Convective Momentum Transport Research Articles

Convective Organization in Evolving Large-Scale Forcing Represented by a Highly Truncated Numerical Archetype

Abstract Considered as a prognostic generalization of mass-flux-based convection parameterization, the highly truncated nonhydrostatic anelastic model with segmentally constant approximation (NAM–SCA) is tested with time-evolving large-scale forcing. The 20-day GATE Phase III period is taken as a major data source. The main advantage of the NAM–SCA parameterization is consistency with subgrid-scale dynamics as represented by the nonhydrostatic anelastic formulation. The approach explicitly generates important dynamical structures of convection (e.g., mesoscale circulations, cold pools) spontaneously without further tuning or treatment as additional subcomponents. As with other convection parameterizations, the numerical simulation of the precipitation rate, the apparent heat source, and the apparent moisture sink is straightforward and reasonably insensitive to the numerical procedures. However, convective momentum transport by organized convection turns out to be difficult even with NAM–SCA, especially for the inherently three-dimensional shear-parallel systems. Modifications of NAM–SCA regarding the large-scale forcing formulation improves the mesoscale momentum transport. Simulation of the full 120-day TOGA COARE period demonstrates the performance of NAM–SCA in different meteorological conditions and its capacity to operate over a longer time period.

Analysis of Cloud-Resolving Model Simulations for Scale Dependence of Convective Momentum Transport.

We use 3-D cloud-resolving model (CRM) simulations of two mesoscale convective systems at mid-latitudes and a simple statistical ensemble method to diagnose the scale dependency of convective momentum transport (CMT) and CMT-related properties, and evaluate a parameterization scheme for convection-induced pressure gradient (CIPG) developed by Gregory et al. (GKI97). GKI97 relates CIPG to a constant coefficient multiplied by mass flux and vertical mean wind shear. CRM results show that mass fluxes and CMT exhibit strong scale dependency in temporal evolution and vertical structure. The prevalent understandings of CMT characteristics in terms of upgradient/downgradient transport are applicable to updrafts but not downdrafts across a wide range of grid spacings (4-512 km). For the small-to-median grid spacings (4~64 km), GKI97 reproduces some aspects of CIPG scale dependency except for underestimating the variations of CIPG as grid spacing decreases. However, for large grid spacings (128~512 km), GKI97 might even less adequately parameterize CIPG because it omits the contribution from either the nonlinear shear or buoyancy forcings. Further diagnosis of CRM results suggests that inclusion of nonlinear shear forcing in GKI97 is needed for the large grid spacings, and use of the three-updraft and one downdraft approach proposed in an earlier study may help a modified GKI97 capture more variations of CIPG as grid spacing decreases for the small-to-median grid spacings. Further, the optimal coefficients used in GKI97 seems insensitive to grid spacings, but they might be different for updrafts and downdrafts, for different MCS types, and for zonal and meridional components.

Sensitivity of Coupled Tropical Pacific Model Biases to Convective Parameterization in CESM1

AbstractSix month coupled hindcasts show the central equatorial Pacific cold tongue bias development in a GCM to be sensitive to the atmospheric convective parameterization employed. Simulations using the standard configuration of the Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1) develop a cold bias in equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) within the first two months of integration due to anomalous ocean advection driven by overly strong easterly surface wind stress along the equator. Disabling the deep convection parameterization enhances the zonal pressure gradient leading to stronger zonal wind stress and a stronger equatorial SST bias, highlighting the role of pressure gradients in determining the strength of the cold bias. Superparameterized hindcasts show reduced SST bias in the cold tongue region due to a reduction in surface easterlies despite simulating an excessively strong low‐level jet at 1‐1.5 km elevation. This reflects inadequate vertical mixing of zonal momentum from the absence of convective momentum transport in the superparameterized model. Standard CESM1simulations modified to omit shallow convective momentum transport reproduce the superparameterized low‐level wind bias and associated equatorial SST pattern. Further superparameterized simulations using a three‐dimensional cloud resolving model capable of producing realistic momentum transport simulate a cold tongue similar to the default CESM1. These findings imply convective momentum fluxes may be an underappreciated mechanism for controlling the strength of the equatorial cold tongue. Despite the sensitivity of equatorial SST to these changes in convective parameterization, the east Pacific double‐Intertropical Convergence Zone rainfall bias persists in all simulations presented in this study.

