Aerosol Impacts on Deep Convective Clouds

Recent modeling studies and inferences from field measurements suggest that aerosols acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) can significantly impact the dynamics and precipitation processes in deep convective clouds. Some of these studies indicate increases in precipitation while others indicate decreases in precipitation. Likewise, several modeling studies have suggested that aerosols acting as CCN can reduce the intensity of tropical cyclones. However, further simulations suggest that this may not always be the case. Interestingly, recent simulations in our group of supercell-generated tornadoes suggest that pollution aerosols impact the likelihood of tornado formation. 

In this talk I will overview the previous work on this topic including research in my group. I will discuss possible sources for discrepancies between the previous studies on aerosol impacts on deep convective clouds including tropical cyclones.