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Convection in TOGA COARE: horizontal scale, morphology, and rainfall production

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dc.contributor.authorRickenbach, Thomas M., author
dc.date.accessioned2022-02-24T18:45:35Z
dc.date.available2022-02-24T18:45:35Z
dc.date.issued1996-11
dc.descriptionNovember 1996.
dc.descriptionAlso issued as author's dissertation (Ph.D.) -- Colorado State University, 1996.
dc.description.abstractShipboard radar data collected during the recent Tropical Oceans - Global Atmospheres Coupled Ocean - Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) provided an unprecedented view of convection in the western Pacific warm pool, a region of global climatological significance. Previous studies have shown that the vertical transport of heat and momentum by convection differs with the scale and organization of precipitating systems. The relative importance of these transports by mesoscale convective systems (MCS) versus smaller groups of convective clouds over the tropical oceans is not well understood. The goal of this study is to understand the variability of warm pool rainfall production in terms of the horizontal scale and morphology of convective systems. This variability is examined in the context of the kinematic and thermodynamic state of the environment. Furthermore, high frequency convective variability (1-5 days) is studied in detail. It is found that although most of the rainfall is associated with MCS scale systems, unorganized isolated convection was most common and produces a significant fraction of the total rainfall. Although MCS scale heating dominated the COARE mean, distinct sub-MCS scale events heating occurred more frequently. Environmental moisture profiles distinguished between modes of convective organization more clearly than wind profiles. Furthermore, the weak diurnal variation of rainfall was found to result from the superposition of stronger, distinct diurnal rainfall variability associated with each mode of organization. These results are important to the refinement of convective parameterizations in global climate models.
dc.description.sponsorshipSponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under grant NA90RAH00077 and NA37J0202.
dc.format.mediumreports
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/234398
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relationCatalog record number (MMS ID): 991001526169703361
dc.relationQC852 .C6 no. 630
dc.relation.ispartofAtmospheric Science Papers (Blue Books)
dc.relation.ispartofAtmospheric science paper, no. 630
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectConvection (Meteorology)
dc.subjectAtmospheric circulation
dc.subjectRain and rainfall
dc.titleConvection in TOGA COARE: horizontal scale, morphology, and rainfall production
dc.typeText
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