Simulated Liquid Water and Visibility in Stratiform Boundary-Layer Clouds over Sloping Terrain

Abstract

The amount of liquid water in stratus clouds or fog is discussed from the point of view of estimating visibility variations in areas with complex terrain. The average vertical profile of liquid water from numerical simulations with a higher-order closure mesoscale model is examined, and runs with the model for moderately complex terrain are utilized to estimate the of low-level liquid water content variability and thus, indirectly, the variations in horizontal visibility along a slope.