Highly localized droplet clustering in shallow cumulus clouds
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Physics, University of Göttingen
- 2Laboratory for Fluid Physics, Pattern Formation and Biocomplexity, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
- 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Charleston
- 4Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University
- 5Department of Physics, Cornell University
Abstract
The size and spatial clustering of water droplets in warm clouds influence cloud evolution and radiation properties and thus are of fundamental importance for the Earth's energy balance and water cycle. Some proposed mechanisms for droplet growth and precipitation initiation in warm clouds require strong droplet clustering. Resolving such clustering on sub-cm scales remains a challenge. The most detailed observations, collected from aircraft, showed weak mm-scale droplet clustering averaged over kilometer scales in stratocumulus clouds. Here we present spatially resolved in-situ holographic measurements from a tethered aerostat, demonstrating that clustering in shallow cumulus clouds is significantly stronger and far more localized than previously thought. These findings challenge current cloud microphysics frameworks, with implications for precipitation initiation and cloud modeling.
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BibTeX
@article{thiede2026highly,
title = {{Highly localized droplet clustering in shallow cumulus clouds}},
author = {Birte Thiede and Michael L. Larsen and Freja Nordsiek and Oliver Schlenczek and Yewon Kim and Eberhard Bodenschatz and Gholamhossein Bagheri},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2602976123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2602976123},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Highly localized droplet clustering in shallow cumulus clouds
AU - Birte Thiede
AU - Michael L. Larsen
AU - Freja Nordsiek
AU - Oliver Schlenczek
AU - Yewon Kim
AU - Eberhard Bodenschatz
AU - Gholamhossein Bagheri
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/04
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2602976123
UR - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2602976123
AB - The size and spatial clustering of water droplets in warm clouds influence cloud evolution and radiation properties and thus are of fundamental importance for the Earth's energy balance and water cycle. Some proposed mechanisms for droplet growth and precipitation initiation in warm clouds require strong droplet clustering. Resolving such clustering on sub-cm scales remains a challenge. The most detailed observations, collected from aircraft, showed weak mm-scale droplet clustering averaged over kilometer scales in stratocumulus clouds. Here we present spatially resolved in-situ holographic measurements from a tethered aerostat, demonstrating that clustering in shallow cumulus clouds is significantly stronger and far more localized than previously thought. These findings challenge current cloud microphysics frameworks, with implications for precipitation initiation and cloud modeling.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -