Sticky thermals: Evidence for a dominant balance between buoyancy and drag in cloud updrafts

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

Volumn 72, Issue 8, 2015, Pages 2890-2901

  Romps, David M ^a,b   Charn, Alexander B ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY   (United States)

Author keywords

Convective scale processes

Indexed keywords

BUOYANCY; DRAG;

CONSTANT SPEED; CONVECTIVE CLOUDS; CONVECTIVE-SCALE PROCESS; MARITIME CONVECTION; MOMENTUM EQUATION; NATURAL BOUNDARY; STREAMFUNCTIONS; VERTICAL VELOCITY;

LARGE EDDY SIMULATION;

ATMOSPHERIC CONVECTION; BUOYANCY; CONVECTIVE CLOUD; DRAG COEFFICIENT;

EID: 84943374042     PISSN: 00224928     EISSN: 15200469     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1175/JAS-D-15-0042.1     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. Abdul-Razzak, H., S. J. Ghan, and C. Rivera-Carpio, 1998: A parameterization of aerosol activation: 1. Single aerosol type. J. Geophys. Res., 103, 6123-6131, doi:10.1029/97JD03735.
2. Batchelor, G. K., 2005: An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics. 6th ed. Cambridge University Press, 800 pp.
3. Blevins, R. D., 1992: Applied Fluid Dynamics Handbook. Krieger Publishing Company, 558 pp.
4. Clough, S. A., M. W. Shephard, E. J. Mlawer, J. S. Delamere, M. J. Iacono, K. Cady-Pereira, S. Boukabara, and P. D. Brown, 2005: Atmospheric radiative transfer modeling: Asummary of the AER codes. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer, 91, 233-244, doi:10.1016/j.jqsrt.2004.05.058.
5. Danielsen, E. F., R. Bleck, and D. A. Morris, 1972: Hail growth by stochastic collection in a cumulus model. J. Atmos. Sci., 29, 135-155, doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1972)029<0135:HGBSCI>2.0.CO;2.
6. Davies-Jones, R., 1984: Streamwise vorticity: The origin of updraft rotation in supercell storms. J. Atmos. Sci., 41, 2991-3006, doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1984)041<2991:SVTOOU>2.0.CO;2.
7. Dawe, J. T., and P. H. Austin, 2011: The influence of the cloud shell on tracer budget measurements of LES cloud entrainment. J. Atmos. Sci., 68, 2909-2920, doi:10.1175/2011JAS3658.1.
8. de Roode, S. R., A. P. Siebesma, H. J. J. Jonker, and Y. de Voogd, 2012: Parameterization of the vertical velocity equation for shallow cumulus clouds. Mon. Wea. Rev., 140, 2424-2436, doi:10.1175/MWR-D-11-00277.1.
9. Fovell, R., D. Durran, and J. Holton, 1992: Numerical simulations of convectively generated stratospheric gravitywaves. J. Atmos. Sci., 49, 1427-1442, doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1992)049<1427: NSOCGS>2.0.CO;2.
10. Glenn, I. B., and S. K. Krueger, 2014: Downdrafts in the near cloud environment of deep convective updrafts. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 6, 1-8, doi:10.1002/2013MS000261.
11. Grosvenor, D., T. Choularton, H. Coe, and G. Held, 2007: A study of the effect of overshooting deep convection on the water content of the TTL and lower stratosphere from Cloud Resolving Model simulations. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 4977-5002, doi:10.5194/acp-7-4977-2007.
12. Heus, T., and H. J. J. Jonker, 2008: Subsiding shells around shallow cumulus clouds. J. Atmos. Sci., 65, 1003-1018, doi:10.1175/2007JAS2322.1.
13. Hill, M. J. M., 1894: On a spherical vortex. Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, A185, 213-245, doi:10.1098/rsta.1894.0006.
14. Iacono, M. J., J. S. Delamere, E. J. Mlawer, M. W. Shephard, S. A. Clough, and W. D. Collins, 2008: Radiative forcing by longlived greenhouse gases: Calculations with the AER radiative transfer models. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D13103, doi:10.1029/2008JD009944.
15. Jorgensen, D. P., and M. A. LeMone, 1989: Vertically velocity characteristics of oceanic convection. J. Atmos. Sci., 46, 621-640, doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1989)046<0621:VVCOOC>2.0.CO;2.
16. Lane, T. P., R. D. Sharman, T. L. Clark, and H.-M. Hsu, 2003: An investigation of turbulence generation mechanisms above deep convection. J. Atmos. Sci., 60, 1297-1321, doi:10.1175/1520-0469(2003)60<1297:AIOTGM>2.0.CO;2.
17. Lane, T. P., R. D. Sharman, S. B. Trier, R. G. Fovell, and J. K. Williams, 2012: Recent advances in the understanding of near-cloud turbulence. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 93, 499-515, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00062.1.
18. Lawson, R. P., and W. A. Cooper, 1990: Performance of some airborne thermometers in clouds. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 7, 480-494, doi:10.1175/1520-0426(1990)007<0480:POSATI>2.0.CO;2.
19. Levine, J., 1959: Spherical vortex theory of bubble-like motion in cumulus clouds. J. Meteor., 16, 653-662, doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1959)016<0653:SVTOBL>2.0.CO;2.
20. Lucas, C., E. Zipser, and M. Lemone, 1994: Vertical velocity in oceanic convection offtropical Australia. J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 3183-3193, doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1994)051<3183:VVIOCO>2.0.CO;2.
21. Maxworthy, T., 1974: Turbulent vortex rings. J. Fluid Mech., 64, 227-240, doi:10.1017/S0022112074002370.
22. Nie, J., and Z. Kuang, 2012: Responses of shallow cumulus convection to large-scale temperature and moisture perturbations: A comparison of large-eddy simulations and a convective parameterization based on stochastically entraining parcels. J. Atmos. Sci., 69, 1936-1956, doi:10.1175/JAS-D-11-0279.1.
23. Reynolds, O., 1876: On the resistance encountered by vortex rings, and the relation between the vortex rings and the streamlines of a disc. Nature, 14, 477-479.
24. Romps, D. M., 2008: The dry-entropy budget of amoist atmosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 65, 3779-3799, doi:10.1175/2008JAS2679.1.
25. Romps, D. M., 2011: Response of tropical precipitation to global warming. J. Atmos. Sci., 68, 123-138, doi:10.1175/2010JAS3542.1.
26. Romps, D. M., and Z. Kuang, 2010: Do undiluted convective plumes exist in the upper tropical troposphere? J. Atmos. Sci., 67, 468-484, doi:10.1175/2009JAS3184.1.
27. Romps, D. M., J. T. Seeley, D. Vollaro, and J. Molinari, 2014: Projected increase in lightning strikes in the United States due to global warming. Science, 346, 851-854, doi:10.1126/science.1259100.
28. Sherwood, S. C., D. Hernandez-Deckers, M. Colin, and F. Robinson, 2013: Slippery thermals and the cumulus entrainment paradox. J. Atmos. Sci., 70, 2426-2442, doi:10.1175/JAS-D-12-0220.1.
29. Wang, P. K., 2007: The thermodynamic structure atop a penetrating convective thunderstorm. Atmos. Res., 83, 254-262, doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2005.08.010.
30. Wang, X., and M. Zhang, 2014: Vertical velocity in shallow convection for different plume types. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 6, 478-489, doi:10.1002/2014MS000318.
31. Wei, D., A. M. Blyth, and D. J. Raymond, 1998: Buoyancy of convective clouds in TOGA COARE. J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 3381-3391, doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1998)055<3381:BOCCIT>2.0.CO;2.