Recent results have shown that there is an acceleration in the spread of the size distribution of droplet populations in the region bordering the cloud and undersaturated ambient. We have analyzed the supersaturation balance in this region, which is typically a highly intermittent shearless turbulent mixing layer, under a condition where there is no mean updraft. We have investigated the evolution of the cloud–clear air interface and of the droplets therein via direct numerical simulations. We have compared horizontal averages of the phase relaxation, evaporation, reaction, and condensation times within the cloud–clear air interface for the size distributions of the initial monodispersed and polydisperse droplets. For the monodisperse population, a clustering of the values of the reaction, phase, and evaporation times, that is around 20–30 s, is observed in the central area of the mixing layer, just before the location where the maximum value of the supersaturation turbulent flux occurs. This clustering of values is similar for the polydisperse population but also includes the condensation time. The mismatch between the time derivative of the supersaturation and the condensation term in the interfacial mixing layer is correlated with the planar covariance of the horizontal longitudinal velocity derivatives of the carrier air flow and the supersaturation field, thus suggesting that a quasi-linear relationship may exist between these quantities.
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June 2022
Research Article|
June 02 2022
Microphysical timescales and local supersaturation balance at a warm cloud top boundary
Ludovico Fossà;
Ludovico Fossà
a)
Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino
, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
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Shahbozbek Abdunabiev
;
Shahbozbek Abdunabiev
Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino
, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
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Mina Golshan
;
Mina Golshan
Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino
, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
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Daniela Tordella
Daniela Tordella
b)
Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino
, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
b)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: daniela.tordella@polito.it
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a)
Present address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Sheffield, S1 3JD Sheffield, United Kingdom.
b)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: daniela.tordella@polito.it
Physics of Fluids 34, 067103 (2022)
Article history
Received:
March 08 2022
Accepted:
May 06 2022
Citation
Ludovico Fossà, Shahbozbek Abdunabiev, Mina Golshan, Daniela Tordella; Microphysical timescales and local supersaturation balance at a warm cloud top boundary. Physics of Fluids 1 June 2022; 34 (6): 067103. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0090664
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