A budget for the size of convective self‐aggregation
Author(s)
Beucler, Tom G.; Cronin, Timothy Wallace
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There is no consensus on the physical mechanisms controlling the scale at which convective activity organizes near the Equator. Here, we introduce a diagnostic framework relating the evolution of the length‐scale of convective aggregation to the net radiative heating, the surface enthalpy flux, and horizontal energy transport. We evaluate these expansion tendencies of convective aggregation in 20 high‐resolution cloud‐permitting simulations of radiative‐convective equilibrium. While both radiative fluxes contribute to convective aggregation, the net long‐wave radiative flux operates at large scales (1,000–5,000 km) and stretches the size of moist and dry regions, while the net short‐wave flux operates at smaller scales (500–2,000 km) and shrinks it. The surface flux expansion tendency is dominated by convective gustiness, which acts to aggregate convective activity at smaller scales (500–3,000 km).
Date issued
2019-02Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; Lorenz Center (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)Journal
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
Beucler, Tom; Cronin, Timothy. "A budget for the size of convective self‐aggregation." Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 145 (2019): 947– 966. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3468
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
1477-870X
0035-9009