A simple relationship between cloud drop number concentration and precursor aerosol concentration for the regions of Earth's large marine stratocumulus decks
Aircraft-based measurements of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN),\naccumulation mode and Aitken mode number concentrations, cloud drop\nnumber concentration (CDNC), and selected ancillary measurements are\npresented for the three large, semi-permanent marine stratocumulus decks\nof the earth (in the Pacific offshore of California and Chile and in the\nAtlantic offshore of Namibia). Based on these data, a simple linear\nrelationship between CDNC and the accumulation mode number concentration\n(AMNC) is derived via regression. The slope of the regression is 0.72\n+/- 0.04 with an R-2 of 0.90, higher than those found for CDNC-CCN\nlinear regressions. Explanations of the relatively favorable CDNC-AMNC\nrelationship and its utility for climate studies are discussed.