Upscale Impact of Mesoscale Disturbances of Tropical Convection on Convectively Coupled Kelvin Waves

Tropical convection associated with convectively coupled Kelvin waves (CCKWs) is typically organized by an eastward-moving synoptic-scale convective envelope with numerous embedded westward-moving mesoscale disturbances. Such a multiscale structure of tropical convection is a challenge for present-day cloud-resolving simulations and its representation in global climate models. It is of central importance to assess the upscale impact of mesoscale disturbances on CCKWs as mesoscale disturbances propagate at various tilt angles and speeds. Besides, it is still poorly understood whether the front-to-rear-tilted vertical structure of CCKWs can be induced by the upscale impact of mesoscale disturbances in the presence of upright mean heating. Here, a simple multiscale model is used to capture this multiscale structure, where mesoscale fluctuations are directly driven by mesoscale heating and synoptic-scale circulation is forced by mean heating and eddy transfer of momentum and temperature. The results show that the upscale impact of mesoscale disturbances that propagate at tilt angles of 110°–250° induces negative lower-tropospheric potential temperature anomalies in the leading edge, providing favorable conditions for shallow convection in a moist environment, while the remaining tilt-angle cases have opposite effects. Even in the presence of upright mean heating, the front-to-rear-tilted synoptic-scale circulation can still be induced by eddy terms at tilt angles of 120°–240°. In the case with fast-propagating mesoscale heating, positive potential temperature anomalies are induced in the lower troposphere, suppressing convection in a moist environment. This simple model also reproduces convective momentum transport and CCKWs in agreement with results from a recent cloud-resolving simulation.

Shear-Parallel Mesoscale Convective Systems in a Moist Low-Inhibition Mei-Yu Front Environment

Abstract Numerical simulations are performed to investigate organized convection observed in the Asian summer monsoon and documented as a category of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) over the U.S. continent during the warm season. In an idealized low-inhibition and unidirectional shear environment of the mei-yu moisture front, the structure of the simulated organized convection is distinct from that occurring in the classical quasi-two-dimensional, shear-perpendicular, and trailing stratiform (TS) MCS. Consisting of four airflow branches, a three-dimensional, eastward-propagating, downshear-tilted, shear-parallel MCS builds upshear by initiating new convection at its upstream end. The weak cold pool in the low-inhibition environment negligibly affects convection initiation, whereas convectively generated gravity waves are vital. Upstream-propagating gravity waves form a saturated or near-saturated moist tongue, and downstream-propagating waves control the initiation and growth of convection within a preexisting cloud layer. A sensitivity experiment wherein the weak cold pool is removed entirely intensifies the MCS and its interaction with the environment. The horizontal scale, rainfall rate, convective momentum transport, and transverse circulation are about double the respective value in the control simulation. The positive sign of the convective momentum transport contrasts with the negative sign for an eastward-propagating TS MCS. The structure of the simulated convective systems resembles shear-parallel organization in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).

Insights into convective momentum transport and its parametrization from idealized simulations of organized convection

Deep convection is a multiscale process that influences the budgets of heat, moisture and momentum significantly. In global climate models, the thermodynamic effects of convection are normally treated by parametrization schemes, with a separate formulation for convective momentum transport (CMT). The schemes for current thermodynamic and momentum parametrizations are based on upright entraining plume models that do not account for vertically tilted mesoscale circulations, which characterize organized convection in sheared environments. The associated countergradient vertical transport of horizontal momentum fundamentally affects dynamical interactions between the convection and the mean flow. This study examines the CMT properties of simulated idealized mesoscale convective systems, including their sensitivity to horizontal resolution, domain size and lateral boundary conditions. It is found that, even for large domains, the horizontal gradient terms are important, especially the mesoscale pressure gradients, which are neglected in CMT parametrizations. A nonlinear analytic model provides a dynamical foundation for the effects of convective organization, including the role of the horizontal pressure gradient. It is found that a small computational domain affects the convective organization adversely by generating artificially large compensating subsidence and an unrealistic evolution of CMT. Finally, analyses of the cross‐updraught/downdraught pressure gradients expose significant uncertainties in their representation in contemporary CMT parametrization schemes.

