1 Clouds

1.1 Introduction
A cloud is an aggregate of cloud droplets or ice crystals, or a combination of both, suspended
in air. For a cloud to be visible, the cloud particles need to exist in a sufficiently large con-
centration. Inherently clouds are extremely stable in structure. During the daytime Earth’s
surface gets heated up, so air near to the region gets lighter, become unstable and rises up. As
the water evaporates from Earth’s surface, air over that area becomes moist. When enough
moist air has accumulated, all the moist air rises as a single packet, without mixing with the
surrounding air. As more moist air forms along the surface, the process repeats, resulting in a
series of discrete packets of moist air rising to form clouds.

1.2 Types
Basically there are 10 major types of clouds based on altitudes which can be grouped into
following 3 as follows.

1.2.1 Low Level Clouds (0-2km)

They consist of Stratus, Stratocumulus, cumulus and cumulonimbus and nimbostratus clouds.
Stratus and stratocumulus clouds are shallow stratiform clouds, usually less than 1 km in
vertical extent. They appear like fogs. These clouds form due to adiabatic expansion and
cooling in rising air parcels or air masses, fog forms as a result of isobaric cooling and it touches
the ground. They tend to produce drizzle in clean air masses that are characterized by low
concentrations of aerosol particles.
Nimbostratus is a formless cloud that is almost uniformly dark gray; it is thick enough to block
the sunlight. Nimbostratus is typically associated with long-lasting stratiform precipitation
and forms when air masses are lifted along a warm front in a low-pressure system. Stratus
and stratocumulus clouds are convective clouds which develop in unstable air due to buoyancy.
In the atmosphere, stability or instability is mainly determined by the vertical temperature
gradient. In an unstable atmosphere this gradient is large enough that a rising air parcel stays
warmer than the surrounding air, in spite of the cooling due to adiabatic expansion. If the air
is sufficiently moist, buoyantly rising air parcels can cause the formation of convective clouds.
Upon cloud formation, the air parcel gains additional buoyancy from the latent heat released
during cloud droplet activation and condensational growth.

1.2.2 Mid Level Clouds (2-7km)

Mid-level clouds comprise altocumulus and altostratus. They typically owe their existence to
the slow upward lifting of air masses with updraft vertical velocities on the order of centimeters
to tens of centimeters per second over a large area in the mid troposphere. Altocumulus are
usually 200–700 m thick and altostratus clouds are usually 1–3 km thick. Altostratus uniform
gray or blue sheet; Sun can be seen as through translucent glass, i.e. there is no clear outline,
Altocumulus are gray or white with broken sheets, elements, bands, rounded masses.

1.2.3 High Level Clouds (5–13 km)

High-level clouds are cirrus, cirrostratus and cirrocumulus. Cirrocumulus is a finely granulated
cloud, consisting of many small, similar looking, cloud elements. These small granular structures
are often arranged in a co-joined regular pattern, where the individual cloud elements are
identifiable and intersected by small areas of blue sky. Cirrostratus appears as a whitish veil,

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having a waveless structure where no individual cloud elements can be identified. A distinct
characteristic of Cs is the appearance of a halo. Lastly, cirrus consists of delicate filaments.
These three clouds are solely comprised of ice crystals. Because of the decrease of water vapor
with height in the troposphere, cirrus clouds have a much lower water content than mid-level
or low-level clouds.

1.2.4 Importance
Clouds play a fundamental role in maintaining the Earth’s energy balance, or ”radiation bud-
get,” the amount of radiation that enters and leaves the Earth. The earth-atmosphere energy
balance is the balance between incoming energy from the Sun and outgoing energy from the
Earth. Energy released from the Sun is emitted as shortwave light and ultraviolet energy.
When it reaches the Earth, some is reflected to space by clouds as long wave radiations, some
is absorbed by the atmosphere, and some is absorbed at the Earth’s surface.

Figure showing the radiation budget taken from *

Incoming solar radiation to the Earth is equal to 340 watts per square meter (100%). Of this
(units are a percentage of incoming solar radiation to the Earth):

1. 29% is reflected back into space. This is reflected by clouds and the atmosphere (23%)
and the Earth’s surface (7%)

2. 23% is absorbed in the atmosphere

3. 48% is absorbed by the Earth’s surface.

