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), accumulation mode and Aitken mode number concentrations, cloud drop number concentration (CDNC), and selected ancillary measurements are presented for the three large, semi-permanent marine stratocumulus decks of the earth (in the Pacific offshore of California and Chile and in the Atlantic offshore of Namibia). Based on these data, a simple linear relationship between CDNC and the accumulation mode number concentration (AMNC) is derived via regression. The slope of the regression is 0.72 ± 0.04 with an R2 of 0.90, higher than those found for CDNC-CCN linear regressions. Explanations of the relatively favorable CDNC-AMNC relationship and its utility for climate studies are discussed.