scholarly journals Estimation of Oceanic Precipitation Efficiency in Cloud Models

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 4358-4370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung-Hsiung Sui ◽  
Xiaofan Li ◽  
Ming-Jen Yang ◽  
Hsiao-Ling Huang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Mesoscale Model ◽  
Cloud Microphysics ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Source Surface ◽  
Tropical Ocean ◽  
Precipitation Efficiency ◽  
Cloud Models ◽  
Toga Coare ◽  
Hourly Data

Abstract Precipitation efficiency is estimated based on vertically integrated budgets of water vapor and clouds using hourly data from both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cloud-resolving simulations. The 2D cloud-resolving model is forced by the vertical velocity derived from the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). The 3D cloud-resolving modeling is based on the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU–NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5) simulation of Typhoon Nari (in 2001). The analysis of the hourly moisture and cloud budgets of the 2D simulation shows that the total moisture source (surface evaporation and vertically integrated moisture convergence) is converted into hydrometeors through vapor condensation and deposition rates regardless of the area size where the average is taken. This leads to the conclusion that the large-scale and cloud-microphysics precipitation efficiencies are statistically equivalent. Results further show that convergence (divergence) of hydrometeors would make precipitation efficiency larger (smaller). The precipitation efficiency tends to be larger (even >100%) in light rain conditions as a result of hydrometeor convergence from the neighboring atmospheric columns. Analysis of the hourly moisture and cloud budgets of the 3D results from the simulation of a typhoon system with heavy rainfall generally supports that of 2D results from the simulation of the tropical convective system with moderate rainfall intensity.

scholarly journals On the Definition of Precipitation Efficiency

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
pp. 4506-4513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung-Hsiung Sui ◽  
Xiaofan Li ◽  
Ming-Jen Yang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Cloud Microphysics ◽  
Tropical Ocean ◽  
Precipitation Efficiency ◽  
Surface Rainfall ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Toga Coare ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract A modified definition of precipitation efficiency (PE) is proposed based on either cloud microphysics precipitation efficiency (CMPE) or water cycling processes including water vapor and hydrometeor species [large-scale precipitation efficiency (LSPE)]. These PEs are examined based on a two-dimensional cloud-resolving simulation. The model is integrated for 21 days with the imposed large-scale vertical velocity, zonal wind, and horizontal advections obtained from the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). It is found that the properly defined PEs include all moisture and hydrometeor sources associated with surface rainfall processes so that they range from 0% to 100%. Furthermore, the modified LSPE and CMPE are highly correlated. Their linear correlation coefficient and root-mean-squared difference are insensitive to the spatial scales of averaged data and are moderately sensitive to the time period of averaged data.

scholarly journals Kinematic and Precipitation Characteristics of Convective Systems Observed by Airborne Doppler Radar during the Life Cycle of a Madden–Julian Oscillation in the Indian Ocean

2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (4) ◽  
pp. 1385-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Guy ◽  
David P. Jorgensen
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Dynamical Structure ◽  
Madden Julian Oscillation ◽  
Tropical Ocean ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Toga Coare ◽  
Stratiform Precipitation ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Abstract This study presents characteristics of convective systems observed during the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian oscillation (DYNAMO) experiment by the instrumented NOAA WP-3D aircraft. Nine separate missions, with a focus on observing mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), were executed to obtain data in the active and inactive phase of a Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) in the Indian Ocean. Doppler radar and in situ thermodynamic data are used to contrast the convective system characteristics during the evolution of the MJO. Isolated convection was prominent during the inactive phases of the MJO, with deepening convection during the onset of the MJO. During the MJO peak, convection and stratiform precipitation became more widespread. A larger population of deep convective elements led to a larger area of stratiform precipitation. As the MJO decayed, convective system top heights increased, though the number of convective systems decreased, eventually transitioning back to isolated convection. A distinct shift of echo top heights and contoured frequency-by-altitude diagram distributions of radar reflectivity and vertical wind speed indicated that some mesoscale characteristics were coupled to the MJO phase. Convective characteristics in the climatological initiation region (Indian Ocean) were also apparent. Comparison to results from the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) in the western Pacific indicated that DYNAMO MCSs were linearly organized more parallel to the low-level shear and without strong cold pools than in TOGA COARE. Three-dimensional MCS airflow also showed a different dynamical structure, with a lack of the descending rear inflow present in shear perpendicularly organized TOGA COARE MCSs. Weaker, but deeper updrafts were observed in DYNAMO.

