Requirements for low density riming and two stage growth on atmospheric particles

A theoretical study is carried out of the conditions that can be expected to determine low density riming on atmospheric ice particles. Using a growth simulation model, critical liquid water contents Lwc and air temperatures Ta are calculated, which correspond to a density ρ=0.5 g/cm3 for rime deposit on ice particles with radii varying from 1 to 10 mm. Their dependence on the used laws for the ice density as a function of Macklinʹs parameter and for the drag coefficient as a function of Reynolds number, is discussed. The evolution of the density and related parameters for free falling particles growing by accretion from initial values of the radius R and density ρ is studied in different environmental conditions. It is shown that the temperature of the deposit Ts increases with R, up to the transition to wet growth, represented by Ts=0°C. Only for Lwc≥2 g/m3 the transition from low density ice to wet growth is found to occur rapidly, at a distance from the center R≤1 cm. This distance is considered to represent the maximum radius of regions where two-stage growth, due to water penetration and freezing into pores of low-density layers, can be responsible for rapid variations of the particle density and consequently of its free-fall speed, which would characterize the effect of hail growth via microphysical recycling.