scholarly journals Response of Tropical Deep Convection to Localized Heating Perturbations: Implications for Aerosol-Induced Convective Invigoration

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (11) ◽  
pp. 3533-3555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh Morrison ◽  
Wojciech W. Grabowski
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Surface Precipitation ◽  
Tropical Warm Pool ◽  
Adjustment Time ◽  
Localized Heating ◽  
Tropical Deep Convection ◽  
Convective Adjustment

Abstract A cloud-system-resolving model is used to investigate the effects of localized heating/cooling perturbations on tropical deep convection, in the context of the aerosol “invigoration effect.” This effect supposes that a reduction of droplet collision–coalescence in polluted conditions leads to lofting of cloud water in convective updrafts and enhanced freezing, latent heating, and buoyancy. To specifically isolate and test this mechanism, heating perturbations were applied to updrafts with corresponding cooling applied in downdrafts. Ensemble simulations were run with either perturbed or unperturbed conditions and large-scale forcing from a 7.5-day period of active monsoon conditions during the 2006 Tropical Warm Pool–International Cloud Experiment. In the perturbed simulations there was an initial invigoration of convective updrafts and surface precipitation, but convection returned to its unperturbed state after about 24 h because of feedback with the larger-scale environment. This feedback led to an increase in the horizontally averaged mid-/upper-tropospheric temperature of about 1 K relative to unperturbed simulations. When perturbed conditions were applied to only part of the domain, gravity waves rapidly dispersed buoyancy anomalies in the perturbed region to the rest of the domain, allowing convective invigoration from the heating perturbations to be sustained over the entire simulation period. This was associated with a mean mesoscale circulation consisting of ascent (descent) at mid-/upper levels in the perturbed (unperturbed) region. In contrast to recent studies, it is concluded that the invigoration effect is intimately coupled with larger-scale dynamics through a two-way feedback, and in the absence of alterations in the larger-scale circulation there is limited invigoration beyond the convective adjustment time scale.

Effect of Surface Fluxes versus Radiative Heating on Tropical Deep Convection

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 3378-3388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usama Anber ◽  
Shuguang Wang ◽  
Adam Sobel
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Multiple Equilibria ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Surface Fluxes ◽  
Radiative Heating ◽  
Net Energy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Tropical Deep Convection ◽  
Gross Moist Stability

Abstract The effects of turbulent surface fluxes and radiative heating on tropical deep convection are compared in a series of idealized cloud-system-resolving simulations with parameterized large-scale dynamics. Two methods of parameterizing the large-scale dynamics are used: the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation and the damped gravity wave (DGW) method. Both surface fluxes and radiative heating are specified, with radiative heating taken as constant in the vertical in the troposphere. All simulations are run to statistical equilibrium. In the precipitating equilibria, which result from sufficiently moist initial conditions, an increment in surface fluxes produces more precipitation than an equal increment of column-integrated radiative heating. This is straightforwardly understood in terms of the column-integrated moist static energy budget with constant normalized gross moist stability. Under both large-scale parameterizations, the gross moist stability does in fact remain close to constant over a wide range of forcings, and the small variations that occur are similar for equal increments of surface flux and radiative heating. With completely dry initial conditions, the WTG simulations exhibit hysteresis, maintaining a dry state with no precipitation for a wide range of net energy inputs to the atmospheric column. The same boundary conditions and forcings admit a rainy state also (for moist initial conditions), and thus multiple equilibria exist under WTG. When the net forcing (surface fluxes minus radiative heating) is increased enough that simulations that begin dry eventually develop precipitation, the dry state persists longer after initialization when the surface fluxes are increased than when radiative heating is increased. The DGW method, however, shows no multiple equilibria in any of the simulations.

scholarly journals More on the Scale Dependence of the Predictability of Precipitation Patterns: Extension to the 2009–13 CAPS Spring Experiment Ensemble Forecasts

2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (9) ◽  
pp. 3625-3646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madalina Surcel ◽  
Isztar Zawadzki ◽  
M. K. Yau ◽  
Ming Xue ◽  
Fanyou Kong
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Forecast Error ◽  
Quasi Equilibrium ◽  
Relative Role ◽  
Ensemble Forecasts ◽  
Adjustment Time ◽  
Convective Adjustment ◽  
Microphysical Parameterization ◽  
Microphysical Parameterization Scheme

This paper analyzes the scale and case dependence of the predictability of precipitation in the Storm-Scale Ensemble Forecast (SSEF) system run by the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms (CAPS) during the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed Spring Experiments of 2008–13. The effect of different types of ensemble perturbation methodologies is quantified as a function of spatial scale. It is found that uncertainties in the large-scale initial and boundary conditions and in the model microphysical parameterization scheme can result in the loss of predictability at scales smaller than 200 km after 24 h. Also, these uncertainties account for most of the forecast error. Other types of ensemble perturbation methodologies were not found to be as important for the quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs). The case dependences of predictability and of the sensitivity to the ensemble perturbation methodology were also analyzed. Events were characterized in terms of the extent of the precipitation coverage and of the convective-adjustment time scale [Formula: see text], an indicator of whether convection is in equilibrium with the large-scale forcing. It was found that events characterized by widespread precipitation and small [Formula: see text] values (representative of quasi-equilibrium convection) were usually more predictable than nonequilibrium cases. No significant statistical relationship was found between the relative role of different perturbation methodologies and precipitation coverage or [Formula: see text].