scholarly journals Mesoscale Convective Vortex Formation in a Weakly Sheared Moist Neutral Environment

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1443-1466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Conzemius ◽  
Richard W. Moore ◽  
Michael T. Montgomery ◽  
Christopher A. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Mesoscale Model ◽  
Tangential Velocity ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Field Campaign ◽  
Mesoscale Convective ◽  
Mesoscale Convective Vortex

Abstract Idealized simulations of a diabatic Rossby vortex (DRV) in an initially moist neutral baroclinic environment are performed using the fifth-generation National Center for Atmospheric Research–Pennsylvania State University (NCAR–PSU) Mesoscale Model (MM5). The primary objective is to test the hypothesis that the formation and maintenance of midlatitude warm-season mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs) are largely influenced by balanced flow dynamics associated with a vortex that interacts with weak vertical shear. As a part of this objective, the simulated DRV is placed within the context of the Bow Echo and Mesoscale Convective Vortex Experiment (BAMEX) field campaign by comparing its tangential velocity, radius of maximum winds, CAPE, and shear with the MCVs observed in BAMEX. The simulations reveal two distinct scales of development. At the larger scale, the most rapidly growing moist baroclinic mode is excited, and exponential growth of this mode occurs during the simulation. Embedded within the large-scale baroclinic wave is a convective system exhibiting the characteristic DRV development, with a positive potential vorticity (PV) anomaly in the lower troposphere and a negative PV anomaly in the upper troposphere, and the positive/negative PV doublet tilted downshear with height. The DRV warm-air advection mechanism is active, and the resulting deep convection helps to reinforce the DRV against the deleterious effects of environmental shear, causing an eastward motion of the convective system as a whole. The initial comparisons between the simulated DRVs and the BAMEX MCVs show that the simulated DRVs grew within background conditions of CAPE and shear similar to those observed for BAMEX MCVs and suggest that the same dynamical mechanisms are active. Because the BAMEX field campaign sampled MCVs in different backgrounds of CAPE and shear, the comparison also demonstrates the need to perform additional simulations to explore these different CAPE and shear regimes and to understand their impacts on the intensity and longevity of MCVs. Such a study has the additional benefit of placing MCV dynamics in an appropriate context for exploring their relevance to tropical cyclone formation.

Tropical Oceanic Hot Towers: Need They Be Undilute to Transport Energy from the Boundary Layer to the Upper Troposphere Effectively? An Answer Based on Trajectory Analysis of a Simulation of a TOGA COARE Convective System

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre O. Fierro ◽  
Edward J. Zipser ◽  
Margaret A. LeMone ◽  
Jerry M. Straka ◽  
Joanne (Malkus) Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Hadley Circulation ◽  
Squall Line ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Microphysics Scheme ◽  
Tropical Ocean ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Thermal Buoyancy ◽  
Toga Coare

Abstract This paper addresses questions resulting from the authors’ earlier simulation of the 9 February 1993 Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Research Experiment (TOGA COARE) squall line, which used updraft trajectories to illustrate how updrafts deposit significant moist static energy (in terms of equivalent potential temperature θe) in the upper troposphere, despite dilution and a θe minimum in the midtroposphere. The major conclusion drawn from this earlier work was that the “hot towers” that Riehl and Malkus showed as necessary to maintain the Hadley circulation need not be undilute. It was not possible, however, to document how the energy (or θe) increased above the midtroposphere. To address this relevant scientific question, a high-resolution (300 m) simulation was carried out using a standard 3-ICE microphysics scheme (Lin–Farley–Orville). Detailed along-trajectory information also allows more accurate examination of the forces affecting each parcel’s vertical velocity W, their displacement, and the processes impacting θe, with focus on parcels reaching the upper troposphere. Below 1 km, pressure gradient acceleration forces parcels upward against negative buoyancy acceleration associated with the sum of (positive) virtual temperature excess and (negative) condensate loading. Above 1 km, the situation reverses, with the buoyancy (and thermal buoyancy) acceleration becoming positive and nearly balancing a negative pressure gradient acceleration, slightly larger in magnitude, leading to a W minimum at midlevels. The W maximum above 8 km and concomitant θe increase between 6 and 8 km are both due to release of latent heat resulting from the enthalpy of freezing of raindrops and riming onto graupel from 5 to 6.5 km and water vapor deposition onto small ice crystals and graupel pellets above that, between 7 and 10 km.

scholarly journals Relative role of individual variables on a revised Convective System Genesis Parameter over north Indian Ocean with respect to distinct background state

