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<br />APRIL 1995 <br /> <br />MEYERS ET AL. <br /> <br />835 <br /> <br />program. A common scheme (e.g., Plooster and Fukuta <br />1975) has been to use the laboratory-measured ice nu- <br />cleus effectiveness spectra (ice 'crystals per gram re- <br />leased), if available, to specify the number of ice crystals <br />formed, with no regard to mechanism or a consider- <br />ation of the potential time required for nucleation. This <br />represents the simplest scheme for use in mesoscale <br />models. Other researchers have sought to increase the <br />complexity of implementing ice initiation. Young <br />( 1974b) included two mechanisms, deposition and <br />contact nucleation (via Brownian and phoretic trans- <br />port processes), in a detailed microphysical cloud <br />model. Only contact-freezing nucleation was used in <br />published nonspecific seeding simulations (Young <br />1974a), and the nucleus activity spectrum employed <br />was not representative of most that have been measured <br />for field generators. Hsie et al. ( 1980) simulated both <br />contact-freezing and deposition nucleation in a study <br />of seeding effects in continental cumulus clouds using <br />a 20 time-dependent model. The nucleation mecha- <br />nisms were applied to the laboratory measured effec- <br />tiveness spectra of a nucleus for which the ice formation <br />mechanisms were not known. The relative contribution <br />to ice crystal formation by each mechanism was based <br />on the theoretical work of Cooper ( 1974), which has <br />not been directly verified. None of the above-men- <br />tioned models explicitly included condensation-freez- <br />ing nucleation. <br />The nature of ice-nucleation mechanisms, rates, and <br />activities can directly and indirectly influence the na- <br />ture of numerical cloud model predictions of seeding <br />effects. Orville et al. ( 1984) found unexpected dynamic <br />effects in AgI seeding simulations of stratus clouds. This <br />clearly related to the presumed nucleation activity and <br />rates of ice crystal formation (instantaneous). Orville <br />et al. noted the potential inadequacy of the nucleation <br />scheme employed and its importance in the realization <br />of quantitative results. Blumenstein et al. ( 1987) de- <br />veloped time- and temperature-dependent empirical <br />expressions from experimental data obtained in the <br />CSU isothermal cloud chamber and applied these in <br />Rauber's ( 1981 ) 20 orographic cloud model. Her lab- <br />oratory study demonstrated a slow ( up to 100 min for <br />completion) condensation-freezing nucleation process <br />by AgI-Nal aerosols at near water saturation and a fast <br />(within seconds) process when unspecified water su- <br />persaturations were induced. Also, nucleation activity <br />increased in the supersaturated case. Assumptions of <br />either the slow or fast nucleation process in Blumen- <br />stein's simulations yielded large differences in the <br />amount and targeting of seeded snowfall. Lacking from <br />this study was a more detailed knowledge of the exact <br />response of the aerosols to differing magnitudes of su- <br />persaturation. <br />The numerical study presented in this paper takes <br />advantage of the recent laboratory study ofa particular <br />ice nucleus aerosol that was used in a well-documented <br />cloud seeding case study. It was sought to implement <br /> <br />the high level of detail of ice nucleus response to varied <br />temperature, humidity, and cloud conditions obtained <br />in the laboratory study into mesoscale simulations. The <br />goal was to have the capability to predict both the pre- <br />cipitation effects and observable cloud microphysical <br />effects of seeding for comparison to observations. <br /> <br />b. Case study <br /> <br />The case selected for the modeling study was the 18 <br />December 1986 SCPP case study that has been ex- <br />amined by Deshler et al. (1990). The day was char- <br />acterized by a weak split-front, where the upper-level <br />cold surge crossed Sheridan, California, (located at the <br />base of the Sierra foothills) at 1500 UTC preceding a <br />surface cold front that crossed Sheridan between 1800 <br />and 2100 UTe. This environment has been noted to <br />be favorable for the local production of supercooled <br />liquid water (SLW) (Reynolds and Kuciauskas 1988), <br />and consequently, three experiments were conducted <br />between 1800 and 2000 UTe. Seeding was conducted <br />in the SLW region at approximately -60C in three 37- <br />km seedlines. Most of the natural precipitation was <br />orographically produced with peak precipitation rates <br />observed at Kingvale, California, to be 1-1.5 mm h -1. <br />Deshler et al. (1990) inferred a precipitation seeding <br />signature of 0.1-0.5 mm. <br />A range of hydrometeor species were observed dur- <br />ing this case study including pristine ice crystals, rimed <br />particles, aggregate snowfall, and rain. Figure 1, based <br />on results reported by Deshler et al. (1990), depicts <br />an idealized x-z section of the measured distribution <br />of ice and liquid water species at 1730 UTC (before <br />seeding). Large aggregates were observed over a wide <br />region west of the Sierra crest at temperatures warmer <br />than -lOoe. Rimed crystals and graupel were noted <br />in more localized regions further up the barrier at this <br />time. Pristine ice crystals predominated at higher al- <br />titudes and directly over the mountain crest. Pristine <br />ice crystal concentrations were observed to be less than <br />10 L -] (mean values), with maximum values as high <br />as 20-.30 L -I during natural conditions. Ice crystal <br />concentrations over 100 L -1 (peak values) were ob- <br />served in the seeded cloud. <br />The ice nucleus aerosols used for seeding were AgI- <br />AgCl aerosols produced by combustion of acetone- <br />based solutions of AgI (silver iodide), NH41 (ammo- <br />nium iodide), and NH4Cl04 (ammonium perchlo- <br />rate). The generation of AgI-AgCl aerosols in this <br />manner has been described by DeMott et al. ( 1983), <br />who noted optimization of ice nucleation efficiency <br />when NH4Cl04 was used at the 30 mol % level with <br />respect to AgI. Except for the use of 3% AgI by weight <br />instead of 2%, the solutions burned in SCPP aircraft- <br />mounted generators during this case study were the <br />same ones used by DeMott et al. ( 1983) and DeMott <br />( 1994) in laboratory studies. Potential differences in <br />particle size distributions (PSDs) generated at th lab- <br />