Marine cloud brightening of cumulus clouds: from the sprayer to the cloud

[Geoengineering News]

https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/26/9443/2026/

Authors: Johannes Kainz, Daniel P. Harrison, and Fabian Hoffmann

06 July 2026

Abstract

Marine cloud brightening (MCB) is a suggested solar radiation management approach to mitigate global warming by increasing the reflectance of clouds through the emission of additional aerosols. While stratocumulus are considered the preferred target for MCB, the present study investigates trade-wind cumulus clouds, which may be the dominant cloud type for certain regional MCB deployments. In this study, high-resolution large-eddy simulations with detailed Lagrangian cloud microphysics are used to assess the role of different aerosol sprayer heights on the efficacy of MCB. The study indicates that near-surface sprayers are the optimal placement, as they facilitate the most efficient dispersion of aerosol within the boundary layer, which increases the fraction of clouds affected by the sprayed aerosols, as well as the transport of the sprayed aerosols into the developing clouds, resulting in a higher number of cloud droplets developing from the sprayed aerosols.

Source: EGU