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. G. Sumesh ◽  
S. Abhilash ◽  
M. R. Ramesh Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tropical Storms ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Relative Role ◽  
Tropical Ocean ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Individual Variables ◽  
Background State

Abstract. Abstract. Tropical storms are intense low pressure systems that form over warm tropical ocean basins. Depending upon the intensity, they are classified as depressions, cyclones and severe cyclones. Northern Indian Ocean (NIO) is highly prone to intense tropical storms and roughly 5–7 tropical storms are forming over this basin every year. Various Cyclogenesis indices are used to forecast these tropical storms over various basins including NIO. In this aspect we propose a revised Convective System Genesis Parameter (CSGP) to identify regions favourable for storm genesis. The revised CSGP is constructed by using different combinations and thresholds of five variables namely, the Low Level Relative Vorticity, the Low Level Convergence, the Shear co-efficient, the Convective Instability parameter and the Humidity parameter. The relative role of each individual variable on CSGP is analysed separately for different categories of the storms over both Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal. The composite structure of the CSGP for different categories of the storms is further evaluated separately for distinct large scale background state. The results show that the revised CSGP is capable of distinguishing different categories of the storms. The CSGP exhibits large variability during distinct large scale background state. It is also found that the individual variables contribute in a different way during monsoon and non-monsoon seasons. The revised CSGP can be used to forecast all categories of convective systems such as depressions, cyclones and severe cyclones over NIO during the monsoon as well as non-monsoon seasons.

A Distribution Law for Free-Tropospheric Relative Humidity

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (24) ◽  
pp. 6267-6277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven C. Sherwood ◽  
E. Robert Kursinski ◽  
William G. Read
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Global Positioning System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cloud Microphysics ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Distribution Law ◽  
Vertical Variation ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
Condensation Model ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract The probability distribution of local relative humidity ℛ in the free troposphere is explored by comparing a simple theoretical calculation with observations from the global positioning system (GPS) and the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). The calculation is based on a parcel of air that conserves its composition during diabatic subsidence, until it is resaturated by randomly entering a convective system. This simple “advection–condensation” model of relative humidity predicts a probability density for ℛ proportional to ℛr−1, where r is the ratio of time scales associated with subsidence drying and random moistening. The observations obey this distribution remarkably well from 600 to 200 hPa in the Tropics and midlatitudes; possible reasons for this are discussed. The lowest values of ℛ are predicted, and observed, to be the most probable. The observed vertical variation of ℛ is well explained by that of the subsidence time scale, which is set by large-scale dynamics and radiation. These results imply that cloud microphysics exerts little control on water vapor’s greenhouse effect, but that relatively subtle dynamical changes have the potential to alter the strength of its feedback on climate change.

scholarly journals Gross Moist Stability Assessment during TOGA COARE: Various Interpretations of Gross Moist Stability

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (11) ◽  
pp. 4148-4166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuniaki Inoue ◽  
Larissa E. Back
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Stability Assessment ◽  
Moist Static Energy ◽  
Toga Coare ◽  
Gross Moist Stability ◽  
Static Energy ◽  
Diabatic Forcing ◽  
Drying Efficiency

Abstract Daily averaged TOGA COARE data are analyzed to investigate the convective amplification/decay mechanisms. The gross moist stability (GMS), which represents moist static energy (MSE) export efficiency by large-scale circulations associated with the convection, is studied together with two quantities, called the critical GMS (a ratio of diabatic forcing to the convective intensity) and the drying efficiency [a version of the effective GMS (GMS minus critical GMS)]. The analyses reveal that convection intensifies (decays) via negative (positive) drying efficiency. The authors illustrate that variability of the drying efficiency during the convective amplifying phase is predominantly explained by the vertical MSE advection (or vertical GMS), which imports MSE via bottom-heavy vertical velocity profiles (associated with negative vertical GMS) and eventually starts exporting MSE via top-heavy profiles (associated with positive vertical GMS). The variability of the drying efficiency during the decaying phase is, in contrast, explained by the horizontal MSE advection. The critical GMS, which is moistening efficiency due to the diabatic forcing, is broadly constant throughout the convective life cycle, indicating that the diabatic forcing always tends to destabilize the convective system in a constant manner. The authors propose various ways of computing quasi-time-independent “characteristic GMS” and demonstrate that all of them are equivalent and can be interpreted as (i) the critical GMS, (ii) the GMS at the maximum precipitation, and (iii) a combination of feedback constants between the radiation, evaporation, and convection. Those interpretations indicate that each convective life cycle is a fluctuation of rapidly changing GMS around slowly changing characteristic GMS.

