A model for the relationship between tropical precipitation and column water vapor
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Emanuel_A model.pdf
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Author(s)
Muller, Caroline
Back, Larissa E.
Emanuel, Kerry Andrew
O'Gorman, Paul
Date Issued
August 2009
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Muller, C. J., L. E. Back, P. A. O'Gorman, and K. A. Emanuel (2009), A model for the relationship between tropical precipitation and column water vapor, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L16804, doi:10.1029/2009GL039667. ©2009 American Geophysical Union
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Several observational studies have shown a tight relationship between tropical precipitation and column-integrated water vapor. We show that the observed relationship in the tropics between column-integrated water vapor, precipitation, and its variance can be qualitatively reproduced by a simple and physically motivated two-layer model. It has previously been argued that features of this relationship could be explained by analogy with the theory of continuous phase transitions. Instead, our model explicitly assumes that the onset of precipitation is governed by a stability threshold involving boundary-layer water vapor. This allows us to explain the precipitation-humidity relationship over a broader range of water vapor values, and may explain the observed temperature dependence of the relationship.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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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.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009gl039667
