Details:

Journal Title:
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
Personal Author:
Wolding, Brandon ; Dias, Juliana ; Kiladis, George ; Maloney, Eric ; Branson, Mark
Wolding, Brandon ; Dias, Juliana ; Kiladis, George ; Maloney, Eric ; Branson, Mark Less -
NOAA Program & Office:
OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PSL (Physical Sciences Laboratory)
OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PSL (Physical Sciences Laboratory) Less -
Description:
The exponential increase in precipitation with increasing column saturation fraction (CSF) is used to investigate the role of moisture in convective coupling. This simple empirical relationship between precipitation and CSF is shown to capture nearly all MJO-related variability in TRMM precipitation, ~80% of equatorial Rossby wave–related variability, and ~75% of east Pacific easterly wave–related variability. In contrast, this empirical relationship only captures roughly half of TRMM precipitation variability associated with Kelvin waves, African easterly waves, and mixed Rossby–gravity waves, suggesting coupling mechanisms other than moisture are playing leading roles in these phenomena. These latter phenomena have strong adiabatically forced vertical motions that could reduce static stability and convective inhibition while simultaneously moistening, creating a more favorable convective environment. Cross-spectra of precipitation and column-integrated dry static energy show enhanced coherence and an out-of-phase relationship in the Kelvin wave, mixed Rossby–gravity wave, and eastward inertio-gravity wave bands, supporting this narrative. The cooperative modulation of precipitation by moisture and temperature anomalies is shown to shorten the convective adjustment time scale (i.e., time scale by which moisture and precipitation are relaxed toward their “background” state) of these phenomena. Speeding the removal of moisture anomalies relative to that of temperature anomalies may allow the latter to assume a more important role in driving moist static energy fluctuations, helping promote the gravity wave character of these phenomena.
Keywords:
[+]
Convective Adjustment
Convective Clouds
Intraseasonal Variability
Large-scale Motions
Tropical Variability
Waves, Atmospheric

Source:
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 77(5), 1801-1819.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-19-0226.1
Document Type:
Journal Article
Rights Information:
Other
Compliance:
Submitted
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:6239b6416e45982df8bc6710a68a1c089b97a8ce4113eb124eea38661eb95fdb
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