The Thermodynamic Transformation of the Tropical Subcloud Layer by Precipitation and Downdrafts.

The transformation by precipitation of the well-mixed subcloud layer into a new structure which is nearly wet adiabatic and has a lower moist static energy is presented. A simple two-layer model is used to show that the precipitating convection appears to strip off the subcloud layer which ascends in updrafts, and to replace it with an equal layer of air from just above cloud base, which descends in downdrafts associated with the evaporation of falling rain. The mean transformation is presented, and the incorporation of the results into a parametric model of the transformation of the subcloud layer is discussed.

VIMHEX 1972 data

Related Topics

• Boundary Layer,
• Clouds,
• Convection,
• Thermodynamics,
• Tropics,
• VIMHEX