Weak Temperature Gradient Research Articles

The Role of Random Vorticity Stretching in Tropical Depression Genesis

Abstract Tropical deep convection plays a key role in the tropical depression stage of tropical cyclogenesis by aggregating vorticity, but no existing theory can depict such a stochastic vorticity aggregation process. A vorticity probability distribution function (PDF) is proposed as a tool to predict the horizontal structure and wind speed of the tropical depression. The reason lies in the tendency for a vortex to adjust to an axisymmetric and monotonic vorticity structure. Assuming deep convection as independent and uniformly distributed vortex tube stretching events in the low–midtroposphere, repetitive vortex tube stretching will make the air column area shrink many times and significantly increase vorticity. A theory of the vorticity PDF is established by modeling the random stretching process as a Markov chain. The PDF turns out to be a weighted Poisson distribution, in good agreement with a randomly forced divergent barotropic model (weak temperature gradient model), and in rough agreement with a cloud-permitting simulation. The result shows that a stronger and sparser deep convective mode tends to produce more high-vorticity air columns, which leads to a more compact major vortex with a higher maximum wind. Based on the vorticity PDF theory, a parameterization of the eddy acceleration effect on the tangential flow is proposed.

A Weak Temperature Gradient Framework to Quantify the Causes of Potential Intensity Variability in the Tropics

AbstractPotential intensity (PI) has been shown to have a linear sensitivity to sea surface temperature (SST) of about 8 m s−1 K−1, which is close to the sensitivity of PI in simulations subject to a weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation. This suggests that most of the PI variance is associated with local rather than global SST variations. We verify that PI perturbations are approximately linear in SST, with slopes of 1.8 ± 0.2 m s−1 K−1 in radiative–convective equilibrium (RCE) and 9.1 ± 0.9 m s−1 K−1 in WTG. To do so, we simulate the sensitivity of both RCE and WTG states in a single-column model (SCM) perturbed by changing in turn CO2 concentration, aerosol concentrations, prescribed SST, and surface winds speeds. While PI is much more sensitive to SST in WTG than in RCE simulations, the SST itself is much less sensitive to radiative forcing in WTG than in RCE because of the absence of strong atmospheric response. Using these results, we develop a linear model, based on SST and midlevel saturation MSE perturbations, to partition SST and PI perturbations between local components occurring under a WTG constraint and global components that are representative of an RCE state. This model explains up to 95% of the variability of PI in reanalysis. The SCM-derived linear model coefficients are statistically indistinguishable from coefficients from a linear fit of reanalysis PI to SST and midlevel saturation MSE in most ocean basins. Our model shows that North Atlantic PI variations are explained almost entirely by local forcings in recent decades.

Assessment of Lead-Lag and Spatial Changes in simulating different epochs of the Indian summer monsoon using RegCM4

The present study examines the efficacy of the regional climate model RegCM4 in depicting the onset, active, and break phases of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM). The model is driven by National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/NCAR Reanalysis 1 project (NNRP1) data of 28 years (1981–2008) for each monsoon separately. High-resolution gridded rainfall analysis dataset of India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the monsoon epochal report from National Climate Center (NCC) are used for verification. Besides assessment of model performance using qualitative methods, several standard statistical techniques are used to understand the capability of the model in representing monsoonal epochs.A relationship between the SST changes over the Niño-3.4 region and the ISM over all India and the monsoon core region (MCR) is established where a strong dependency in the rainfall variation over the MCR with the SST variation is found than all India rainfall. The performance of the model is satisfactory in portraying the spatial and temporal intraseasonal variability (ISV) of monsoon over MCR and all India regions. It is found that the model performance is higher in simulating the onset and break phases (dry days) than the active phases. The limited skill of the RegCM4 model in representing the active phase is due to the model simulated low temperature and weak pressure gradient over the MCR which prevents the convection and given rise to small and weak active phases over the region. The mechanism from the pre-onset to onset of monsoon, and the monsoon advance between the onset and the monsoon ISV is also well captured by the RegCM4. Weak tropospheric temperature gradient over the Indian subcontinent during the pre-onset period causes delay onset over the Indian subcontinent and the subsequent high tropospheric temperature gradient during the mid of June causes a faster progression of the active/break phases of monsoon. At the same time, simulation of the monsoon phase by the model is heavily regulated by the changes of SST over the Niño-3.4 region. The signal of ENSO variability, forces to the model through the ICBC, modulates the capability of the regional model in identifying the interannual and ISV of monsoon over the MCR region.

