. Combining these characteristics with cloud size (Kelland et al 2017) can trace the transport of volatiles in Titan’s atmosphere, which can be compared against general circulation models (GCMs) (Lora et al 2015). We also present some specific analysis of interesting cloud systems including hypothesized surface fogs (Brown et al 2009) and orographic cloud formation (Barth et al 2010, Corlies et al 2017). In this analysis we use a correlation between Cassini VIMS and RADAR observations as well as an updated topographic map of Titan’s southern hemisphere to better understand the role that topography plays in influencing and driving atmospheric phenomena.Finally, with the end of the Cassini mission, ground based observing now acts as the only means with which to observe clouds on Titan. We present an update of an ongoing cloud campaign to search for clouds on Titan and to understand their seasonal evolution.References:Adamkovics et al. 2010, Icarus 208:868Barth et al. 2010, Planet. Space Sci. 58:1740Corlies et al. 2017, 48th LPSC, 2870CGriffith et al. 2009, ApJ 702:L105Kelland et al

Effects of turbulence on the geometric collision rate of sedimenting droplets. Part 2. Theory and parameterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayala, Orlando; Rosa, Bogdan; Wang Lianping

2008-01-01

The effect of air turbulence on the geometric collision kernel of cloud droplets can be predicted if the effects of air turbulence on two kinematic pair statistics can be modeled. The first is the average radial relative velocity and the second is the radial distribution function (RDF). A survey of the literature shows that no theory is available for predicting the radial relative velocity of finite-inertia sedimenting droplets in a turbulent flow. In this paper, a theory for the radial relative velocity is developed, using a statistical approach assuming that gravitational sedimentation dominates the relative motion of droplets before collision. In the weak-inertia limit, the theory reveals a new term making a positive contribution to the radial relative velocity resulting from a coupling between sedimentation and air turbulence on the motion of finite-inertia droplets. The theory is compared to the direct numerical simulations (DNS) results in part 1, showing a reasonable agreement with the DNS data for bidisperse cloud droplets. For droplets larger than 30 μm in radius, a nonlinear drag (NLD) can also be included in the theory in terms of an effective inertial response time and an effective terminal velocity. In addition, an empirical model is developed to quantify the RDF. This, together with the theory for radial relative velocity, provides a parameterization for the turbulent geometric collision kernel. Using this integrated model, we find that turbulence could triple the geometric collision kernel, relative to the stagnant air case, for a droplet pair of 10 and 20 μm sedimenting through a cumulus cloud at R λ =2x10 4 and ε=600 cm 2 s -3 . For the self-collisions of 20 μm droplets, the collision kernel depends sensitively on the flow dissipation rate

Impact of cloud-borne aerosol representation on aerosol direct and indirect effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. J. Ghan

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Aerosol particles attached to cloud droplets are much more likely to be removed from the atmosphere and are much less efficient at scattering sunlight than if unattached. Models used to estimate direct and indirect effects of aerosols employ a variety of representations of such cloud-borne particles. Here we use a global aerosol model with a relatively complete treatment of cloud-borne particles to estimate the sensitivity of simulated aerosol, cloud and radiation fields to various approximations to the representation of cloud-borne particles. We find that neglecting transport of cloud-borne particles introduces little error, but that diagnosing cloud-borne particles produces global mean biases of 20% and local errors of up to 40% for aerosol, droplet number, and direct and indirect radiative forcing. Aerosol number, aerosol optical depth and droplet number are significantly underestimated in regions and seasons where and when wet removal is primarily by stratiform rather than convective clouds (polar regions during winter, but direct and indirect effects are less biased because of the limited sunlight there and then. A treatment that predicts the total mass concentration of cloud-borne particles for each mode yields smaller errors and runs 20% faster than the complete treatment. The errors are much smaller than current estimates of uncertainty in direct and indirect effects of aerosols, which suggests that the treatment of cloud-borne aerosol is not a significant source of uncertainty in estimates of direct and indirect effects.

