Large discrepancies in dominant microphysical processes governing mixed-phase clouds across climate models
Journal article, 2026
The balance between liquid and ice in clouds remains a major challenge in climate modeling, largely due to uncertainties in ice-related processes. We investigate the relative importance of four microphysical processes-primary ice nucleation (PIN), secondary ice production (SIP), sedimentation, and transport of ice crystals-for the supercooled liquid fraction (SLF) in mixed-phase clouds using three global climate models: EC-Earth3-AerChem, NorESM2-MM, and ECHAM6.3-HAM2.3. All models identify PIN as the dominant influence on SLF at cold temperatures in high northern latitudes, but diverge elsewhere and for higher temperatures. Implementing a unified SIP parameterization produced varied model responses, revealing fundamental differences in how microphysical processes interact within each model framework. These discrepancies suggest that each model prioritizes different processes in shaping the cloud phase. Such divergence may limit the reliability of conclusions regarding microphysical processes drawn from any single model.
Author
Hannah Frostenberg
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Montserrat Costa-Suros
Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)
Paraskevi Georgakaki
Leipzig University
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)
Ulrike Proske
Wageningen University and Research
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH)
Georgia Sotiropoulou
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)
Eleanor May
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Geoscience and Remote Sensing
David Neubauer
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH)
GeoSphere Austria
Patrick Eriksson
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Maria Goncalves Ageitos
Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)
Polytechnic University of Catalonia
Athanasios Nenes
Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)
Carlos Perez Garcia-Pando
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies
Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)
Oyvind Seland
Norwegian Meteorological Institute
Luisa Ickes
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Geoscience and Remote Sensing
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
23973722 (eISSN)
Vol. 9 1 75Gender Initiative for Excellence (Genie)
The Chalmers University Foundation, 2019-01-01 -- 2028-12-31.
ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system (MERGE)
Lund University (9945095), 2010-01-01 -- .
Advanced applications of Ice Cloud Imager data
Swedish National Space Board (2021-00077), 2022-01-01 -- 2025-12-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Physical Geography
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
DOI
10.1038/s41612-026-01342-7
Related datasets
Model and satellite observational data to analyze microphysical processes in mixed-phase clouds [dataset]
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17266270