Generalized convective quasi-equilibrium principle

Yano, J.- I. and Plant, R. S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8808-0022 (2016) Generalized convective quasi-equilibrium principle. Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, 73. pp. 10-33. ISSN 0377-0265 doi: 10.1016/j.dynatmoce.2015.11.001

Abstract/Summary

A generalization of Arakawa and Schubert's convective quasi-equilibrium principle is presented for a closure formulation of mass-flux convection parameterization. The original principle is based on the budget of the cloud work function. This principle is generalized by considering the budget for a vertical integral of an arbitrary convection-related quantity. The closure formulation includes Arakawa and Schubert's quasi-equilibrium, as well as both CAPE and moisture closures as special cases. The formulation also includes new possibilities for considering vertical integrals that are dependent on convective-scale variables, such as the moisture within convection. The generalized convective quasi-equilibrium is defined by a balance between large-scale forcing and convective response for a given vertically-integrated quantity. The latter takes the form of a convolution of a kernel matrix and a mass-flux spectrum, as in the original convective quasi-equilibrium. The kernel reduces to a scalar when either a bulk formulation is adopted, or only large-scale variables are considered within the vertical integral. Various physical implications of the generalized closure are discussed. These include the possibility that precipitation might be considered as a potentially-significant contribution to the large-scale forcing. Two dicta are proposed as guiding physical principles for the specifying a suitable vertically-integrated quantity.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-pure-test.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/48868
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.dynatmoce.2015.11.001
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Central Services Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
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