Conductivity of laser printed copper structures limited by nano-crystal grain size and amorphous metal droplet shell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winter, Shoshana; Zenou, Michael; Kotler, Zvi

2016-01-01

We present a study of the morphology and electrical properties of copper structures which are printed by laser induced forward transfer from bulk copper. The percentage of voids and the oxidation levels are too low to account for the high resistivities (∼4 to 14 times the resistivity of bulk monocrystalline copper) of these structures. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of slices cut from the printed areas using a focused ion beam (FIB) show nano-sized crystal structures with grain sizes that are smaller than the electron free path length. Scattering from such grain boundaries causes a significant increase in the resistivity and can explain the measured resistivities of the structures. The TEM images also show a nano-amorphous layer (∼5 nm) at the droplet boundaries which also contributes to the overall resistivity. Such morphological characteristics are best explained by the ultrafast cooling rate of the molten copper droplets during printing. (paper)

Influence of Solar Wind on the Global Electric Circuit, and Inferred Effects on Cloud Microphysics, Temperature, and Dynamics in the Troposphere

Science.gov (United States)

Tinsley, Brian A.

2000-11-01

clouds droplet freezing can occur by contact ice nucleation, as the evaporation nuclei are electroscavenged. Although quantitative models for the all the cloud microphysical processes that may be involved have not yet been produced, we show that for many clouds, especially those with broad droplet size distributions, relatively high droplet concentrations, and cloud top temperatures just below freezing, this process is likely to dominate over other primary ice nucleation processes. In these cases there are likely to be effects on cloud albedo and rates of sedimentation of ice, and these will depend on J_z. For an increase in ice production in thin clouds such as altocumulus or stratocumulus the main effect is a decrease in albedo to incoming solar radiation, and in opacity to outgoing longwave radiation. At low latitudes the surface and troposphere heat, and at high latitudes in winter they cool. The change in meridional temperature gradient affects the rate of cyclogenesis, and the amplitude of planetary waves. For storm clouds, as in winter cyclones, the effect of increased ice formation is mainly to increase the rate of glaciation of lower level clouds by the seeder-feeder process. The increase in precipitation efficiency increases the rate of transfer of latent heat between the air mass and the surface. In most cyclones this is likely to result in intensification, producing changes in the vorticity area index as observed. Cyclone intensification also increases the amplitude of planetary waves, and shifts storm tracks, as observed. In this paper we first describe the production of space charge and the way in which it may influence the rate of ice nucleation. Then we review theory and observations of the solar wind modulation of J_z, and the correlated changes in atmospheric temperature and dynamics in the troposphere. The correlations are present for each input, (A, B, and C), and the detailed patterns of responses provide support for the inferred electrical effects

Development of Two-Moment Cloud Microphysics for Liquid and Ice Within the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS-5)

Science.gov (United States)

Barahona, Donifan; Molod, Andrea M.; Bacmeister, Julio; Nenes, Athanasios; Gettelman, Andrew; Morrison, Hugh; Phillips, Vaughan,; Eichmann, Andrew F.

2013-01-01

This work presents the development of a two-moment cloud microphysics scheme within the version 5 of the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5). The scheme includes the implementation of a comprehensive stratiform microphysics module, a new cloud coverage scheme that allows ice supersaturation and a new microphysics module embedded within the moist convection parameterization of GEOS-5. Comprehensive physically-based descriptions of ice nucleation, including homogeneous and heterogeneous freezing, and liquid droplet activation are implemented to describe the formation of cloud particles in stratiform clouds and convective cumulus. The effect of preexisting ice crystals on the formation of cirrus clouds is also accounted for. A new parameterization of the subgrid scale vertical velocity distribution accounting for turbulence and gravity wave motion is developed. The implementation of the new microphysics significantly improves the representation of liquid water and ice in GEOS-5. Evaluation of the model shows agreement of the simulated droplet and ice crystal effective and volumetric radius with satellite retrievals and in situ observations. The simulated global distribution of supersaturation is also in agreement with observations. It was found that when using the new microphysics the fraction of condensate that remains as liquid follows a sigmoidal increase with temperature which differs from the linear increase assumed in most models and is in better agreement with available observations. The performance of the new microphysics in reproducing the observed total cloud fraction, longwave and shortwave cloud forcing, and total precipitation is similar to the operational version of GEOS-5 and in agreement with satellite retrievals. However the new microphysics tends to underestimate the coverage of persistent low level stratocumulus. Sensitivity studies showed that the simulated cloud properties are robust to moderate variation in cloud microphysical parameters

