A diagnostic study of vertical fluxes in cumulus clouds using model output data

Abstract

Midlatitude supercell, Florida sea-breeze convection, and tropical squall line simulations were performed using the Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modeling System which employed the non-hydrostatic, fully compressible, equations with parameterized microphysics. The time evolution of the vertical velocity variance (VVV) is especially interesting since it is a measure of the strength of convection. This variance exhibits striking similarities when analyzed for the aforementioned cases which may indicate that all convection is fundamentally similar. Vertical mass and moisture covariances appear strongly linked to VVV, so it may be the appropriate variable on which to base a hybrid cumulus parameterization scheme.