Weak Temperature Gradient Modeling of Convection in OTREC

AbstractConvection observed in the OTREC field program in the tropical east Pacific and southwest Caribbean is simulated using a cloud‐resolving model employing the weak temperature gradient approximation. Simulations are made using reference profiles derived from three‐dimensional variational analyses of dropsonde data selected for different ranges of saturation fraction, a kind of column relative humidity. For each of these humidity ranges, two simulations are performed, one with ventilation of the model domain by the ambient wind (a new model feature) and one without this ventilation. The model results using ventilation are much closer to observation than those without ventilation, especially for drier environments. These results have strong implications for the distribution of ITCZ convection in the east Pacific and for the construction of cumulus parameterizations.

Water-Soluble Non-Ionic PEGylated Porphyrins: A Versatile Category of Dyes for Basic Science and Applications.

This review arises from the need to rationalize the huge amount of information on the structural and spectroscopic properties of a peculiar class of porphyrin derivatives-the non-ionic PEGylated porphyrins-collected during almost two decades of research. The lack of charged groups in the molecular architecture of these porphyrin derivatives is the leitmotif of the work and plays an outstanding role in highlighting those interactions between porphyrins, or between porphyrins and target molecules (e.g., hydrophobic-, hydrogen bond related-, and coordination-interactions, to name just a few) that are often masked by stronger electrostatic contributions. In addition, it is exactly these weaker interactions between porphyrins that make the aggregated forms more prone to couple efficiently with external perturbative fields like weak hydrodynamic vortexes or temperature gradients. In the absence of charge, solubility in water is very often achieved by covalent functionalization of the porphyrin ring with polyethylene glycol chains. Various modifications, including of chain length or the number of chains, the presence of a metal atom in the porphyrin core, or having two or more porphyrin rings in the molecular architecture, result in a wide range of properties. These encompass self-assembly with different aggregate morphology, molecular recognition of biomolecules, and different photophysical responses, which can be translated into numerous promising applications in the sensing and biomedical field, based on turn-on/turn-off fluorescence and on photogeneration of radical species.

Trapped-electron-mode property and role for the L-H transition in L-mode edge plasmas with relatively high electron temperature and weak ion temperature gradient

When the low-confinement mode (L-mode) edge has relatively high electron temperature and weak ion temperature gradient, for example, as observed in the ECH-heated low-density plasmas, the trapped electron mode (TEM) can play an important role in the low to high confinement (L-H) transition as well as the L-mode edge transport, instead of the resistive ballooning or ion temperature gradient mode (RBM or ITG). Motivated by this, a study is first presented about, among several types of the TEM, which one is the most dominant in the above L-mode edge condition, showing that it is dominated by a mixture of the density gradient driven and dissipative TEMs. The parameter dependence of the growth rate of this dominant TEM type is then checked, showing that it has the scaling qualitatively similar to the H-mode threshold power one observed in plasmas where the TEM can be a dominant mode. Closely related to this, a discussion is also given about the L-H transition expected in plasmas where the TEM is assumed to be dominant. Unlike the typical L-H transition that is believed to occur in the RBM-dominant plasmas, it is conjectured to take place in one-step form, with no generation or negligible role of the limit-cycle-oscillation, thus requiring a larger threshold power.

