From Cloud Turbulence to Aerosol-Cloud-Climate Interactions

The turbulent mixing of clouds with their environment decreases cloud amount, and hence the ability of clouds to reflect solar radiation. Because the mixing increases with the droplet and hence aerosol concentration, this interaction is known to affect the role of clouds in the climate system, although its magnitude is hard to constrain. In this talk, I will review several mechanisms by which the droplet concentration affects the turbulent mixing of clouds and their environment, and discuss some associated problems. Ultimately, I will use ensembles of large-eddy simulations to derive a heuristic model by which the effect of aerosol-mediated mixing on clouds can be assessed.