Abstract:A spectral cloud microphysics and dynamics model is used to investigate the effect of dust aerosols on the formation and growth of ice particles and precipitation in convective clouds under different atmospheric environmental background conditions.The results obtained from sensitivity tests show that the increasing concentration of background aerosol particles leads to a lower rainfall rate from the ice-phase processes.The results also indicate that only in the clouds developed in continental airmasses and/or under polluted atmospheric conditions, dust particles containing certain fractions of water-soluble substances can increase the concentrations of giant CCN, lead to earlier development of ice-phase precipitation particles, and therefore, promote the formation of precipitation.On the other hand, when insoluble dust aerosols, as effective IN, are involved in the cloud processes, the increase in atmospheric IN resulted from dust particles may inhibit the development of ice-phase precipitation particles, and partially offset the positive effect of GCCN.