scholarly journals Convective self–aggregation in a mean flow

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyunju Jung ◽  
Ann Kristin Naumann ◽  
Bjorn Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Surface Flux ◽  
Horizontal Wind ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Tropical Deep Convection ◽  
Large Scale Flow ◽  
Self Aggregation

Abstract. Convective self-aggregation is an atmospheric phenomenon found in numerical simulations in a radiative convective equilibrium framework of which configuration captures the main characteristics of the real-world convection in the deep tropics. As tropical deep convection is typically embedded in a large-scale flow, we impose a background mean wind flow on convection-permitting simulations through the surface flux calculation. The simulations show that with imposing mean flow, the organized convective system propagates in the direction of the flow but slows down compared to what pure advection would suggest, and eventually becomes stationary relative to the surface after 15 simulation days. The termination of the propagation arises from momentum flux, which acts as a drag on the near-surface horizontal wind. In contrast, the thermodynamic response through the wind-induced surface heat exchange feedback is a relatively small effect, which slightly retards (by about 15 %) the convection relative to the mean wind.

A Satellite Study of the Atmospheric Forcing and Response to Moist Convection over Tropical and Subtropical Oceans

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirohiko Masunaga
Keyword(s):  
Deep Convection ◽  
Convective Available Potential Energy ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Quasi Equilibrium ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Atmospheric Forcing ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Convective Adjustment ◽  
Subtropical Oceans

Abstract Satellite data are analyzed to explore the thermodynamic evolution of tropical and subtropical atmospheres prior and subsequent to moist convection in order to offer an observational test bed for convective adjustment, which is central to the quasi-equilibrium hypothesis. Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Aqua satellite measurements are projected onto a composite temporal sequence over an hourly to daily time scale by exploiting the temporal gap between the local satellite overpasses, which changes from one day to another. The atmospheric forcing and response to convection are investigated separately for deep convective and congestus clouds. In the deep tropics, systematic moisture transport from the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) to the free troposphere is evident in association with deep convection. The quick ABL ventilation suggests a swift convective adjustment but is preceded by a steady buildup of ABL moisture, which does not imply continuous adjustment to equilibrium. The evolution of convective available potential energy (CAPE) is controlled not only by the ABL moisture but also largely by a coincident ABL cooling linked with a bipolar anomaly of tropospheric temperature. The ABL moisture and temperature effects together lead to a rapid drop of CAPE for 12 h preceding convection, followed by a restoring phase that emerges as the cool anomaly recovers for a day or two. When moist convection is brought by congestus clouds with no deep convection nearby, CAPE gently increases over a period of 1–2 days until congestus occurs and then declines as slowly, suggestive of no efficient convective adjustment. The subtropical atmosphere shows no sign of convective adjustment whether or not vigorous convection is present.

scholarly journals Probing the Response of Tropical Deep Convection to Aerosol Perturbations Using Idealized Cloud-Resolving Simulations with Parameterized Large-Scale Dynamics

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (9) ◽  
pp. 2885-2897
Author(s):  
Usama M. Anber ◽  
Shuguang Wang ◽  
Pierre Gentine ◽  
Michael P. Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Cloud Droplets ◽  
Aerosol Loading ◽  
Microphysical Properties ◽  
Tropical Deep Convection ◽  
Gross Moist Stability ◽  
The Impact

Abstract A framework is introduced to investigate the indirect effect of aerosol loading on tropical deep convection using three-dimensional limited-domain idealized cloud-system-resolving model simulations coupled with large-scale dynamics over fixed sea surface temperature. The large-scale circulation is parameterized using the spectral weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation that utilizes the dominant balance between adiabatic cooling and diabatic heating in the tropics. The aerosol loading effect is examined by varying the number of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) available to form cloud droplets in the two-moment bulk microphysics scheme over a wide range of environments from 30 to 5000 cm−3. The radiative heating is held at a constant prescribed rate in order to isolate the microphysical effects. Analyses are performed over the period after equilibrium is achieved between convection and the large-scale environment. Mean precipitation is found to decrease modestly and monotonically when the aerosol number concentration increases as convection gets weaker, despite the increase in cloud liquid water in the warm-rain region and ice crystals aloft. This reduction is traced down to the reduction in surface enthalpy fluxes as an energy source to the atmospheric column induced by the coupling of the large-scale motion, though the gross moist stability remains constant. Increasing CCN concentration leads to 1) a cooler free troposphere because of a reduction in the diabatic heating and 2) a warmer boundary layer because of suppressed evaporative cooling. This dipole temperature structure is associated with anomalously descending large-scale vertical motion above the boundary layer and ascending motion at lower levels. Sensitivity tests suggest that changes in convection and mean precipitation are unlikely to be caused by the impact of aerosols on cloud droplets and microphysical properties but rather by accounting for the feedback from convective adjustment with the large-scale dynamics. Furthermore, a simple scaling argument is derived based on the vertically integrated moist static energy budget, which enables estimation of changes in precipitation given known changes in surfaces enthalpy fluxes and the constant gross moist stability. The impact on cloud hydrometeors and microphysical properties is also examined, and it is consistent with the macrophysical picture.