A novel consistent and well-balanced algorithm for simulations of multiphase flows on unstructured grids

We discuss the development and assessment of a robust numerical algorithm for simulating multiphase flows with complex interfaces and high density ratios on arbitrary polygonal meshes. The algorithm combines the volume-of-fluid method with an incremental projection approach for incompressible multiphase flows in a novel hybrid staggered/non-staggered framework. The key principles that characterise the algorithm are the consistent treatment of discrete mass and momentum transport and the similar discretisation of force terms appearing in the momentum equation. The former is achieved by invoking identical schemes for convective transport of volume fraction and momentum in the respective discrete equations while the latter is realised by representing the gravity and surface tension terms as gradients of suitable scalars which are then discretised in identical fashion resulting in a balanced formulation. The hybrid staggered/non-staggered framework employed herein solves for the scalar normal momentum at the cell faces, while the volume fraction is computed at the cell centroids. This is shown to naturally lead to similar terms for pressure and its correction in the momentum and pressure correction equations respectively, which are again treated discretely in a similar manner. We show that spurious currents that corrupt the solution may arise both from an unbalanced formulation where forces (gravity and surface tension) are discretised in dissimilar manner and from an inconsistent approach where different schemes are used to convect the mass and momentum, with the latter prominent in flows which are convection-dominant with high density ratios. Interestingly, the inconsistent approach is shown to perform as well as the consistent approach even for high density ratio flows in some cases while it exhibits anomalous behaviour for other scenarios, even at low density ratios. Using a plethora of test problems of increasing complexity, we conclusively demonstrate that the consistent transport and balanced force treatment results in a numerically stable solution procedure and physically consistent results. The algorithm proposed in this study qualifies as a robust approach to simulate multiphase flows with high density ratios on unstructured meshes and may be realised in existing flow solvers with relative ease.

Simulation, Modeling, and Dynamically Based Parameterization of Organized Tropical Convection for Global Climate Models

Abstract A new approach for treating organized convection in global climate models (GCMs) referred to as multiscale coherent structure parameterization (MCSP) introduces physical and dynamical effects of organized convection that are missing from contemporary parameterizations. The effects of vertical shear are approximated by a nonlinear slantwise overturning model based on Lagrangian conservation principles. Simulation of the April 2009 Madden–Julian oscillation event during the Year of Tropical Convection (YOTC) over the Indian Ocean using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model at 1.3-km grid spacing identifies self-similar properties for squall lines, MCSs, and superclusters embedded in equatorial waves. The slantwise overturning model approximates this observed self-similarity. The large-scale effects of MCSP are examined in two categories of GCM. First, large-scale convective systems simulated in an aquaplanet model are approximated by slantwise overturning with attention to convective momentum transport. Second, MCSP is utilized in the Community Atmosphere Model, version 5.5 (CAM5.5), as tendency equations for second-baroclinic heating and convective momentum transport. The difference between MCSP and CAM5.5 is a direct measure of the global effects of organized convection. Consistent with TRMM measurements, the MCSP generates large-scale precipitation patterns in the tropical warm pool and the adjoining locale; improves precipitation in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ), and Maritime Continent regions; and affects tropical wave modes. In conclusion, the treatment of organized convection by MCSP is salient for the next generation of GCMs.

Vertical Momentum Transports Associated with Moist Convection and Gravity Waves in a Minimal Model of QBO-like Oscillation

Abstract A self-sustained oscillation dynamically analogous to the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) was obtained as a radiative–moist-convective quasi-equilibrium state in a minimal model of the stratosphere–troposphere coupled system, which is a two-dimensional cloud-system-resolving nonhydrostatic model with a periodic lateral boundary condition. The QBO-like oscillation shows downward propagation of the zonal mean signals in the stratosphere. In addition, in the troposphere there are periodic variations associated with the QBO-like oscillation, including organized features of moist-convective systems characterized as squall-line- or back-building-type precipitation patterns. Details of the momentum budget variation are examined to study the stratosphere–troposphere dynamical coupling associated with the QBO-like oscillation. The vertical flux of horizontal momentum is separated into three contributions of convective momentum transport (CMT) and momentum transports by upward- and downward-propagating gravity waves—that is, upward and downward gravity wave momentum transports (GWMTs)—and the time–height variations of each contribution are evaluated quantitatively. The method is based on the linear theory of gravity waves to separate upward- and non-upward-propagating contributions and uses the phase speed spectra of the total cloud mixing ratio to identify the CMT contribution. The upward GWMT predominates in the stratosphere and contributes to the acceleration of the zonal mean zonal wind. The CMT and downward GWMT are confined to the troposphere, and the former predominates. The variations of the mean zonal wind modulate the organization of convective systems, and the squall-line- and back-building-type patterns appear alternately. According to the modulation of convective systems, the spectral features of every momentum transport vary periodically.

