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| Titel |
On the relationship between open cellular convective cloud patterns and the spatial distribution of precipitation |
| VerfasserIn |
T. Yamaguchi, G. Feingold |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1680-7316
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ; 15, no. 3 ; Nr. 15, no. 3 (2015-02-05), S.1237-1251 |
| Datensatznummer |
250119388
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/acp-15-1237-2015.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Precipitation is thought to be a necessary but insufficient
condition for the transformation of stratocumulus-topped closed
cellular convection to open cellular cumuliform convection. Here we
test the hypothesis that the spatial distribution of precipitation
is a key element of the closed-to-open cell transition. A series of
idealized 3-D simulations are conducted to evaluate the
dependency of the transformation on the areal coverage of rain, and
to explore the role of interactions between multiple rainy areas in
the formation of the open cells. When rain is restricted to a small
area, even substantial rain (order few mm day−1) does not
result in a transition. With increasing areal coverage of the rain,
the transition becomes possible provided that the rain rate is
sufficiently large. When multiple small rain regions interact with
each other, the transition occurs and spreads over a wider area,
provided that the distance between the rain regions is short. When
the distance between the rain areas is large, the transition
eventually occurs, albeit slowly. For much longer distances between
rain regions the system is anticipated to remain in a closed-cell
state. These results suggest a connection to the recently
hypothesized remote control of open-cell formation.
Finally it is shown that this transition occurs along a consistent path in the phase
space of the mean vs. coefficient of variation of the liquid water path, droplet number and optical depth.
This could be used as a diagnostic
tool for global analyses of the statistics of closed- and open-cell
occurrence and transitions between them. |
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