Simulating Cloud-Aerosol-Turbulence Interactions in the Laboratory: Large-Eddy Simulations, Direct Numerical Simulations, and Machine Learning
1:00 – 2:00 pm MDT
Aaron Wang
Dr. Aaron Wang received his Ph.D. from the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania State University, where he investigated the influence of near-surface turbulence on tornadoes. He is now an Earth Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. His work ranges from cloud–aerosol–turbulence interactions to studies of the atmospheric boundary layer and wind energy. He is broadly interested in turbulence and its impacts, and his tools include large-eddy simulations, direct numerical simulations, and machine learning.
Cloud–aerosol–turbulence interactions have been studied in the laboratory using convection cloud chambers, such as the Pi Chamber at Michigan Tech University, which generates a turbulent cloud through mixing driven by a moist, warm bottom and a moist, cold top. However, the Pi Chamber is too small to explore the influence of turbulence on droplet collision–coalescence, a key step in the transition from cloud to drizzle. As a result, the Large-Scale Aerosol–Cloud–Drizzle–Convection Chamber (ACDC2) project has been underway since 2021 to conceptualize a new cloud chamber for studying collision–coalescence. To design such a chamber, numerical simulations allow us to reproduce, interpret, and extend the experiments conducted in the cloud chamber. In this talk, I will introduce how these approaches are used to improve our understanding of the Pi Chamber experiments, how they are utilized in designing a new chamber, and the challenges associated with these approaches. Ongoing work to continue the ACDC2 project will also be introduced.