Moisture Variation with Cloud Effects during a BSISO over the Eastern Maritime Continent in a Cloud-Permitting-Scale Simulation

AbstractDespite the great importance of interactions between moisture, clouds, radiation, and convection in the Madden–Julian oscillation, their role in the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) has not been well established. This study investigates the moisture variation of a BSISO during its rapid redevelopment over the eastern Maritime Continent through a cloud-permitting-scale numerical simulation. It is found that moisture variation depends closely on the evolution of clouds and precipitation. Total moisture budget analysis reveals that the deepening and strengthening (lessening) of humidity before (after) the BSISO deep convection are attributed largely to zonal advection. In addition, the column moistening/drying is mostly in phase with the humidity and is related to the maintenance of BSISO. An objective cloud-type classification method and a weak temperature gradient approximation are used to further understand the column moistening/drying. Results indicate that elevated stratiform clouds play a significant role in moistening the lower troposphere through cloud water evaporation. Decreases in deep convection condensation and reevaporation of deep stratiform precipitation induce moistening during the development and after the decay of BSISO deep convection, respectively. Meanwhile, anomalous longwave radiative heating appears first in the lower troposphere during the developing stage of BSISO, further strengthens via the increase of deep stratiform clouds, and eventually deepens with elevated stratiform clouds. Accordingly, anomalous moistening largely in phase with the humidity of BSISO toward its suppressed stage is induced via compensated ascent. Owing to the anomalous decrease in the ratio of vertical moisture and potential temperature gradients, the cloud–radiation effect is further enhanced in the convective phase of BSISO.

Idealized Aquaplanet Simulations of Tropical Cyclone Activity: Significance of Temperature Gradients, Hadley Circulation, and Zonal Asymmetry

AbstractEarlier studies have proposed many semiempirical relations between climate and tropical cyclone (TC) activity. To explore these relations, this study conducts idealized aquaplanet experiments using both symmetric and asymmetric sea surface temperature (SST) forcings. With zonally symmetric SST forcings that have a maximum at 10°N, reducing meridional SST gradients around an Earth-like reference state leads to a weakening and southward displacement of the intertropical convergence zone. With nearly flat meridional gradients, warm-hemisphere TC numbers increase by nearly 100 times due particularly to elevated high-latitude TC activity. Reduced meridional SST gradients contribute to a poleward expansion of the tropics, which is associated with a poleward migration of the latitudes where TCs form or reach their lifetime maximum intensity. However, these changes cannot be simply attributed to the poleward expansion of Hadley circulation. Introducing zonally asymmetric SST forcings tends to decrease the global TC number. Regional SST warming—prescribed with or without SST cooling at other longitudes—affects local TC activity but does not necessarily increase TC genesis. While regional warming generally suppresses TC activity in remote regions with relatively cold SSTs, one experiment shows a surprisingly large increase of TC genesis. This increase of TC genesis over relatively cold SSTs is related to local tropospheric cooling that reduces static stability near 15°N and vertical wind shear around 25°N. Modeling results are discussed with scaling analyses and have implications for the application of the “convective quasi-equilibrium and weak temperature gradient” framework.

The Elements of the Thermodynamic Structure of the Tropical Atmosphere

Understanding of the tropical atmosphere is elaborated around two elementary ideas, one being that density is homogenized on isobars, which is referred to as the weak temperature gradient (WTG), th...

Ascending Columns, WTG, and Convective Aggregation

AbstractAnalytic solutions are derived for a convecting atmosphere with mean ascent using a zero-buoyancy bulk-plume approximation for moist convection. It has been suggested that such solutions should serve as a model for the relationship between humidity, instability, and precipitation in the tropics, but it is shown here that this interpretation is incompatible with the observed weak temperature gradient (WTG). Instead, the solutions can be used to understand the atmospheric state averaged over all tropical convecting regions. Using the analytic solutions in this way, they predict the changes in humidity, instability, and precipitation as a function of the size of the moist patch in a convectively aggregated state.

Investigating Recent Changes in MJO Precipitation and Circulation in Multiple Reanalyses

AbstractRecent work using CMIP5 models under RCP8.5 suggests that individual multimodel mean changes in precipitation and wind variability associated with the Madden‐Julian oscillation (MJO) are not detectable until the end of the 21st century. However, a decrease in the ratio of MJO circulation to precipitation anomaly amplitude is detectable as early as 2021–2040, consistent with an increase in dry static stability as predicted by weak temperature gradient balance. Here, we examine MJO activity in multiple reanalyses (ERA5, MERRA‐2, and ERA‐20C) and find that MJO wind and precipitation anomaly amplitudes have a complicated time evolution over the record. However, a decrease in the ratio of MJO circulation to precipitation anomaly amplitude is detected over the observational period, consistent with the change in dry static stability. These results suggest that weak temperature gradient theory may be able to help explain changes in MJO activity in recent decades.

