Variability of monsoon intracloud and intercloud microphysics over the Indian subcontinent

Intracloud/intercloud variability of microphysical quantities during different monsoon conditions has been studied for the first time over India using in situ observations of cloud microphysics collected during the Cloud‐Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment 2009. The observations for two inland locations (Hyderabad and Bareilly) for different phases of monsoon (preonset, onset, break, and active) have been used to investigate the entrainment and mixing processes which are defined with adiabatic fraction (ADFR) 1000 cm−3) smaller droplets (re ≤ 6 µm) and a low value of factor k (0.678 ± 0.064). The clouds had similar characteristics ( ~ 0.4 having lesser ( ~ 300 cm−3) droplets with re > 8 µm) over both stations during onset/active monsoon conditions. The investigation of the variability of intracloud and intercloud microphysics revealed positive correlation between factor k and N and no detectable correlation between factor k and N, respectively, and are sensitive to ADFR. Key Points Intracloud/intercloud microphysics variability over the Indian subcontinent from CAIPEEX Entrainment‐mixing processes in clouds during different phases of monsoon Control of intracloud/intercloud microphysics by aerosol‐cloud interactions