Hail suppression effectiveness for varying solubility of natural aerosols in water

Abstract

This sensitivity study examined the impact of natural aerosol on the results obtained by numerical cloud seeding experiments focused on hail suppression on the ground. A main concern was investigating the effects of the solubility of the natural aerosol on unseeded and seeded cloud simulations. A numerical model with a two-moment bulk microphysical scheme was used for this purpose. The numerical model calculated the mass and number concentrations of the following seven microphysical categories: cloud water, rain, cloud ice, snow, graupel, frozen raindrops and hail. The solubility values of the natural aerosol in water were varied, and the rain and hail production in clouds and the corresponding surface precipitation were analysed in unseeded and seeded cases. The effectiveness of hail suppression on the ground is reduced in atmospheric environments with natural aerosols that are less soluble in water. A low solubility of natural aerosol in water can result in overseeding. The sensitivity study showed that environments with predominantly soluble aerosol particles (such as sodium chloride) were suitable for hail suppression with a simultaneous increase in surface rain.