Title
Towards quantifying droplet clustering in clouds
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-29-2006
Abstract
Droplet positions in atmospheric clouds are random but possibly correlated on some scales. This ‘clustering’ must be quantified in order to account for it in theories of cloud evolution and radiative transfer. Tools as varied as droplet concentration power spectrum, Fishing test, and fractal correlation analysis have been used to describe the small‐scale nature of clouds, and it has been difficult to compare conclusions systematically. Here we show, by using the correlation‐fluctuation theorem and the Wiener–Khinchin theorem, that all of these measures can be related to the pair‐correlation function. It is argued that the pair‐correlation function is ideal for quantifying droplet clustering because it contains no scale memory and because of its quantitative link to the Poisson process.
Publication Title
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
Recommended Citation
Shaw, R.,
Kostinski, A.,
&
Larsen, M. L.
(2006).
Towards quantifying droplet clustering in clouds.
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society,
128(582), 1043-1057.
http://doi.org/10.1256/003590002320373193
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/physics-fp/234
Publisher's Statement
Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1256/003590002320373193