Impacts of Cumulus Convection on Thermodynamic Fields

Abstract

The important role played by deep cumulus clouds in the heat balance of the tropical atmosphere was first pointed out by Riehl and Malkus (1958). They studied the heat budget over the equatorial trough zone and postulated that concentrated upward heat transport due to undilute (“hot”) cumulonimbus towers is required to maintain the heat balance of the upper troposphere against the loss due to radiation and poleward export. The role of penetrative cumulus towers in the tropical cyclone was discussed by Riehl and Malkus (1961) and Yanai (1961, 1964). They proposed that the role of cumulus convection as a heating agent must be adequately parameterized in the framework of large-scale motions. In the last three decades our understanding of the interaction of organized cumulus convection with its environment made significant progress through many observational and parameterization studies.