scholarly journals Effects of tropical deep convection on interannual variability of tropical tropopause layer water vapor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Ye ◽  
Andrew E. Dessler ◽  
Wandi Yu
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽  
Tropical Tropopause Layer ◽  
Tropical Tropopause ◽  
Tropical Deep Convection ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Biennial Oscillation

Abstract. Water vapor interannual variability in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) is investigated using satellite observations and model simulations. We breakdown the influences of the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC), the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), and the tropospheric temperature (ΔT) as a function of latitude and longitude using a 2-dimensional multivariable linear regression. This allows us to examine the spatial distribution of the impact on TTL water vapor from these physical processes. In agreement with expectation, we find that the impacts from the BDC and QBO act on TTL water vapor by changing TTL temperature. For ΔT, we find that TTL temperatures alone cannot explain the influence. We hypothesize a moistening role for the evaporation of convective ice from increased deep convection as troposphere warms. Tests with simulations from GEOSCCM and a corresponding trajectory model support this hypothesis.

Interaction of Tropical Deep Convection with the Large-Scale Circulation in the MJO

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 1837-1853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Tromeur ◽  
William B. Rossow
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Surface Fluxes ◽  
Convective Heating ◽  
Large Scale Circulation ◽  
Tropical Deep Convection ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Cloud Regimes

Abstract To better understand the interaction between tropical deep convection and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), tropical cloud regimes are defined by cluster analysis of International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) cloud-top pressure—optical thickness joint distributions from the D1 dataset covering 21.5 yr. An MJO index based solely on upper-level wind anomalies is used to study variations of the tropical cloud regimes. The MJO index shows that MJO events are present almost all the time; instead of the MJO event being associated with “on or off” deep convection, it is associated with weaker or stronger mesoscale organization of deep convection. Atmospheric winds and humidity from NCEP–NCAR reanalysis 1 are used to characterize the large-scale dynamics of the MJO; the results show that the large-scale motions initiate an MJO event by moistening the lower troposphere by horizontal advection. Increasingly strong convection transports moisture into the upper troposphere, suggesting a reinforcement of the convection itself. The change of convection organization shown by the cloud regimes indicates a strong interaction between the large-scale circulation and deep convection. The analysis is extended to the complete atmospheric diabatic heating by precipitation, radiation, and surface fluxes. The wave organizes stronger convective heating of the tropical atmosphere, which results in stronger winds, while there is only a passive response of the surface, directly linked to cloud radiative effects. Overall, the results suggest that an MJO event is an amplification of large-scale wave motions by stronger convective heating, which results from a dynamic reorganization of scattered deep convection into more intense mesoscale systems.

A Simple Multicloud Parameterization for Convectively Coupled Tropical Waves. Part II: Nonlinear Simulations

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boualem Khouider ◽  
Andrew J. Majda
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Convective Precipitation ◽  
Convective Heating ◽  
Walker Cell ◽  
Wave Trains ◽  
Coupled Wave

Abstract Observations in the Tropics point to the important role of three cloud types, congestus, stratiform, and deep convective clouds, besides ubiquitous shallow boundary layer clouds for both the climatology and large-scale organized anomalies such as convectively coupled Kelvin waves, two-day waves, and the Madden–Julian oscillation. Recently, the authors have developed a systematic model convective parameterization highlighting the dynamic role of the three cloud types through two baroclinic modes of vertical structure: a deep convective heating mode and a second mode with lower troposphere heating and cooling corresponding respectively to congestus and stratiform clouds. The model includes both a systematic moisture equation where the lower troposphere moisture increases through detrainment of shallow cumulus clouds, evaporation of stratiform rain, and moisture convergence and decreases through deep convective precipitation and also a nonlinear switch that favors either deep or congestus convection depending on whether the lower middle troposphere is moist or dry. Here these model convective parameterizations are applied to a 40 000-km periodic equatorial ring without rotation, with a background sea surface temperature (SST) gradient and realistic radiative cooling mimicking a tropical warm pool. Both the emerging “Walker cell” climatology and the convectively coupled wave fluctuations are analyzed here while various parameters in the model are varied. The model exhibits weak congestus moisture coupled waves outside the warm pool in a turbulent bath that intermittently amplify in the warm pool generating convectively coupled moist gravity wave trains propagating at speeds ranging from 15 to 20 m s−1 over the warm pool, while retaining a classical Walker cell in the mean climatology. The envelope of the deep convective events in these convectively coupled wave trains often exhibits large-scale organization with a slower propagation speed of 3–5 m s−1 over the warm pool and adjacent region. Occasional much rarer intermittent deep convection also occurs outside the warm pool. The realistic parameter regimes in the multicloud model are identified as those with linearized growth rates for large scale instabilities roughly in the range of 0.5 K day−1.

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