Statistical properties of a cloud ensemble - A numerical study

Abstract

The statistical properties of cloud ensembles under a specified large-scale environment, such as mass flux by cloud drafts and vertical velocity as well as the condensation and evaporation associated with these cloud drafts, are examined using a three-dimensional numerical cloud ensemble model described by Soong and Ogura (1980) and Tao and Soong (1986). The cloud drafts are classified as active and inactive, and separate contributions to cloud statistics in areas of different cloud activity are then evaluated. The model results compare well with results obtained from aircraft measurements of a well-organized ITCZ rainband that occurred on August 12, 1974, during the Global Atmospheric Research Program's Atlantic Tropical Experiment.