Tropical Precipitation Evolution in a Buoyancy-Budget Framework

AbstractObservations have shown that tropical convection is influenced by fluctuations in temperature and moisture in the lower free troposphere (LFT; 600–850 hPa), as well as moist enthalpy (ME) fluctuations beneath the 850 hPa level, referred to as the deep boundary layer (DBL; 850–1000 hPa). A framework is developed that consolidates these three quantities within the context of the buoyancy of an entraining plume. A “plume buoyancy equation” is derived based on a relaxed version of the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation. Analysis of this equation using quantities derived from the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) sounding array data reveals that processes occurring within the DBL and the LFT contribute nearly equally to the evolution of plume buoyancy, indicating that processes that occur in both layers are critical to the evolution of tropical convection. Adiabatic motions play an important role in the evolution of buoyancy both at the daily and longer time scales and are comparable in magnitude to horizontal moisture advection and vertical moist static energy advection by convection. The plume buoyancy equation may explain convective coupling at short time scales in both temperature and moisture fluctuations and can be used to complement the commonly used moist static energy budget, which emphasizes the slower evolution of the convective envelope in tropical motion systems.

Quasi-Equilibrium and Weak Temperature Gradient Balances in an Equatorial Beta-Plane Model

AbstractConvective quasi-equilibrium (QE) and weak temperature gradient (WTG) balances are frequently employed to study the tropical atmosphere. This study uses linearized equatorial beta-plane solutions to examine the relevant regimes for these balances. Wave solutions are characterized by moisture–temperature ratio (q–T ratio) and dominant thermodynamic balances. An empirically constrained precipitation closure assigns different sensitivities of convection to temperature (εt) and moisture (εq). Longwave equatorial Kelvin and Rossby waves tend toward the QE balance with q–T ratios of εt:εq that can be ~1–3. Departures from strict QE, essential to both precipitation and wave dynamics, grow with wavenumber. The propagating QE modes have reduced phase speeds because of the effective gross moist stability meff, with a further reduction when εt > 0. Moisture modes obeying the WTG balance and with large q–T ratios (>10) emerge in the shortwave regime; these modes exist with both Kelvin and Rossby wave meridional structures. In the υ = 0 case, long propagating gravity waves are absent and only emerge beyond a cutoff wavenumber. Two bifurcations in the wave solutions are identified and used to locate the spatial scales for QE–WTG transition and gravity wave emergence. These scales are governed by the competition between the convection and gravity wave adjustment times and are modulated by meff. Near-zero values of meff shift the QE–WTG transition wavenumber toward zero. Continuous transitions replace the bifurcations when meff < 0 or moisture advection/WISHE mechanisms are included, but the wavenumber-dependent QE and WTG balances remain qualitatively unaltered. Rapidly decaying convective/gravity wave modes adjust to the slowly evolving QE/WTG state in the longwave/shortwave regimes, respectively.

The Equatorial Jet Speed on Tidally Locked Planets. I. Terrestrial Planets

Abstract The atmospheric circulation of tidally locked planets is dominated by a superrotating eastward equatorial jet. We develop a predictive theory for the formation of this jet, proposing a mechanism in which the three-dimensional stationary waves induced by the day–night forcing gradient produce an equatorial acceleration. This is balanced in equilibrium by an interaction between the resulting jet and the vertical motion of the atmosphere. The three-dimensional structure of the zonal acceleration is vital to this mechanism. We demonstrate this mechanism in a hierarchy of models. We calculate the three-dimensional stationary waves induced by the forcing on these planets and show the vertical structure of the zonal acceleration produced by these waves, which we use to suggest a mechanism for how the jet forms. General circulation model simulations are used to confirm the equilibrium state predicted by this mechanism, where the acceleration from these waves is balanced by an interaction between the zonal-mean vertical velocity and the jet. We derive a simple model of this using the “Weak Temperature Gradient” approximation, which gives an estimate of the jet speed on a terrestrial tidally locked planet. We conclude that the proposed mechanism is a good description of the formation of an equatorial jet on a terrestrial tidally locked planet and should be useful for interpreting observations and simulations of these planets. The mechanism requires assumptions such as a large equatorial Rossby radius and weak acceleration due to transient waves, and a different mechanism may produce the equatorial jets on gaseous tidally locked planets.

