The Relationship Between Convective Clustering and Mean Tropical Climate in Aquaplanet Simulations
Abstract Convective clustering, the spatial organization of tropical deep convection, can manifest itself in two ways: through a decrease in the total area covered by convection and/or through a decrease in the number of convective areas. Much of our current understanding of convective clustering co...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002070 |
| _version_ | 1818836548001464320 |
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| author | Max Popp Nicholas J. Lutsko Sandrine Bony |
| author_facet | Max Popp Nicholas J. Lutsko Sandrine Bony |
| author_sort | Max Popp |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Convective clustering, the spatial organization of tropical deep convection, can manifest itself in two ways: through a decrease in the total area covered by convection and/or through a decrease in the number of convective areas. Much of our current understanding of convective clustering comes from simulations in idealized radiative convective equilibrium (RCE) configurations. In these simulations the two forms of convective clustering tend to covary, and their individual effects on the climate are thus hard to disentangle. This study shows that in aquaplanet simulations with more realistic boundary conditions, such as meridional gradients of surface temperature and rotational forces, the two aspects of convective clustering are not equivalent and are associated with different impacts on the large‐scale climate. For instance, reducing the convective area in the equatorial region in the aquaplanet simulations results in broader meridional humidity and rain distributions and in lower tropospheric temperatures throughout the tropics. By contrast, the number of convective regions primarily impacts the zonal variance of humidity‐related quantities in the aquaplanet simulations, as the distribution of convective regions affects the size of the subsidence regions and thereby the moistening influence of convective regions. The aquaplanet simulations confirm many other qualitative results from RCE simulations, such as a reduction of equatorial tropospheric humidity when the area covered by convection diminishes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:08:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5383fffe747c41a2a2bdd64195304a43 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1942-2466 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:08:21Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-5383fffe747c41a2a2bdd64195304a432022-12-21T20:38:04ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems1942-24662020-08-01128n/an/a10.1029/2020MS002070The Relationship Between Convective Clustering and Mean Tropical Climate in Aquaplanet SimulationsMax Popp0Nicholas J. Lutsko1Sandrine Bony2Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD/IPSL), Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École Polytechnique, École Normale Supérieure Paris FranceScripps Institution of Oceanography University of California, San Diego La Jolla CA USALaboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD/IPSL), Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École Polytechnique, École Normale Supérieure Paris FranceAbstract Convective clustering, the spatial organization of tropical deep convection, can manifest itself in two ways: through a decrease in the total area covered by convection and/or through a decrease in the number of convective areas. Much of our current understanding of convective clustering comes from simulations in idealized radiative convective equilibrium (RCE) configurations. In these simulations the two forms of convective clustering tend to covary, and their individual effects on the climate are thus hard to disentangle. This study shows that in aquaplanet simulations with more realistic boundary conditions, such as meridional gradients of surface temperature and rotational forces, the two aspects of convective clustering are not equivalent and are associated with different impacts on the large‐scale climate. For instance, reducing the convective area in the equatorial region in the aquaplanet simulations results in broader meridional humidity and rain distributions and in lower tropospheric temperatures throughout the tropics. By contrast, the number of convective regions primarily impacts the zonal variance of humidity‐related quantities in the aquaplanet simulations, as the distribution of convective regions affects the size of the subsidence regions and thereby the moistening influence of convective regions. The aquaplanet simulations confirm many other qualitative results from RCE simulations, such as a reduction of equatorial tropospheric humidity when the area covered by convection diminishes.https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002070 |
| spellingShingle | Max Popp Nicholas J. Lutsko Sandrine Bony The Relationship Between Convective Clustering and Mean Tropical Climate in Aquaplanet Simulations Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| title | The Relationship Between Convective Clustering and Mean Tropical Climate in Aquaplanet Simulations |
| title_full | The Relationship Between Convective Clustering and Mean Tropical Climate in Aquaplanet Simulations |
| title_fullStr | The Relationship Between Convective Clustering and Mean Tropical Climate in Aquaplanet Simulations |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Relationship Between Convective Clustering and Mean Tropical Climate in Aquaplanet Simulations |
| title_short | The Relationship Between Convective Clustering and Mean Tropical Climate in Aquaplanet Simulations |
| title_sort | relationship between convective clustering and mean tropical climate in aquaplanet simulations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002070 |
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