AIRCRAFT INVESTIGATIONS OF AN ARCTIC STRATUS CLOUD

R. P. Lawson and A. A. Sin'kevich

Results of aircraft investigations of the microphysical properties of an Arctic stratus (St) cloud are presented. Data were collected over the Beaufort Sea using the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR, USA) C-130 research aircraft. One of the modern sets of instruments was used to study the microphysical cloud structure. It was found that the liquid water content profile from cloud base up to the middle of the cloud is in approximately good agreement with the adiabatic value. Active mixing is observed near cloud top due to dry air penetration from aloft. There is a large degree of variability in the drop spectra and derived microphysical parameters. A gamma equation was solved to obtain cloud drop spectra parameters, which can be used in numerical models.