Numerical Archetypal Parameterization for Mesoscale Convective Systems

Abstract Vertical shear commonly organizes atmospheric convection into coherent multiscale structures. The associated countergradient vertical transport of horizontal momentum by organized convection can enhance the wind shear and transport kinetic energy upscale. However, organized convection and its upscale effects are not represented by traditional mass-flux-based parameterizations. The present paper sets the archetypal dynamical models, originally formulated by the second author, into a parameterization context by utilizing a nonhydrostatic anelastic model with segmentally constant approximation (NAM–SCA). Using a two-dimensional framework as a starting point, NAM–SCA spontaneously generates propagating tropical squall lines in a sheared environment. High numerical efficiency is achieved through a novel compression methodology. The numerically generated archetypes produce vertical profiles of convective momentum transport that are consistent with the analytic archetype.

Exploring the Role of Eddy Momentum Fluxes in Determining the Characteristics of the Equinoctial Hadley Circulation: Fixed-SST Simulations

Abstract The influence of eddy momentum fluxes on the equinoctial Hadley circulation is explored using idealized simulations on an equatorial beta plane in which the sea surface temperature (SST) distribution is fixed. By comparing simulations run in a wide-domain configuration, in which large-scale eddies are present, to simulations in which the model domain is too narrow to permit baroclinic instability, the role of large-scale eddies in determining the characteristics of the Hadley circulation is elucidated. The simulations also include an explicit representation of deep convection, allowing for an evaluation of the influence of convective momentum transport on the zonal-mean circulation. The simulated eddy momentum fluxes are much weaker in the narrow-domain configuration than in the wide-domain case, and convective momentum transport is found to be of secondary importance. As a result, many characteristics of the narrow-domain Hadley circulation are well described by axisymmetric theory and differ from those of the wide-domain case. Nevertheless, the strength of the Hadley circulation is similar irrespective of the domain width. The sensitivity of this result to the strength of the eddy forcing is investigated using narrow-domain simulations forced by artificial sinks of zonal momentum. As the magnitude of the momentum sink increases, the Hadley circulation strengthens, but the increase is relatively modest except at very strong forcing magnitudes. The results suggest that the fixed-SST boundary condition places a strong thermodynamic constraint on the Hadley circulation strength and that one should consider the energy budget as well as the angular momentum budget in order to fully understand the influence of large-scale eddies on the zonal-mean circulation in the tropics.

Models for Multiscale Interactions. Part II: Madden–Julian Oscillation, Moisture, and Convective Momentum Transport

Abstract It is well known that the envelope of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) consists of smaller-scale convective systems, including mesoscale convective systems (MCS), tropical cyclones, and synoptic-scale waves called “convectively coupled equatorial waves” (CCW). In fact, recent results suggest that the fundamental mechanisms of the MJO involve interactions between the synoptic-scale CCW and their larger-scale environment (Majda and Stechmann). In light of this, this chapter reviews recent and past work on two-way interactions between convective systems—both MCSs and CCW—and their larger-scale environment, with a particular focus given to recent work on MJO–CCW interactions.

Convective Momentum Transport Associated with the Madden–Julian Oscillation Based on a Reanalysis Dataset

Abstract A better understanding of multiscale interactions within the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), including momentum exchanges, is critical for improved MJO prediction skill. In this study, convective momentum transport (CMT) associated with the MJO is analyzed based on the NOAA Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR). A three-layer vertical structure associated with the MJO, as previously suggested in the mesoscale momentum tendency profile based on global cloud-resolving model simulations, is evident in the subgrid-scale momentum tendency from the CFSR. Positive (negative) subgrid-scale momentum tendency anomalies are found near the surface, negative (positive) anomalies are found in the low to midtroposphere, and positive (negative) anomalies in the upper troposphere are found within and to the west (east) of the MJO convection. This tends to damp the MJO circulation in the free atmosphere, while enhancing MJO winds near the surface. In addition, it could also reduce the MJO eastward propagation speed and lead to the backward tilt with height in the observed MJO structure through a secondary circulation near the MJO center. Further analyses illustrate that this three-layer vertical structure in subgrid-scale momentum tendency largely balances the grid-scale momentum transport of the zonal wind component u, mainly through the transport of seasonal mean u by the MJO-scale vertical motion. Synoptic-scale systems, which were previously proposed to be essential for the u-momentum transport of the MJO, however, are found to play a minor role for the total grid-scale momentum tendency. The above momentum tendency structure is also confirmed with the ECMWF analysis for the Year of Tropical Convection (YOTC) that lends confidence to these above results based on the CFSR.