Abrupt transitions in an atmospheric single-column model with weak temperature gradient approximation

Abstract. We document a feature of the tropical atmosphere that could be relevant to episodes of abrupt transitions in global climate that regularly occurred during the last ice age. Using a single-column model (SCM) incorporating the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation, we find that abrupt transitions occur as the sea surface temperature is steadily increased. Because these transitions arise from the interplay between local deep convection and the large-scale adjustments that are required to maintain weak temperature and pressure gradients, they are only present with the WTG approximation relevant for the tropics but may be of interest as a trigger for abrupt transitions in global climate. These transitions are marked by an abrupt change in the partitioning of rainfall between convective and large-scale (microphysics) subroutines in addition to various other features of the column, including cloudiness, vertical velocity, temperature, and humidity. We conclude that the transitions are initiated by a failure of evaporative cooling in the lower free troposphere. This leads to lower-column heating and a burst of convection that heats the upper free troposphere, increasing the large-scale rainfall rate, which allows for sufficient evaporative cooling to restabilize the column.

Sensitivity of the Atmospheric Water Cycle within the Habitable Zone of a Tidally Locked, Earth-like Exoplanet

Abstract Synchronously orbiting, tidally locked exoplanets with a dayside facing their star and a permanently dark nightside orbiting dim stars are prime candidates for habitability. Simulations of these planets often show the potential to maintain an Earth-like climate with a complete hydrological cycle. Here we examine the sensitivity of the atmospheric water cycle to changes in stellar flux and describe the main underlying mechanisms. In a slowly rotating, tidally locked Earth-like atmospheric model, the response to a small (about 10%) increase in stellar irradiance from a habitable zone control simulation is examined. The water cycle is enhanced in response to the increased stellar irradiance. While the evaporation increase behaves similarly to the stellar radiation increase, the day-to-night energy transport by the mean circulation is critical to the planet's precipitation changes. Increased efficiency of the energy transport in a warmer climate shapes the substellar precipitation increase. On the nightside, precipitation changes are weak as a result of the large cancellation between the increased energy transport and the increased longwave emission. The day-to-night energy transport efficiency is sensitive to the variation of the atmosphere's vertical stratification. Due to weak temperature gradients in the upper troposphere and a moist adiabat maintained in the substellar region, variations in the substellar surface temperature and specific humidity govern the increase of the planet’s stratification with warming. This suggests a scaling of the nightside’s precipitation based on the substellar surface thermodynamic changes, a sensitivity that holds over a wider range of stellar irradiance changes.

Slow Modes of the Equatorial Waveguide

AbstractA recently developed linear model of eastward-propagating disturbances has two separate unstable modes: convectively coupled Kelvin waves destabilized by the wind dependence of the surface enthalpy flux, and slow, MJO-like modes destabilized by cloud–radiation interaction and driven eastward by surface enthalpy fluxes. This latter mode survives the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation and has a time scale dictated by the time it takes for surface fluxes to moisten tropospheric columns. Here we extend that model to include higher-order modes and show that planetary-scale low-frequency waves with more complex structures can also be amplified by cloud–radiation interactions. While most of these waves survive the WTG approximation, their frequencies and growth rates are seriously compromised by that approximation. Applying instead the assumption of zonal geostrophy results in a better approximation to the full spectrum of modes. For small cloud–radiation and surface flux feedbacks, Kelvin waves and equatorial Rossby waves are destabilized, but when these feedbacks are strong enough, the frequencies do not lie close to classical equatorial dispersion curves except in the case of higher-frequency Kelvin and Yanai waves. An eastward-propagating n = 1 mode, in particular, has a structure resembling the observed structure of the MJO.