From the average 340W/m2 solar radiation received, 100W/m2 are reflected back to space,
as shown in Figure(1.2.4. The ratio of the reflected and the received radiation is called the
planetary albedo and amounts to 100/340 = 29.4%. Thus only 24W/m2 is reflected by Earth’s
surface. The majority of the reflected radiation (76W/m2 ) is due to reflection within the

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atmosphere, mainly by clouds (47W/m2 ). The rest is due to scattering by air molecules and
aerosol particles. The difference between the incoming and reflected radiation amounts to
240W/m2 and is absorbed by the surface and the atmosphere. By far the largest amount of the
absorbed energy is re-emitted as long-wave radiation. The amount of radiation emitted by a
body depends on its temperature, according to the Stefan–Boltzmann law. For the long-wave
radiation emitted by Earth it is given by

FLW = σT 4 (1)

where  is the emissivity, σ the Stefan–Boltzmann constant (5.67 × 10−8 W/m2 K 4 ) and T the
temperature.
The outgoing long-wave radiation, 239W/m2 , corresponds to an effective temperature Te of 255
K according to the Stefan–Boltzmann law assuming an emissivity of unity. This is 34 K colder
than the average temperature of Earth’s surface Ts in the present climate. In the absence of
an atmosphere Te would equal Ts. Of the 34 K difference between Ts andTe , 33 K is caused
by the so-called natural greenhouse effect. It is dominated by the natural greenhouse gases,
i.e. water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. The natural greenhouse effect has to be clearly
distinguished from the anthropogenic greenhouse effect due to anthropogenic emissions since
pre-industrial times.
The reflection of solar radiation by clouds, which reduces the amount of solar radiation reaching
the surface, is also called the albedo effect of clouds. Besides their albedo effect, clouds also
have a greenhouse effect. As they absorb part of the long-wave radiation emitted from Earth
and the lower atmosphere and re-emit some of this absorbed radiation back to lower levels in
the atmosphere, clouds reduce the amount of long-wave radiation effectively emitted to space.
In doing so, clouds warm the Earth–atmosphere system.

2 Cloud Micro-Physics
2.1 Introduction
Raindrops are among the smallest meteorological entities observable without special equipment.
Yet from the perspective of cloud microphysics, the particles commonly encountered in precip-
itation are quite remarkable precisely because of their large sizes. To form raindrops, cloud
particles have to increase in mass a million times or more, and these same cloud particles are
nucleated by aerosol as small as 0.01µm. To account for growth through such a wide range
of sizes in time periods as short as 10 min or so for some convective clouds, it is necessary to
consider a number of physical processes. All these processes comes under cloud microphysics.

2.2 Importance
Weather forecasting is done mainly by understanding cloud micro-physics. Historically the
interest in cloud micro-physics only surged during the world wars as the transportation and
performance of the defence equipments depend upon the atmospheric conditions. Several ob-
servational techniques involving aircraft, radar were used. Recent surge in interest in cloud
micro-physics is due to improvement in compuational capacity to make better climate models
to predict climate change, precipitation. Many modern technological tools and equipments like
rockets, satellites, airplanes, Internet and computers and various others require close monitor-
ing of atmospheric changes to insure the impacts.
Precipitation distribution and frequency, clouds movement and their extremities have some cor-
relation with the increasing temperature due to global warming. So these factors are considered
to understand the climate change to build the Global Climate Models (GCM). According to

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romp, who tested theories on how future climate change would affect cloud, one of the biggest
predictions is that higher temperatures will result in, roughly, fewer clouds, or more precisely,
a smaller convective mass flux. Why? If the earth is warmed by 1 degree Celsius, then the
amount of water vapor in the atmosphere increases by 7 percent. Meanwhile climate models
say that the amount of rain in the future will increase by 1 to 3 percent. []
Weather can be intentionally manipulated by cloud seeding which changes the type and amount
of precipiation that falls from clouds by dispersing the substances which serve as Cloud Con-
densation Nuclie (CCN). They alter the microphysical processes within the cloud. It is based
on the fact that the equilibrium vapor pressure is lower over ice than over water. The for-
mation of ice particles in supercooled clouds allows those particles to grow at the expense of
liquid droplets. If sufficient growth takes place, the particles become heavy enough to fall as
precipitation from clouds that otherwise would produce no precipitation.