Roles of Barotropic Convective Momentum Transport in the Intraseasonal Oscillation*

Abstract Both observational data analysis and model simulations suggest that convective momentum transport (CMT) by cumulus convection may play a significant role in the intraseasonal oscillations (ISO) by redistributing atmospheric momentum vertically through fast convective mixing process. The authors present a simple theoretical model for the ISO by parameterizing the cumulus momentum transport process in which the CMT tends to produce barotropic wind anomalies that will affect the frictional planetary boundary layer (PBL). In the model with equatorial easterly vertical wind shear (VWS), it is found that the barotropic CMT tends to select most unstable planetary-scale waves because CMT suppresses the equatorial Ekman pumping of short waves, which reduces the shortwave instability from the PBL moisture convergence and accelerates the shortwave propagation. The model with subtropical easterly VWS has behavior that can be qualitatively different from the model with equatorial easterly VWS and has robust northward propagation. The basic mechanism of this northward propagation is that the CMT accelerates the barotropic cyclonic wind to the north of ISO, which will enhance the precipitation by PBL Ekman pumping and favor the northward propagation. The simulated northward propagation is sensitive to the strength and location of the seasonal-mean easterly VWS. These results suggest that accurate simulation of the climatological-mean state is critical for reproducing the realistic ISO in general circulation models.

A strategy for representing the effects of convective momentum transport in multiscale models: Evaluation using a new superparameterized version of the Weather Research and Forecast model (SP‐WRF)

AbstractThis paper describes a general method for the treatment of convective momentum transport (CMT) in large‐scale dynamical solvers that use a cyclic, two‐dimensional (2‐D) cloud‐resolving model (CRM) as a “superparameterization” of convective‐system‐scale processes. The approach is similar in concept to traditional parameterizations of CMT, but with the distinction that both the scalar transport and diagnostic pressure gradient force are calculated using information provided by the 2‐D CRM. No assumptions are therefore made concerning the role of convection‐induced pressure gradient forces in producing up or down‐gradient CMT. The proposed method is evaluated using a new superparameterized version of the Weather Research and Forecast model (SP‐WRF) that is described herein for the first time. Results show that the net effect of the formulation is to modestly reduce the overall strength of the large‐scale circulation, via “cumulus friction.” This statement holds true for idealized simulations of two types of mesoscale convective systems, a squall line, and a tropical cyclone, in addition to real‐world global simulations of seasonal (1 June to 31 August) climate. In the case of the latter, inclusion of the formulation is found to improve the depiction of key synoptic modes of tropical wave variability, in addition to some aspects of the simulated time‐mean climate. The choice of CRM orientation is also found to importantly affect the simulated time‐mean climate, apparently due to changes in the explicit representation of wide‐spread shallow convective regions.

MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION IN SOLAR AND STELLAR CONVECTION ZONES

We present a series of 3-D nonlinear simulations of solar-like convection, carried out using the Anelastic Spherical Harmonic (ASH) code, that are designed to isolate those processes that drive and shape meridional circulations within stellar convection zones. These simulations have been constructed so as to span the transition between solar-like differential rotation (fast equator/slow poles) and ``anti-solar' differential rotation (slow equator/fast poles). Solar-like states of differential rotation, arising when convection is rotationally constrained, are characterized by a very different convective Reynolds stress than anti-solar regimes, wherein convection only weakly senses the Coriolis force. We find that the angular momentum transport by convective Reynolds stress plays a central role in establishing the meridional flow profiles in these simulations. We find that the transition from single-celled to multi-celled meridional circulation profiles in strong and weak regimes of rotational constraint is linked to a change in the convective Reynolds stress, a clear demonstration of gyroscopic pumping. Latitudinal thermal variations differ between these different regimes, with those in the solar-like regime conspiring to suppress a single cell of meridional circulation, whereas the cool poles and warm equator established in the anti-solar states tend to promote single-celled circulations. Though the convective angular momentum transport becomes radially inward at mid-latitudes in anti-solar regimes, it is the meridional circulation that is primarily responsible for establishing a rapidly-rotating pole. We conclude with a discussion of how these results relate to the Sun, and suggest that the Sun may lie near the transition between rapidly-rotating and slowly-rotating regimes.

