Convective influence of the heat balance of the tropical tropopause layer:
A cloud-resolving model study.
Kuang, Z., and C. S. Bretherton
J. Atmos. Sci., accepted.
Abstract
The tropical tropopause layer (TTL), and in particular the cold point tropopause,
has been previously suggested as a feature decoupled from convection. Using
a cloud resolving model, we demonstrate that convection in fact has a cooling
effect in the TTL that significantly affects its thermal structure. In
particular, the cold point is found to be strongly tied to the convective
cooling maximum. We interpret these as natural features of an entrainment
layer such as the TTL. The recognition that the cold point tropopause is
strongly tied to, rather than decoupled from, convection suggests that
dehydration processes at the cold point cannot be assumed as gradual and
the effect of convection cannot be ignored.
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Zhiming Kuang <kzm@atmos.washington.edu>