Influences of Local and Remote Conditions on Tropical Precipitation and Its Response to Climate Change

AbstractBy comparing a single-column model (SCM) with closely related general circulation models (GCMs), precipitation changes that can be diagnosed from local changes in surface temperature (TS) and relative humidity (RHS) are separated from more complex responses. In the SCM setup, the large-scale tropical circulation is parameterized to respond to the surface temperature departure from a prescribed environment, following the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation and using the damped gravity wave (DGW) parameterization. The SCM is also forced with moisture variations. First, it is found that most of the present-day mean tropical rainfall and circulation pattern is associated with TS and RHS patterns. Climate change experiments with the SCM are performed, imposing separately surface warming and CO2 increase. The rainfall responses to future changes in sea surface temperature patterns and plant physiology are successfully reproduced, suggesting that these are direct responses to local changes in convective instability. However, the SCM increases oceanic rainfall too much, and fails to reproduce the land rainfall decrease, both of which are associated with uniform ocean warming. It is argued that remote atmospheric teleconnections play a crucial role in both weakening the atmospheric overturning circulation and constraining precipitation changes. Results suggest that the overturning circulation weakens, both as a direct local response to increased CO2 and in response to energy-imbalance driven exchanges between ascent and descent regions.

How far poleward can the seasonal precipitation maxima over land extend under high obliquity?

The seasonal response of the poleward extent of continental precipitation maxima to high obliquity and its controlling mechanisms are examined using the NCAR-CESM and Budyko-Sellers energy balance model. In CESM, the latitude of the poleward-most continental precipitation maximum (denoted as $${\phi }_{mp})$$ migrates poleward with increased obliquity, but is limited to equatorward of the latitude of maximum daily insolation. Some insight is gained on the controlling mechanism of the migration of $${\phi }_{mp}$$ in the Budyko–Sellers model, assuming $${\phi }_{mp}$$ coinciding with the position of maximum surface moist static energy (denoted as $${\Theta }_{mp}$$) as in the present-day observation and CESM pre-industrial simulation. Heat capacity exerts a primary control on $${\phi }_{mp}$$ such that $${\phi }_{mp}$$ is determined by the position of maxima of accumulated insolation over the radiative relaxation time and therefore lies equatorward of the maximum daily insolation. Variations of surface albedo and horizontal heat transport, as secondary effects, further shift the $${\phi }_{mp}$$. This understanding from the Budyko-Sellers model, however, fails in CESM in the case of high obliquity of 40°, with $${\phi }_{mp}$$ now lying equatorward of $${\Theta }_{mp}$$. This separation between $${\phi }_{mp}$$ and $${\Theta }_{mp}$$ is explained by the constraint of rotation on the latitudinal range of weak temperature gradients, which is the prerequisite for the prediction of $${\phi }_{mp}$$ from $${\Theta }_{mp}$$. When the rotation rate is reduced, the latitudinal range of weak temperature gradients expands poleward roughly following the change of the equatorial Rossby radius, allowing $${\phi }_{mp}$$ moving close to $${\Theta }_{mp}$$.

Why Is it So Cold in Here? Explaining the Cold Temperatures Retrieved from Transmission Spectra of Exoplanet Atmospheres

Abstract Transmission spectroscopy is a powerful technique widely used to probe exoplanet terminators. Atmospheric retrievals of transmission spectra are enabling comparative studies of exoplanet atmospheres. However, the atmospheric properties inferred by retrieval techniques display a significant anomaly: most retrieved temperatures are far colder than expected. In some cases, retrieved temperatures are colder than . Here, we provide an explanation for this conundrum. We demonstrate that erroneously cold temperatures result when 1D atmospheric models are applied to spectra of planets with differing morning–evening terminator compositions. Despite providing an acceptable fit, 1D retrieval techniques artificially tune atmospheric parameters away from terminator-averaged properties. Retrieved temperature profiles are hundreds of degrees cooler and have weaker temperature gradients than reality. Retrieved abundances are mostly biased by and sometimes by , with the most extreme biases for ultra-hot Jupiters. When morning–evening compositional differences manifest for prominent opacity sources, H2O abundances retrieved by 1D models can be biased by over an order of magnitude. Finally, we demonstrate that these biases provide an explanation for the cold retrieved temperatures reported for WASP-17b and WASP-12b. To overcome biases associated with 1D atmospheric models, there is an urgent need to develop multidimensional retrieval techniques.