The Unique Behavior of Vertical Velocity in Developing Deep Convection
Abstract When daytime tropical convection develops away from mesoscale disturbances, it typically transitions gradually from dry to shallow to deep convection on hourly timescales. The transition is commonly associated with the formation of larger horizontal boundary‐layer structures and an increasi...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024-10-01
|
| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110425 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1846170874676248576 |
|---|---|
| author | Marcin J. Kurowski Andrea Paris Joao Teixeira |
| author_facet | Marcin J. Kurowski Andrea Paris Joao Teixeira |
| author_sort | Marcin J. Kurowski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract When daytime tropical convection develops away from mesoscale disturbances, it typically transitions gradually from dry to shallow to deep convection on hourly timescales. The transition is commonly associated with the formation of larger horizontal boundary‐layer structures and an increasing level of cloud organization aloft. This study demonstrates that a spectral analysis of the resolved high‐resolution sub‐cloud flow features allows for a robust identification of dominant length scales and the quantification of their growth rates during the transition. Furthermore, it is shown that temperature, moisture, and horizontal winds develop multiple length scales with the largest ones growing up to several kilometers in magnitude. However, the vertical velocity behaves in a distinct manner developing significantly smaller values, comparable over land and ocean. This indicates stronger inherent limits of vertical velocity to self‐organize by size. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-100d1339702e4396b48d689124ebfae6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-100d1339702e4396b48d689124ebfae62024-11-11T10:10:52ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072024-10-015120n/an/a10.1029/2024GL110425The Unique Behavior of Vertical Velocity in Developing Deep ConvectionMarcin J. Kurowski0Andrea Paris1Joao Teixeira2Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USAJet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USAJet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USAAbstract When daytime tropical convection develops away from mesoscale disturbances, it typically transitions gradually from dry to shallow to deep convection on hourly timescales. The transition is commonly associated with the formation of larger horizontal boundary‐layer structures and an increasing level of cloud organization aloft. This study demonstrates that a spectral analysis of the resolved high‐resolution sub‐cloud flow features allows for a robust identification of dominant length scales and the quantification of their growth rates during the transition. Furthermore, it is shown that temperature, moisture, and horizontal winds develop multiple length scales with the largest ones growing up to several kilometers in magnitude. However, the vertical velocity behaves in a distinct manner developing significantly smaller values, comparable over land and ocean. This indicates stronger inherent limits of vertical velocity to self‐organize by size.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110425convection organizationupdraftstransition to deep convection |
| spellingShingle | Marcin J. Kurowski Andrea Paris Joao Teixeira The Unique Behavior of Vertical Velocity in Developing Deep Convection Geophysical Research Letters convection organization updrafts transition to deep convection |
| title | The Unique Behavior of Vertical Velocity in Developing Deep Convection |
| title_full | The Unique Behavior of Vertical Velocity in Developing Deep Convection |
| title_fullStr | The Unique Behavior of Vertical Velocity in Developing Deep Convection |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Unique Behavior of Vertical Velocity in Developing Deep Convection |
| title_short | The Unique Behavior of Vertical Velocity in Developing Deep Convection |
| title_sort | unique behavior of vertical velocity in developing deep convection |
| topic | convection organization updrafts transition to deep convection |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110425 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marcinjkurowski theuniquebehaviorofverticalvelocityindevelopingdeepconvection AT andreaparis theuniquebehaviorofverticalvelocityindevelopingdeepconvection AT joaoteixeira theuniquebehaviorofverticalvelocityindevelopingdeepconvection AT marcinjkurowski uniquebehaviorofverticalvelocityindevelopingdeepconvection AT andreaparis uniquebehaviorofverticalvelocityindevelopingdeepconvection AT joaoteixeira uniquebehaviorofverticalvelocityindevelopingdeepconvection |