Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-of-atmospheres-and-oceans-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/4/e/solution
Past exam of the physics of atmospheres and oceans course of the University of Oxford 2019 4 e Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
A broad initial cloud-droplet size distribution can be seeded by giant or unusually soluble cloud condensation nuclei, producing a minority of larger droplets before gravitational collection becomes efficient. Variable supersaturation histories, entrainment and mixing can broaden the distribution relative to a perfectly homogeneous monodisperse model. Turbulent relative motion and preferential concentration can increase encounters, and rare successful collisions can create unusually rapid stochastic collectors. These mechanisms can work together; a single deterministic condensational law applied equally to identical droplets cannot create the initial differential fall speeds by itself. For warm rain, the subsequent amplification is liquid collision-coalescence, distinct from ice-phase precipitation mechanisms.
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