The Nature of Adjustment in Cumulus Cloud Fields

Abstract

By adjustment (in the context of cumulus parameterization) we mean the physical mechanisms whereby the internal state of a system changes so as to stay in quasi equilibrium with time-varying forcings. Built into the notion of adjustment is an assumption that the internal adjustment mechanisms act much faster than the external forcings change. Implicit assumptions about adjustment underlie all cumulus parameterizations. Since the considerations addressed in this chapter are quite general, we will not refer to specific parameterizations, except to note that several of the parameterizations discussed in this monograph address some of the issues raised in the last section of this chapter regarding horizontal inhomogeneity due to noninstantaneous adjustment within a grid area.