3 Brief Overview Of Formation Of Rain Drop

Clouds form when air becomes supersaturated with water. The most common means by which
supersaturation is produced in the atmosphere is through the ascent of air parcels, which results
in the expansion of the air and adiabatic cooling. Rain drop formation happens in 3 stages.
Initially by diffusion, tiny aerosols (CCN) of size 0.1µm with the concentration in the range of
106 per liter grows to cloud drop of 20µm with typical concentration of 1000 per liter. Then
subsequently by collision and coalescence, cloud droplets grow into rain drop of typical size
1mm and concentration of 1 per liter. So, 1 drop of rain water was initially made of millions
of CCN.

Figure showing the relative size of the particles

Particle Radius(in µm) Number Density (per litre) Velocity(cm/s)

Condensation Nuclei 0.1 106 10−4
Typical cloud drop 10 106 1
3
Large cloud drop 50 10 27
Typical rain drop 1000 1 650
Following are the 3 stages.

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3.1 Nucleation

Upper Atmosphere consists of wide distribution of dust particles of various sizes. These particles
act as condensation nuclei(CCN) which upon tiny droplets are formed. This process is called
heterogeneous nucleation. If it occurs in pure environment (which is not the actual condition
of the atmosphere) then it is called homogeneous nucleation. This process requires very high
supersaturation. Before air reaches that state, phase transition (ie condensation) would have
formed by heterogeneous nucleation.

3.2 The diffusion process

Once CCN are activated, initial growth of cloud droplet is governed by this process. Diffusion
is the process of molecules moving from regions of higher concentrations to regions of lower
concentrations. At the surface of a droplet, water vapor is simultaneously condensing and
evaporating. When the concentration of water vapor molecules is higher some distance from
the droplet than it is at the droplet surface, the water vapor in the air diffuses toward the
droplet, condenses onto the droplet, and the net effect is droplet growth. Two phenomena
which influence the growth that occurs by diffusion are the curvature effect and the solution
effect.
At the length scale of tiny droplets, surface tension forces is dominant, so they would attain
spherical shape. The curvature of a droplet tends to increase the concentration of vapor at the
surface of the droplet. Small droplets have more curvature than larger droplets. In general,
given identical atmospheric conditions, a smaller droplet will have a greater concentration of
water vapor at its surface than a larger droplet. Since diffusion is the movement from higher
concentrations to lower concentrations, the curvature effect tends to retard droplet growth by
diffusion. As a droplet grows, its curvature decreases and becomes more like a plane surface
and the influence of the curvature effect decreases as well.
Unlike curvature effect which impedes the growth, solution effect encourages growth by diffu-
sion. As water condenses onto them, the combination of the aerosol and water create a solution
droplet. The dissolved substance displaces some of the water molecules at the surface of the
droplet, and the result is a decreased concentration of water vapor at the surface. In general,
the more concentrated the droplet solution is, the less concentrated the water vapor at the
surface of the droplet will be. Thus, the solution effect tends to positively influence growth by
diffusion. The solution effect can often encourage growth at relative humidity below 100%. As
a solution droplet grows, the concentration of the droplet is diluted and the influence of the
solution effect also decreases.

3.3 The collision-coalescence process

A droplet may continue to grow by diffusion beyond 20 micrometers in diameter, however,

once a droplet attains this size, growth is slow and inefficient. Droplets of this large begin to
collide and coalesce with other droplets as they fall through the cloud, meaning they will bump
into and bond to one another and form larger drops. They are several factors which influence
the effectiveness of collisions ie Updraft velocity, turbulence, droplet charge and external elec-
tric field. Updrafts in a cloud can transport a droplet upward repeatedly allowing it many
opportunities to fall back down through the cloud and collide and coalesce with other droplets.

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4 Theory Of Condensation
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Thermodynamics
4.3 Microphysics of Warm Clouds
4.4 Microphysics of Cold Clouds

5 Problem Formulation
The equation governing the evolution of the supersaturation can be derived from first principles
using
1. Vapor mass,momentum and energy conservation
2. Equation of states for vapor and dry air with thermodynamics relations.
The supersaturation s is defined as
qv
s= −1 (2)
qvs

Material derivative of the equation(2) can be obtained as follows:

