Influence of entrainment on the thermal stratification in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium
Convective available potential energy (CAPE) is shown to increase rapidly with warming in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium over a wide range of surface temperatures. The increase in CAPE implies a systematic deviation of the thermal stratification from moist adiabatic that is non-negl...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2014
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85600 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1748-0816 |
| _version_ | 1811083592063778816 |
|---|---|
| author | Singh, Martin Simran O'Gorman, Paul |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Singh, Martin Simran O'Gorman, Paul |
| author_sort | Singh, Martin Simran |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Convective available potential energy (CAPE) is shown to increase rapidly with warming in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium over a wide range of surface temperatures. The increase in CAPE implies a systematic deviation of the thermal stratification from moist adiabatic that is non-negligible at high temperatures. However, cloud buoyancy remains much smaller than what CAPE would imply because entrainment is more effective in reducing buoyancy in warmer atmospheres. An entraining plume model in the limit of zero cloud buoyancy is shown to reproduce the increase in CAPE with warming if the entrainment rate is held fixed and increases in the vertical extent of convection are taken into account. These model results together with radiosonde observations are used to support a conceptual model in which entrainment plays a role in determining the thermal stratification of the tropical atmosphere. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:35:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/85600 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:35:12Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/856002024-05-15T03:20:22Z Influence of entrainment on the thermal stratification in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium Singh, Martin Simran O'Gorman, Paul Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences O'Gorman, Paul Ambrose Singh, Martin Simran Convective available potential energy (CAPE) is shown to increase rapidly with warming in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium over a wide range of surface temperatures. The increase in CAPE implies a systematic deviation of the thermal stratification from moist adiabatic that is non-negligible at high temperatures. However, cloud buoyancy remains much smaller than what CAPE would imply because entrainment is more effective in reducing buoyancy in warmer atmospheres. An entraining plume model in the limit of zero cloud buoyancy is shown to reproduce the increase in CAPE with warming if the entrainment rate is held fixed and increases in the vertical extent of convection are taken into account. These model results together with radiosonde observations are used to support a conceptual model in which entrainment plays a role in determining the thermal stratification of the tropical atmosphere. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant AGS-1148594) 2014-03-10T20:25:18Z 2014-03-10T20:25:18Z 2013-08 2013-07 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 00948276 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85600 Singh, Martin S., and Paul A. O’Gorman. “Influence of Entrainment on the Thermal Stratification in Simulations of Radiative-Convective Equilibrium.” Geophys. Res. Lett. 40, no. 16 (August 28, 2013): 4398–4403. Copyright © 2013 American Geophysical Union https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1748-0816 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/grl.50796 Geophysical Research Letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Geophysical Union (AGU) MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Singh, Martin Simran O'Gorman, Paul Influence of entrainment on the thermal stratification in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium |
| title | Influence of entrainment on the thermal stratification in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium |
| title_full | Influence of entrainment on the thermal stratification in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium |
| title_fullStr | Influence of entrainment on the thermal stratification in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of entrainment on the thermal stratification in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium |
| title_short | Influence of entrainment on the thermal stratification in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium |
| title_sort | influence of entrainment on the thermal stratification in simulations of radiative convective equilibrium |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85600 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1748-0816 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT singhmartinsimran influenceofentrainmentonthethermalstratificationinsimulationsofradiativeconvectiveequilibrium AT ogormanpaul influenceofentrainmentonthethermalstratificationinsimulationsofradiativeconvectiveequilibrium |