Modulations of aerosol impacts on cloud microphysics induced by the warm Kuroshio Current under the East Asian winter monsoon

Abstract

Abstract In our previous aircraft observations, the possible influence of high sea surface temperature (SST) along the Kuroshio Current on aerosol‐cloud interactions over the western North Pacific was revealed. The cloud droplet number concentration ( N c ) was found to increase with decreasing near‐surface static stability (NSS), which was evaluated locally as the difference between the SST and surface air temperature (SAT). To explore the spatial and temporal extent to which this warm SST influence can be operative, the present study analyzed N c values estimated from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite measurements. The comparison of the local N c values between the high and low SST − SAT days revealed a marked increase in N c (up to a factor of 1.8) along the Kuroshio Current in the southern East China Sea, where particularly high SST − SAT values (up to 8 K) were observed in winter under monsoonal cold air outflows from the Asian Continent. This cold airflow destabilizes the atmospheric boundary layer, which leads to enhanced updraft velocities within the well‐developed mixed layer and thus greater N c . The monsoonal northwesterlies also bring a large amount of anthropogenic aerosols from the Asian continent that increase N c in the first place. These results suggest that the same modulations of cloud microphysics can occur over other warm western boundary currents, including the Gulf Stream, under polluted cool continental airflows. Possibilities of influencing the cloud liquid water path are also discussed.