Modeling of fuel vapor jet eruption induced by local droplet heating

KAUST Repository

Sim, Jaeheon

2014-01-10

The evaporation of a droplet by non-uniform heating is numerically investigated in order to understand the mechanism of the fuel-vapor jet eruption observed in the flame spread of a droplet array under microgravity condition. The phenomenon was believed to be mainly responsible for the enhanced flame spread rate through a droplet cloud at microgravity conditions. A modified Eulerian-Lagrangian method with a local phase change model is utilized to describe the interfacial dynamics between liquid droplet and surrounding air. It is found that the localized heating creates a temperature gradient along the droplet surface, induces the corresponding surface tension gradient, and thus develops an inner flow circulation commonly referred to as the Marangoni convection. Furthermore, the effect also produces a strong shear flow around the droplet surface, thereby pushing the fuel vapor toward the wake region of the droplet to form a vapor jet eruption. A parametric study clearly demonstrated that at realistic droplet combustion conditions the Marangoni effect is indeed responsible for the observed phenomena, in contrast to the results based on constant surface tension approximation

"V-junction": a novel structure for high-speed generation of bespoke droplet flows.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Yun; Casadevall i Solvas, Xavier; deMello, Andrew

2015-01-21

We present the use of microfluidic "V-junctions" as a droplet generation strategy that incorporates enhanced performance characteristics when compared to more traditional "T-junction" formats. This includes the ability to generate target-sized droplets from the very first one, efficient switching between multiple input samples, the production of a wide range of droplet sizes (and size gradients) and the facile generation of droplets with residence time gradients. Additionally, the use of V-junction droplet generators enables the suspension and subsequent resumption of droplet flows at times defined by the user. The high degree of operational flexibility allows a wide range of droplet sizes, payloads, spacings and generation frequencies to be obtained, which in turn provides for an enhanced design space for droplet-based experimentation. We show that the V-junction retains the simplicity of operation associated with T-junction formats, whilst offering functionalities normally associated with droplet-on-demand technologies.

On the aerosol-cloud relationship at a high-alpine site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baltensperger, U.; Schwikowski, M.; Jost, D.T.; Nyeki, S.; Gaeggeler, H.W. [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)

1997-09-01

Field experiments at the Jungfraujoch showed that during the presence of a cloud, most of the aerosol mass is transferred into the cloud phase. This results in smaller cloud droplets for increasing aerosol concentration, which increases the albedo of clouds (known as the indirect effect of climate forcing by aerosol particles). (author) 1 fig., 4 refs.

Data Descriptor : Collocated observations of cloud condensation nuclei, particle size distributions, and chemical composition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schmale, Julia; Henning, Silvia; Henzing, Bas; Keskinen, Helmi; Sellegri, Karine; Ovadnevaite, Jurgita; Bougiatioti, Aikaterini; Kalivitis, Nikos; Stavroulas, Iasonas; Jefferson, Anne; Park, Minsu; Schlag, Patrick; Kristensson, Adam; Iwamoto, Yoko; Pringle, Kirsty; Reddington, Carly; Aalto, Pasi; Äijälä, Mikko; Baltensperger, Urs; Bialek, Jakub; Birmili, Wolfram; Bukowiecki, Nicolas; Ehn, Mikael; Fjæraa, Ann Mari; Fiebig, Markus; Frank, Göran; Fröhlich, Roman; Frumau, Arnoud; Furuya, Masaki; Hammer, Emanuel; Heikkinen, Liine; Herrmann, Erik; Holzinger, Rupert; Hyono, Hiroyuki; Kanakidou, Maria; Kiendler-Scharr, Astrid; Kinouchi, Kento; Kos, Gerard P A; Kulmala, Markku; Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos; Motos, Ghislain; Nenes, Athanasios; O'Dowd, Colin; Paramonov, Mikhail; Petäjä, Tuukka; Picard, David; Poulain, Laurent; Prévôt, André Stephan Henry; Slowik, Jay; Sonntag, Andre; Swietlicki, Erik; Svenningsson, Birgitta; Tsurumaru, Hiroshi; Wiedensohler, Alfred; Wittbom, Cerina; Ogren, John A.; Matsuki, Atsushi; Yum, Seong Soo; Myhre, Cathrine Lund; Carslaw, Ken; Stratmann, Frank; Gysel, Martin

2017-01-01

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentrations alongside with submicrometer particle number size distributions and particle chemical composition have been measured at atmospheric observatories of the Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure (ACTRIS) as well as other

A Planar-Fluorescence Imaging Technique for Studying Droplet-Turbulence Interactions in Vaporizing Sprays

Science.gov (United States)

Santavicca, Dom A.; Coy, E.