Ds 1 Dqvs qv Dqvs
= − 2 (3)
Dt qv Dt qvs Dt
where qv is the vapor mixing ratio and qvs is its saturated value. Vapor mixing ratio qv , defined
as the mass of water vapor per unit mass of dry air. qv = M Md
v
= ρρvd .
The conservation equation for vapor mixing ratio can be written in material derivative form as
follows:
Dqv
= Dv ∇2 qv − Cd (4)
Dt
where Dv is the thermal diffusivity of water vapor in air and Cd is the condensation rate.
With the help of Clasisus-Clapeyron equation saturation mixing ratio is obtained as function of
thermodynamic quantities such as temperature and pressure. Gibbs function of the system is
constant in phase transition as it is isothermal and isobaric change of phase. But it varies with
temperature and pressure. It can be written as G = u + es α − θφ where u is internal energy, α
is specific volume,φ is etropy.This can be reduced and differentiated to obtain as follows:
dG = αdes − φdθ
As G is constant in both phases(phase1 is liquid,phase2 is gas), this implies
α1 des − φ1 dθ = α2 des − φ2 dθ
. This results as follows:
des φ2 − φ1 L
= =
dθ α2 − α1 θα2
where L is latent heat of vaporization, α2 >> α1 as water vapor behaves as almost ideal gas so
its density is too low compared to its liquid phase and α2 = α. From the equation of state for
water vapor eα = Rv θ This can be further reduced as follows
des Les
= (5)
dθ Rv θ2

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where Rv is the gas constant for water vapor. equation5 is the classical equation called Clasius-
Clapeyron equation.
Vapor mixing ratio is related to vapor pressure by state equation as follows. Vapor mixing ratio
is given by
ρv e e
qv = = = (6)
ρd p−e p
where  is ratio of gas constant of water vapor to that of ambient air and e is very small com-
pared to p so p − e ≈ p

Using equation5 and differentiating equation6 we get the following:

 
Dqvs D es  Des es Dp  des Dθ es Dp
= = − 2 = − 2 (7)
Dt Dt p p Dt p Dt p dθ Dt p Dt
equation7 can be further written by substituting equation5 as follows:
Dqvs Les Dθ es Dp
= − 2 (8)
Dt pRv θ2 Dt p Dt
The temperature θ follows energy conservation:
Dθ g L
= κθ ∇2 θ − ω + Cd (9)
Dt cp cp
where κθ is thermal diffusivity, g is the acceleration due to gravity and cp is specific heat at
constant pressure and ω is the vertical wind velocity component of fluid component. From
hydrostatic equilibrium the pressure p is given by:
∂p pg
= −ρg = − (10)
∂z Rα θ
where Rα is the dry gas constant
equation10 is multiplied by vertical wind velocity component to obtain its material derivative
form
Dp gp
=− ω (11)
Dt Rα θ
Substituting equation11 and equation9 in equation8 we get the following
es L2
 
Dqv s es g es gL es κθ L 2
= − ω + ∇ θ + Cd (12)
Dt pRα pRv θ2 cp pRv θ2 pRv θ2 cp
equation11 is substituted into the original supersaturation equation equation3 to get
∇2 qv Cd s + 1 es g s + 1 es L2
 
Ds es gL s + 1 es κθ L 2
= Dv − + − ω − ∇ θ − Cd (13)
Dt qvs qvs qvs pRα pRv θ2 cp qvs pRv θ2 qvs pRv θ2 cp
For heterogeneous nucleation starts supersaturation s is even less than 0.01. As s << 1 above
equation equation13 can be reduced as:
L2
   
Ds gL g p pDv 2 κθ L 2
= 2
− ω− + 2
Cd + ∇ qv − ∇θ (14)
Dt Rv θ cp Rα θ es Rv cp θ es Rv θ2
Equation14 can be further reduced with constants and assumption as follows:
Ds s
= A1 ω − + κ∇2 s (15)
Dt τs

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where A1 , A2 , A3 are functions of temperature θ given by
gL g
A1 (θ) = 2
− (16)
Rv cp θ Rα θ
Rα θ L2
A2 (θ) = + (17)
es pθcp
−1
ρ w L2

ρω Rv θ
A3 (θ) = + (18)
Dv es κθ Rv θ2

The supersaturation relaxation time is given by

τs (θ) = (4πρω A2 (θ)A3 (θ)ΣRi /V )−1 (19)

The condensation rate is given by

4πρω A3 (θ)
Cd = sΣRi (20)
ρV