Dataset associated with "Controls on the Development and Circulation of Terminal versus Transient Congestus Clouds and Implications for Midlevel Aerosol Transport"

Leung, Gabrielle R.; van den Heever, Susan C.

Dataset associated with "Controls on the Development and Circulation of Terminal versus Transient Congestus Clouds and Implications for Midlevel Aerosol Transport"

dc.contributor.author	Leung, Gabrielle R.
dc.contributor.author	van den Heever, Susan C.
dc.date.accessioned	2021-11-29T18:29:11Z
dc.date.available	2021-11-29T18:29:11Z
dc.date.issued	2021
dc.description	These data represent the model namelist and source codes used to generate idealized large eddy simulations of congestus clouds using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) version 6.3.02.	en_US
dc.description	Department of Atmospheric Science
dc.description.abstract	Cumulus congestus is the middle mode of tropical convection, with cloud tops typically around or exceeding the 0ºC freezing level (~5km AGL). While some congestus are terminal, meaning they are capped by the freezing level inversion, others are transient and may develop into deep convection. Although this distinction impacts convective transport into the mid-troposphere and the congestus-to-deep convection transition, little is understood about what determines whether a congestus overshoots the freezing level. We simulate a field of tropical congestus using high-resolution idealized model simulations, identify and track the updrafts, and composite congestus properties. Congestus updrafts are characterized by a similar overturning circulation between the updraft and its surrounding subsiding shell. However, transient congestus have stronger updrafts, and the downward branch of their corresponding circulations are found to be constrained by the freezing level inversion. The balance between buoyancy and perturbation pressure gradient accelerations is shown to determine the shape of the vertical velocity profile, though horizontal advection also impacts the magnitude of vertical velocity especially for mature transient congestus. Previous studies have focused on buoyancy as a control on congestus height, but we find that perturbation pressure gradient accelerations are equally important in allowing congestus to overshoot the freezing level. Finally, we explore how congestus updrafts influence their near environment: terminal congestus regenerate more aerosol through evaporation along their edges, while transient congestus create stronger detrainment layers of aerosol and water vapor in the midlevels due to regenerated aerosol being trapped above the freezing level stable layer.	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	This work was supported by NASA CAMP2Ex Grant 80NSSC18K0149.	en_US
dc.format.medium	TAR
dc.format.medium	TXT
dc.format.medium	Source Code
dc.format.medium	HDF5
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10217/234037
dc.identifier.uri	http://dx.doi.org/10.25675/10217/234037
dc.language	English	en_US
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher	Colorado State University. Libraries	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Research Data
dc.relation.isreferencedby	Leung, G. R., and S. C. van den Heever, 2022: Controls on the Development and Circulation of Terminal versus Transient Congestus Clouds and Implications for Midlevel Aerosol Transport. J. Atmos. Sci., 79, 3083–3101, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-21-0314.1.	en_US
dc.rights	The RAMS Model source code is distributed under a GNU General Public License (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html).
dc.rights.license	This material is open access and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
dc.subject	cloud	en_US
dc.subject	cumulus congestus	en_US
dc.subject	momentum budget	en_US
dc.subject	convective transport	en_US
dc.subject	numerical modeling	en_US
dc.subject	large eddy simulation	en_US
dc.title	Dataset associated with "Controls on the Development and Circulation of Terminal versus Transient Congestus Clouds and Implications for Midlevel Aerosol Transport"	en_US
dc.type	Dataset	en_US