Vertical Resolution Impacts Explicit Simulation of Deep Convection
Abstract The aggregation of tropical convection greatly influences the mean‐state of the atmosphere, altering humidity distributions, total atmospheric radiative cooling, and cloud amounts. Although studies have demonstrated the sensitivity of convective aggregation to horizontal resolution and doma...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022MS003444 |
| _version_ | 1797635967406833664 |
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| author | A. M. Jenney S. L. Ferretti M. S. Pritchard |
| author_facet | A. M. Jenney S. L. Ferretti M. S. Pritchard |
| author_sort | A. M. Jenney |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The aggregation of tropical convection greatly influences the mean‐state of the atmosphere, altering humidity distributions, total atmospheric radiative cooling, and cloud amounts. Although studies have demonstrated the sensitivity of convective aggregation to horizontal resolution and domain size, few studies have explored the impact of vertical resolution on convective aggregation. Here, we investigate the impact of vertical resolution on simulations of deep convection and convective aggregation using the System for Atmospheric Modeling convection resolving model. We analyze simulations of tropical radiative‐convective equilibrium with varying vertical levels (32, 64, 128, and 256) across small (100 km), medium (700 km) and large (1,500 km) domains. We demonstrate that relative humidity and cloud fraction decrease with increasing vertical resolution as a result of reduced turbulent mixing. Vertical resolution also influences the occurrence of, onset time, and equilibrium intensity of aggregated convection, and also appears to affect the sensitivity of convective aggregation to domain size. Understanding how simulated convection aggregates, as well as its simulated sensitivity to model formulation, is critical for making and interpreting future predictions of global climate change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:28:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5a911ef050d04f5dba03486665718cf7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1942-2466 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:28:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-5a911ef050d04f5dba03486665718cf72023-11-06T06:42:17ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems1942-24662023-10-011510n/an/a10.1029/2022MS003444Vertical Resolution Impacts Explicit Simulation of Deep ConvectionA. M. Jenney0S. L. Ferretti1M. S. Pritchard2Department of Earth System Science University of California, Irvine CA Irvine USADepartment of Earth System Science University of California, Irvine CA Irvine USADepartment of Earth System Science University of California, Irvine CA Irvine USAAbstract The aggregation of tropical convection greatly influences the mean‐state of the atmosphere, altering humidity distributions, total atmospheric radiative cooling, and cloud amounts. Although studies have demonstrated the sensitivity of convective aggregation to horizontal resolution and domain size, few studies have explored the impact of vertical resolution on convective aggregation. Here, we investigate the impact of vertical resolution on simulations of deep convection and convective aggregation using the System for Atmospheric Modeling convection resolving model. We analyze simulations of tropical radiative‐convective equilibrium with varying vertical levels (32, 64, 128, and 256) across small (100 km), medium (700 km) and large (1,500 km) domains. We demonstrate that relative humidity and cloud fraction decrease with increasing vertical resolution as a result of reduced turbulent mixing. Vertical resolution also influences the occurrence of, onset time, and equilibrium intensity of aggregated convection, and also appears to affect the sensitivity of convective aggregation to domain size. Understanding how simulated convection aggregates, as well as its simulated sensitivity to model formulation, is critical for making and interpreting future predictions of global climate change.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022MS003444convection resolving modelconvective aggregationvertical resolutionSAM |
| spellingShingle | A. M. Jenney S. L. Ferretti M. S. Pritchard Vertical Resolution Impacts Explicit Simulation of Deep Convection Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems convection resolving model convective aggregation vertical resolution SAM |
| title | Vertical Resolution Impacts Explicit Simulation of Deep Convection |
| title_full | Vertical Resolution Impacts Explicit Simulation of Deep Convection |
| title_fullStr | Vertical Resolution Impacts Explicit Simulation of Deep Convection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vertical Resolution Impacts Explicit Simulation of Deep Convection |
| title_short | Vertical Resolution Impacts Explicit Simulation of Deep Convection |
| title_sort | vertical resolution impacts explicit simulation of deep convection |
| topic | convection resolving model convective aggregation vertical resolution SAM |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022MS003444 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT amjenney verticalresolutionimpactsexplicitsimulationofdeepconvection AT slferretti verticalresolutionimpactsexplicitsimulationofdeepconvection AT mspritchard verticalresolutionimpactsexplicitsimulationofdeepconvection |