Cloud-clear air interfacial mixing: Anisotropy of turbulence generated by evaporation of liquid water. Laboratory observations and numerical modelling

Small scale mixing of cloud with unsaturated environment is investigated in numerical simulations (spatial resolution of 2.5mm) and in laboratory cloud chamber experiments by means of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) with spatial resolution of 0.07mm. Despite substantial differences in physical conditions and various spatial resolutions (resolving well the dissipation scale in the laboratory and applying grid length larger than the Kolmogorov scale in the simulation), results of both investigations indicate that small-scale turbulence in such conditions is highly anisotropic with the preferred direction in the vertical. Buoyancy forces resulting from evaporation of cloud droplets substantially influence smallest scales of turbulence. The vertical direction, in which buoyancy force acts, is preferred. Typically, <(u′) ²> is about two times smaller than <(w′)²>. The probability distribution functions of w′ are wider than those of u′. It is still uncertain to what extent these results apply to real clouds. In situ measurements of turbulent velocity fluctuations from various types of clouds are necessary to validate common assumptions of small-scale cloud isotropy.