1990-01-01

Droplet turbulence interactions directly affect the vaporization and dispersion of droplets in liquid sprays and therefore play a major role in fuel oxidizer mixing in liquid fueled combustion systems. Proper characterization of droplet turbulence interactions in vaporizing sprays require measurement of droplet size velocity and size temperature correlations. A planar, fluorescence imaging technique is described which is being developed for simultaneously measuring the size, velocity, and temperature of individual droplets in vaporizing sprays. Preliminary droplet size velocity correlation measurements made with this technique are presented. These measurements are also compared to and show very good agreement with measurements made in the same spray using a phase Doppler particle analyzer.

Rain chemistry and cloud composition and microphysics in a Caribbean tropical montane cloud forest under the influence of African dust

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Delgado, Elvis; Valle-Diaz, Carlos J.; Baumgardner, Darrel; McDowell, William H.; González, Grizelle; Mayol-Bracero, Olga L.

2015-04-01

It is known that huge amounts of mineral dust travels thousands of kilometers from the Sahara and Sahel regions in Africa over the Atlantic Ocean reaching the Caribbean, northern South America and southern North America; however, not much is understood about how the aging process that takes place during transport changes dust properties, and how the presence of this dust affects cloud's composition and microphysics. This African dust reaches the Caribbean region mostly in the summer time. In order to improve our understanding of the role of long-range transported African dust (LRTAD) in cloud formation processes in a tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) in the Caribbean region we had field campaigns measuring dust physical and chemical properties in summer 2013, as part of the Puerto Rico African Dust and Cloud Study (PRADACS), and in summer 2014, as a part of the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory (LCZO) and in collaboration with the Saharan Aerosol Long-Range Transport and Aerosol-Cloud-Interaction Experiment (SALTRACE). Measurements were performed at the TMCF of Pico del Este (PE, 1051 masl) and at the nature reserve of Cabezas de San Juan (CSJ, 60 masl). In both stations we monitored meteorological parameters (e.g., temperature, wind speed, wind direction). At CSJ, we measured light absorption and scattering at three wavelengths (467, 528 and 652 nm). At PE we collected cloud and rainwater and monitored cloud microphysical properties (e.g., liquid water content, droplet size distribution, droplet number concentration, effective diameter and median volume diameter). Data from aerosol models, satellites, and back-trajectories were used together with CSJ measurements to classify air masses and samples collected at PE in the presence or absence of dust. Soluble ions, insoluble trace metals, pH and conductivity were measured for cloud and rainwater. Preliminary results for summer 2013 showed that in the presence of LRTAD (1) the average conductivity of cloud water

Designed pneumatic valve actuators for controlled droplet breakup and generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jae-Hoon; Lee, Seung-Kon; Lim, Jong-Min; Yang, Seung-Man; Yi, Gi-Ra

2010-02-21

The dynamic breakup of emulsion droplets was demonstrated in double-layered microfluidic devices equipped with designed pneumatic actuators. Uniform emulsion droplets, produced by shearing at a T-junction, were broken into smaller droplets when they passed downstream through constrictions formed by a pneumatically actuated valve in the upper control layer. The valve-assisted droplet breakup was significantly affected by the shape and layout of the control valves on the emulsion flow channel. Interestingly, by actuating the pneumatic valve immediately above the T-junction, the sizes of the emulsion droplets were controlled precisely in a programmatic manner that produced arrays of uniform emulsion droplets in various sizes and dynamic patterns.

ACE-2 HILLCLOUD. An overview of the ACE-2 ground-based cloud experiment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bower, B.K.N.; Choularton, T.W.; Gallagher, M.W.

2000-01-01

the dependence of the cloud microphysics and chemistry on the characteristics of the aerosols and trace gases entering cloud, and to simultaneously study the influence of the physical and chemical processes occurring within the cloud on the size distribution, chemical and hygroscopic properties of the aerosol......) and higher aerosol mass loadings. Cloud droplet number concentrations N, increased from 50 cm-3 in background maritime air to >2500 cm-3 in aged polluted continental air, a concentration much higher than had previously been detected. Surprisingly, N was seen to vary almost linearly with aerosol number across...... were around 0.3 ppbv even in air originating over the ocean, another unexpected but important result for the region. NO2 was present in background concentrations of typically 15 pptv to 100 pptv and NO3. (the nitrate radical) was observed at night throughout. Calculations suggest NO3. losses were...

