Chapter 4, pages 94-100 : Condensation

The formation of dew, fog, and clouds:

removal of atmospheric water vapor

psychrometric chart
Condensation (or deposition) of excess water vapor produces dew,
frost, clouds or fog
 condensation of excess water vapor



T<Td
  
clouds or dewfall

Saturated  T=Td T>Td

Unsaturated


Pop quiz: When is dew or frost on grass unlikely ?

 at night;
 on a windy, dry day;
 when it is calm;
 when the sky is clear;
Condensation (or deposition) can be manmade as well

9-4-94, 07:10:
STS-59 launch
Contrails

wing tip vortices

Contrails are the result mainly of mixing of two air parcels, a really hot one and an
ice cold one

engine
exhaust

contrail
measured forms
Saturated contrail
dissipates

Unsaturated
cold hot

But most condensation processes on Earth are natural
 Two challenges to rain formation:

1. Water vapor needs to condense on nuclei

2. These droplets need to increase their volume a million-fold, to become a rain drop.
 Condensation Nuclei

Nucleation is the condensation, freezing, or deposition of water vapor in free air

(air not in contact with the surface). Almost all nucleation occurs on aerosol
(heterogeneous nucleation).
This aerosol (condensation nuclei) provide appropriate substrates for droplets
to form.

Size, m # density, cm-3

 Giant nuclei 1 - 10 1 - 10
 Large nuclei 0.1 - 1.0 1 - 103
 Aitken nuclei 0.01 - 0.1 103 - 106

Because the small nuclei have such little mass, they are able to remain
suspended in the atmosphere for many days.
Condensation Nuclei: Sources

 breaking waves and air bubbles inject salt particles and dimethylsulfide
aerosols into the air;

 biomass burning and volcanoes;

 anthropogenic industrial sources;

Dust storm over the Mediterranean

25 Aug 2000, seen by TOMS on SEAWIFS (dust concentration estimated on right)

global winds transport ~200 tonnes of aerosol /y

 Condensation nuclei: Hygroscopic particles

Salt crystal

Hygroscopic particle: water vapor can

condense on the surface when the relative
humidity is «100%.
Condensation nuclei distribution:
1. there are plenty of CCN
2. therefore condensation occurs at a RH of 100%
3. there are more CCN over continents, so continental
clouds tend to have more, but smaller droplets.

Aitken particle concentrations

 cloud droplet
formation: the
curvature effect

the saturation vapor

pressure is higher around
a smaller droplet

this is because of
cohesion forces: the
surface tension is trying
to squish the droplet
 cloud droplet formation: the solute effect

the saturation vapor pressure over

a salty droplet is reduced Kohler curve

this is because salt is hygroscopic the combined solute and

curvature effects imply that the
ambient RH needs to exceed
100% just slightly, for an
embryonic drop to grow.
Frost: deposition of water vapor

cause: nocturnal radiational cooling

(remember the energy budget on clear nights)

 Frost can also be due to
the advection of supercooled clouds
 Ice nuclei
 Ice nuclei are less abundant, and more become active at lower temperatures

 Droplets can remain liquid (“supercooled”) even below freezing.

Three types of ice nuclei

 freezing nuclei: droplets freeze when a nucleus becomes active

 contact nuclei: droplets freeze upon contact

 deposition nuclei: water vapor deposits directly as ice

Fog: clouds near the ground

Fog is defined as visibility to <1 km

a day of widespread fog
east of the Rockies
Fog climatology
 Fog or cloud formation
 Supersaturation may result from any of 3 processes:
– A. air being cooled to  saturation point
– B. evaporation of water vapor
– C. mixing of warm air with cold air.

C
discussion
 Think of situations in which any of these three processes causes fog
– Land & sea …
– Day & night…
Fog by cooling: Radiation fog
 Radiation fog (“ground fog”)
 clear night sky, light winds, and an air mass that is relatively humid.

 ground fog is often confined to valleys: why ?

 the layer can grow vertically (radiational cooling from the top of the fog).
Advection fog
 Radiation & advection fog

Wintertime radiation fog in summertime advection fog along California’s coast.

California’s Central Valley
Advection fog is persistent in some areas

Welwitschia mirabilis is entirely

dependent on the Namib Desert’s
advection fog.
upslope fog
 Upslope fog
 ascent: adiabatic cooling.

 up to ‘lifting condensation level’.

 any further ascent of this saturated air produces fog.

steam fog
 Remember droplet formation mechanisms
 Fog/cloud is formed by:
– A. air being cooled to  saturation point
– B. evaporation of water vapor
– C. mixing of warm air with cold air.

steam fog is really the result of

mixing of two types of air A

C
 steam fog
 Forms when cold air drifts over a warmer body of water.

 The lower layers of air has been modified through contact with the warmer
water, and become both more humid (evaporation) and warmer than the air
above (unstable).

 The consequent mixing of mild, humid air with cold, dry air brings the air to
saturation, and fog forms.
Pop quiz: The most common type of fog, radiation fog, usually disappears during the day
because:

 A: the cloud droplets absorb solar radiation; they then warm, resulting in a higher
saturation vapor pressure around the droplets, higher than the vapor pressure in
the ambient air; the differential leads to evaporation;

 B: a little sunshine trickles thru the fog; that warms the ground, which in turn warms
the air; the air then can hold more water vapor, so the cloud droplets are happy to
evaporate;

 C: the wind picks up during the day and advects the fog up; often the fog can be
seen later in the afternoon, reshaped into a cumulus cloud

 D: the solar radiation is reflected by the fog, keeping the ground cold, and causing
the fog droplets to fall out as dew.
How clouds form
 What are clouds?

 Rising air is the key process in the production of clouds: Rising air expands and cools.

 Humidity increases until it reaches 100%. When this occurs, condensation occurs

 Cloud droplets form on condensation nuclei (CCN).

 Droplets may grow both by further condensation and by collision/coalescence  rain

We discussed 4 mechanisms responsible for updrafts, and hence precipitation:

convection orographic

spontaneous buoyant

Low-level convergence, OR
divergence aloft, near jet stream frontal
 Lifting condensation level
 Definition : level at which an air parcel becomes saturated when lifted
(cooled adiabatically)
Calculating the Height of Cu Bases
 You can use the following formulas to calculate the height (H) of a
cumulus cloud base given surface temperature (T) and dew point
temperature (Td).

 H (meters) = 125×(T– Td ) in ºC
 H (feet) = 222×(T – Td ) in ºF
Graphical cloud height estimation (aerological diagram)

Measured
parameters:
p = 800 mb
(Laramie);
T = 10ºC;
Td = 0ºC
Imagine drier air (Td = -5ºC)

higher
cloud base

x
Imagine more humid air (Td = +5ºC)

lower
cloud base
x
Pop quiz: Cloud droplets form … when the air is saturated, and ice
crystals form … when the air cools to …
 A: in the air … in the air … the freezing point;

 B: on cloud condensation nuclei … on ice nuclei … 32 °F;

 C: on cloud condensation nuclei … on ice nuclei … some

temperature below 32 °F;

 D: on cloud condensation nuclei … on ice nuclei … -40 °F

On to: cloud classification

 Ackerman p. 101- 110