Large-scale environment and transitions to deep convection in cloud-resolving simulations
Authors
Samson M Hagos — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
L. Ruby Leung — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Description
Cloud-resolving model simulations and vector analysis are used to develop a method for evaluating the sensitivity of shallow to deep transitions to various large-scale environmental variables. Results of the CRM simulations over three tropical regions are used to cluster environmental conditions favorable and unfavorable for transition to deep convection. The relationship between large-scale deep heating and the projection of the profiles of the large-scale environmental fields to a vector connecting these two clusters is used to perform a quantitative comparative assessment of the roles of these fields in the transition to deep convection. This vector formulation represents a simple conceptual framework for evaluating and improving sensitivities in model cumulus parameterizations.
