Numerical simulations of the three-dimensional distribution of polar mesospheric clouds and comparisons with Cloud Imaging and Particle Size (CIPS) experiment and the Solar Occultation For Ice Experiment (SOFIE) observations

We use a three-dimensional chemistry-climate model based on the Whole-Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) with sectional microphysics from the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres (CARMA) to study the distribution and characteristics of PMCs formed by heterogeneous nucleation of water vapor onto meteoric smoke particles.

We find good agreement between these simulations and cloud properties for the Northern Hemisphere in 2007 retrieved from the Solar Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE) and the Cloud Imaging and Particle Size (CIPS) experiment from the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission. The main discrepancy is that simulated ice number densities are less than those retrieved by SOFIE. This discrepancy may indicate an underprediction of nucleation rates in the model, the lack of small-scale gravity waves in the model, or a bias in the SOFIE results.