Use of ARM observations and numerical models to determine radiative and latent heating profiles of mesoscale convective systems for general circulation models

Robert A. Houze, Jr.

关键词: Madden-Julian Oscillation;    convective clouds;    AMIE;    anvil clouds;    tropical convection;    water budget;    ice microphysics;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1104951
RP-ID  :  DOE--SC0001164/ER???64752
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1104951
Others  :  Other: ER???64752

学科分类：环境科学（综合）

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

We examined cloud radar data in monsoon climates, using cloud radars at Darwin in the Australian monsoon, on a ship in the Bay of Bengal in the South Asian monsoon, and at Niamey in the West African monsoon. We followed on with a more in-depth study of the continental MCSs over West Africa. We investigated whether the West African anvil clouds connected with squall line MCSs passing over the Niamey ARM site could be simulated in a numerical model by comparing the observed anvil clouds to anvil structures generated by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model at high resolution using six different ice-phase microphysical schemes. We carried out further simulations with a cloud-resolving model forced by sounding network budgets over the Niamey region and over the northern Australian region. We have devoted some of the effort of this project to examining how well satellite data can determine the global breadth of the anvil cloud measurements obtained at the ARM ground sites. We next considered whether satellite data could be objectively analyzed to so that their large global measurement sets can be systematically related to the ARM measurements. Further differences were detailed between the land and ocean MCS anvil clouds by examining the interior structure of the anvils with the satellite-detected the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR). The satellite survey of anvil clouds in the Indo-Pacific region was continued to determine the role of MCSs in producing the cloud pattern associated with the MJO.