Drizzle production in stratocumulus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feingold, G.; Frisch, A.S.; Stevens, B.; Cotton, W.R. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

1996-04-01

Although stratocumulus clouds are not prodigious producers of precipitation, the small amounts of drizzle they do produce have an important impact on both cloud macrophysical properties (e.g., spatial coverage, depth and liquid water content) and microphysical properties (e.g., droplet size distributions, effective radii). The radiative effects of stratocumulus are intimately connected to both these macro- and microphysical properties, and it is thus essential that we understand the mechanisms of droplet growth which generate precipitation sized droplets. Drizzle production is closely related to cloud condensation nucleus (CCN) number and size, as well as to cloud dynamics and the ability of clouds to support droplets within their bounds and allow for repeated collision-coalesence cycles. In order to address both the microphysical and dynamical aspects of drizzle formation (and their close coupling), we have adapted a large eddy simulation (LES) model to include explicit (size-resolving) microphysical treatment of the CCN and droplet spectra. By directly calculating processes such as droplet growth by condensation and stochastic collection, evaporation, and sedimentation in the LES framework, we are in a position to elucidate the drizzle formation process.

Island based radar and microwave radiometer measurements of stratus cloud parameters during the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frisch, A.S. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Fairall, C.W.; Snider, J.B. [NOAA Environmental Technology Lab., Boulder, CO (United States); Lenshow, D.H.; Mayer, S.D. [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

1996-04-01

During the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX) in June 1992, simultaneous measurements were made with a vertically pointing cloud sensing radar and a microwave radiometer. The radar measurements are used to estimate stratus cloud drizzle and turbulence parameters. In addition, with the microwave radiometer measurements of reflectivity, we estimated the profiles of cloud liquid water and effective radius. We used radar data for computation of vertical profiles of various drizzle parameters such as droplet concentration, modal radius, and spread. A sample of these results is shown in Figure 1. In addition, in non-drizzle clouds, with the radar and radiometer we can estimate the verticle profiles of stratus cloud parameters such as liquid water concentration and effective radius. This is accomplished by assuming a droplet distribution with droplet number concentration and width constant with height.

Size, velocity, and concentration in suspension measurements of spherical droplets and cylindrical jets.

Science.gov (United States)

Onofri, F; Bergougnoux, L; Firpo, J L; Misguich-Ripault, J

1999-07-20

The principle of an optical technique for simultaneous velocity, size, and concentration in suspension measurements of spherical droplets and cylindrical jets is proposed. This technique is based on phase Doppler anemometry working in the dual burst technique configuration. The particle size and velocity are deduced from the reflected signal phase and frequency, whereas the amplitude ratio between the refracted and the reflected signals is used for measuring the concentration of small scatterers inside the particles. Numerical simulations, based on geometrical optics and a Monte Carlo model, and an experimental validation test on cylindrical jets made of various suspensions, are used to validate the principle of the proposed technique. It is believed that this new technique could be useful in investigating processes in which liquid suspensions are sprayed for surface coating, drying, or combustion applications.

Shear Flow Instabilities and Droplet Size Effects on Aerosol Jet Printing Resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Guang; Gu, Yuan; Hines, Daniel; Das, Siddhartha; LaboratoryPhysical Science Collaboration; Soft Matter, Interfaces, Energy Laboratory Collaboration

2017-11-01

Aerosol Jet printing (AJP) is an additive technology utilizing aerodynamic focusing to produce fine feature down to 10 micrometers that can be used in the manufacture of wearable electronics and biosensors. The main concern of the current technology is related to unstable printing resolution, which is usually assessed by effective line width, edge smoothness, overspray and connectivity. In this work, we perform a 3D CFD model to study the aerodynamic instabilities induced by the annular shear flow (sheath gas flow or ShGF) trapped with the aerosol jet (carried gas flow or CGF) with ink droplets. Extensive experiments on line morphology have shown that by increasing ShGF, one can first obtain thinner line width, and then massive overspray is witnessed at very large ShGF/ CGF ratio. Besides the fact that shear-layer instabilities usually trigger eddy currents at comparatively low Reynolds number 600, the tolerance of deposition components assembling will also propagate large offsets of the deposited feather. We also carried out detailed analysis on droplet size and deposition range on the printing resolution. This study is intended to come up with a solution on controlling the operating parameters for finer printed features, and offer an improvement strategy on next generation.

Exploring the nonlinear cloud and rain equation