An improved correlation of the pressure drop in stenotic vessels using Lorentz’s reciprocal theorem

A mathematical model of the human cardiovascular system in conjunction with an accurate lumped model for a stenosis can provide better insights into the pressure wave propagation at pathological conditions. In this study, a theoretical relation between pressure drop and flow rate based on Lorentz’s reciprocal theorem is derived, which offers an identity to describe the relevance of the geometry and the convective momentum transport to the drag force. A voxel-based simulator V-FLOW VOF3D, where the vessel geometry is expressed by using volume of fluid (VOF) functions, is employed to find the flow distribution in an idealized stenosis vessel and the identity was validated numerically. It is revealed from the correlation that the pressure drop of NS flow in a stenosis vessel can be decomposed into a linear term caused by Stokes flow with the same boundary conditions, and two nonlinear terms. Furthermore, the linear term for the pressure drop of Stokes flow can be summarized as a correlation by using a modified equation of lubrication theory, which gives favorable results compared to the numerical ones. The contribution of the nonlinear terms to the pressure drop was analyzed numerically, and it is found that geometric shape and momentum transport are the primary factors for the enhancement of drag force. This work paves a way to simulate the blood flow and pressure propagation under different stenosis conditions by using 1D mathematical model.

An Improved Atmospheric Component of Zebiak-Cane Model for Simulating ENSO Winds

The atmospheric component of the Zebiak-Cane (ZC) coupled model is a simple elegant framework that plays an instrumental role in the investigation of the fundamental coupled dynamics of the tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction and the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. We attempt two simple thermal and dynamical modifications to reduce apparently spurious wind activities simulated by this atmospheric model in the eastern tropical Pacific under ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly forcing. First, motivated by established observational evidences, we manipulate the anomalous convective heating to be dependent on the sum of mean SST and SST anomalies and the low-level convergence. Second, we add an ad hoc parameterization for the effect of convective momentum transport (CMT) into the zonal momentum balance.

Response of Atmospheric Convection to Vertical Wind Shear: Cloud-System-Resolving Simulations with Parameterized Large-Scale Circulation. Part I: Specified Radiative Cooling

Abstract It is well known that vertical wind shear can organize deep convective systems and greatly extend their lifetimes. Much less is known about the influence of shear on the bulk properties of tropical convection in statistical equilibrium. To address the latter question, the authors present a series of cloud-resolving simulations on a doubly periodic domain with parameterized large-scale dynamics based on the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation. The horizontal-mean horizontal wind is relaxed strongly in these simulations toward a simple unidirectional linear vertical shear profile in the troposphere. The strength and depth of the shear layer are varied as control parameters. Surface enthalpy fluxes are prescribed. The results fall in two distinct regimes. For weak wind shear, time-averaged rainfall decreases with shear and convection remains disorganized. For larger wind shear, rainfall increases with shear, as convection becomes organized into linear mesoscale systems. This nonmonotonic dependence of rainfall on shear is observed when the imposed surface fluxes are moderate. For larger surface fluxes, convection in the unsheared basic state is already strongly organized, but increasing wind shear still leads to increasing rainfall. In addition to surface rainfall, the impacts of shear on the parameterized large-scale vertical velocity, convective mass fluxes, cloud fraction, and momentum transport are also discussed.

Impact of convective momentum transport by deep convection on simulation of tropical intraseasonal oscillation

This paper focuses on the impacts of convective momentum transport (CMT) on simulations of the tropical intraseasonal oscillation (TIO) in SAMIL. Two sets of experiments are performed, which give different reality of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). The Tiedtke cumulus parameterization scheme is used for all experiments. It is found that simulations of the TIO can be influenced by CMT, and the impacts on the simulated TIO depend on the model capability in simulating the MJO. CMT tends to have large influences to the model that can simulate the eastward propagation of the MJO. CMT can further influence the long-term mean of zonal wind and its vertical shear. Zonal wind suffers from easterlies biases at low level and westerlies biases at upper level when CMT is introduced. Such easterlies biases at low level reduce the reality of the simulated tropical intraseasonal oscillation. When CMT is introduced in the model, MJO signals disappear but the model’s mean state improves. Therefore, a more appropriate way is needed to introduce CMT to the model to balance the simulated mean state and TIO signals.