Relative Contributions of Surface Parcel and Atmospheric Environment to Convective Potential during Interstorm Periods
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hydr-JHM-D-25-0045.1.pdf
Description
Published version
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11.78 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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Author(s)
Zhang, Michelle S
Turner, David D
Entekhabi, Dara
Date Issued
October 1, 2025
Journal
Journal of Hydrometeorology
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Citation
Zhang, M. S., D. D. Turner, and D. Entekhabi, 2025: Relative Contributions of Surface Parcel and Atmospheric Environment to Convective Potential during Interstorm Periods. J. Hydrometeor., 26, 1395–1406.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Convective instability is affected by both surface heat fluxes into near-surface air parcels and the atmospheric profile encountered as these air parcels are lifted aloft. In this study, we investigate the evolution of buoyancy experienced by surface-based parcels, taking interstorm soil moisture drydowns as fundamental time periods. We use profile observations of atmospheric temperature and humidity from ground-based passive remote sensing and in situ observations available at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma, United States, and examine drydown events during the warm seasons from 2017 to 2022. Results reveal new insights on the emergence and growth of convective available potential energy (CAPE) during drydowns. We observe that the peak convective potential appears in the afternoon and grows in the midtroposphere (68% of 66 drydown events), with the largest CAPE values toward the end of the drydown event. We also find that the near-surface parcel contributes more to the evolution of CAPE than the atmospheric environment (86% of drydown events). These findings highlight the importance of surface heat fluxes and moisture availability from surface-based parcels in modulating the evolution of atmospheric conditions favorable for convection, underscoring the interplay between surface processes and atmospheric dynamics in driving convective instability.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-25-0045.1