scholarly journals Transition between Suppressed and Active Phases of Intraseasonal Oscillations in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (21) ◽  
pp. 5519-5530 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Agudelo ◽  
J. A. Curry ◽  
C. D. Hoyos ◽  
P. J. Webster
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Convective Available Potential Energy ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Diagnostic Study ◽  
Tropical Ocean ◽  
Toga Coare ◽  
Ocean Atmosphere ◽  
Intraseasonal Oscillations

Abstract Intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) are important large-amplitude and large-scale elements of the tropical Indo-Pacific climate with time scales in the 20–60-day period range, during which time they modulate higher-frequency tropical weather. Despite their importance, the ISO is poorly simulated and predicted by numerical models. A joint diagnostic and modeling study of the ISO is conducted, concentrating on the period between the suppressed and active (referred to as the “transition”) period that is hypothesized to be the defining stage for the development of the intraseasonal mode and the component that is most poorly simulated. The diagnostic study uses data from the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). It is found that during the transition period, the ocean and the atmosphere undergo gradual but large-scale and high-amplitude changes, especially the moistening of the lower troposphere caused jointly by the anomalously warm sea surface temperature arising from minimal cloud and low winds during the suppressed phase and the large-scale subsidence that inhibits the formation of locally deep convection. Using a cloud classification scheme based on microwave and infrared satellite data, it is observed that midtop (cloud with a top in the middle troposphere) nonprecipitating clouds are a direct response of the low-level moisture buildup. To investigate the sensitivity of ISO simulations to the transitional phase, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) coupled ocean–atmosphere climate model is used. The ECMWF was run serially in predictive ensemble mode (five members) for 30-day periods starting from 1 December 1992 to 30 January 1993, encompassing the ISO occurring in late December. Predictability of the active convective period of the ISO is poor when initialized before the transitional phases of the ISO. However, when initialized with the correct lower-tropospheric moisture field, predictability increases substantially, although the model convective parameterization appears to trigger convection too quickly without allowing an adequate buildup of convective available potential energy during the transition period.

scholarly journals Prediction and Diagnosis of Tropical Cyclone Formation in an NWP System. Part I: The Critical Role of Vortex Enhancement in Deep Convection

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 3077-3090 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. Tory ◽  
M. T. Montgomery ◽  
N. E. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Tropical Ocean ◽  
Enhancement Mechanism ◽  
Toga Coare

This is the first of a three-part investigation into tropical cyclone (TC) genesis in the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s Tropical Cyclone Limited Area Prediction System (TC-LAPS), an operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecast model. The primary TC-LAPS vortex enhancement mechanism is presented in Part I, the entire genesis process is illustrated in Part II using a single TC-LAPS simulation, and in Part III a number of simulations are presented exploring the sensitivity and variability of genesis forecasts in TC-LAPS. The primary vortex enhancement mechanism in TC-LAPS is found to be convergence/stretching and vertical advection of absolute vorticity in deep intense updrafts, which result in deep vortex cores of 60–100 km in diameter (the minimum resolvable scale is limited by the 0.15° horizontal grid spacing). On the basis of the results presented, it is hypothesized that updrafts of this scale adequately represent mean vertical motions in real TC genesis convective regions, and perhaps that explicitly resolving the individual convective processes may not be necessary for qualitative TC genesis forecasts. Although observations of sufficient spatial and temporal resolution do not currently exist to support or refute this proposition, relatively large-scale (30 km and greater), lower- to midlevel tropospheric convergent regions have been observed in tropical oceanic environments during the Global Atmospheric Research Programme (GARP) Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE), the Equatorial Mesoscale Experiment (EMEX), and the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE), and regions of extreme convection of the order of 50 km are often (remotely) observed in TC genesis environments. These vortex cores are fundamental for genesis in TC-LAPS. They interact to form larger cores, and provide net heating that drives the system-scale secondary circulation, which enhances vorticity on the system scale akin to the classical Eliassen problem of a balanced vortex driven by heat sources. These secondary vortex enhancement mechanisms are documented in Part II. In some recent TC genesis theories featured in the literature, vortex enhancement in deep convective regions of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) has largely been ignored. Instead, they focus on the stratiform regions. While it is recognized that vortex enhancement through midlevel convergence into the stratiform precipitation deck can greatly enhance midtropospheric cyclonic vorticity, it is suggested here that this mechanism only increases the potential for genesis, whereas vortex enhancement through low- to midlevel convergence into deep convective regions is necessary for genesis.

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