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A Comparison of the Water Budgets between Clouds from AMMA and TWP-ICE
Two field campaigns, the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) and the Tropical Warm Pool–International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE), took place in 2006 near Niamey, Niger, and Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, providing extensive observations of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) near a desert and a tropical coast, respectively. Under the constraint of their observations, three-dimensional cloud-resolving model simulations are carried out and presented in this paper to replicate the basic characteristics of the observed MCSs. All of the modeled MCSs exhibit a distinct structure having deep convective clouds accompanied by stratiform and anvil clouds. In contrast to the approximately 100-km-scale MCSs observed in TWP-ICE, the MCSs in AMMA have been successfully simulated with a scale of about 400 km. These modeled AMMA and TWP-ICE MCSs offer an opportunity to understand the structure and mechanism of MCSs. Comparing the water budgets between AMMA and TWP-ICE MCSs suggests that TWP-ICE convective clouds have stronger ascent while the mesoscale ascent outside convective clouds in AMMA is stronger. A case comparison, with the aid of sensitivity experiments, also suggests that vertical wind shear and ice crystal (or dust aerosol) concentration can significantly impact stratiform and anvil clouds (e.g., their areas) in MCSs. In addition, the obtained water budgets quantitatively describe the transport of water between convective, stratiform, and anvil regions as well as water sources/sinks from microphysical processes, providing information that can be used to help determine parameters in the convective and cloud parameterizations in general circulation models (GCMs).
Journal Article
Kinematic and Precipitation Characteristics of Convective Systems Observed by Airborne Doppler Radar during the Life Cycle of a Madden–Julian Oscillation in the Indian Ocean
This study presents characteristics of convective systems observed during the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian oscillation (DYNAMO) experiment by the instrumented NOAA WP-3D aircraft. Nine separate missions, with a focus on observing mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), were executed to obtain data in the active and inactive phase of a Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) in the Indian Ocean. Doppler radar and in situ thermodynamic data are used to contrast the convective system characteristics during the evolution of the MJO. Isolated convection was prominent during the inactive phases of the MJO, with deepening convection during the onset of the MJO. During the MJO peak, convection and stratiform precipitation became more widespread. A larger population of deep convective elements led to a larger area of stratiform precipitation. As the MJO decayed, convective system top heights increased, though the number of convective systems decreased, eventually transitioning back to isolated convection. A distinct shift of echo top heights and contoured frequency-by-altitude diagram distributions of radar reflectivity and vertical wind speed indicated that some mesoscale characteristics were coupled to the MJO phase. Convective characteristics in the climatological initiation region (Indian Ocean) were also apparent. Comparison to results from the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) in the western Pacific indicated that DYNAMO MCSs were linearly organized more parallel to the low-level shear and without strong cold pools than in TOGA COARE. Three-dimensional MCS airflow also showed a different dynamical structure, with a lack of the descending rear inflow present in shear perpendicularly organized TOGA COARE MCSs. Weaker, but deeper updrafts were observed in DYNAMO.
Journal Article
AIRCRAFT OBSERVATIONS OF DRY AIR, THE ITCZ, CONVECTIVE CLOUD SYSTEMS, AND COLD POOLS IN MJO DURING DYNAMO
One of the most challenging problems in predicting the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is the initiation of large-scale convective activity associated with the MJO over the tropical Indian Ocean. The lack of observations is a major obstacle. The Dynamics of the MJO (DYNAMO) field campaign collected unprecedented observations from air-, land-, and ship-based platforms from October 2011 to February 2012. Here we provide an overview of the aircraft observations in DYNAMO, which captured an MJO initiation event from November to December 2011. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) WP-3D aircraft was stationed at Diego Garcia and the French Falcon 20 aircraft on Gan Island in the Maldives. Observations from the two aircraft provide a unique dataset of three-dimensional structure of convective cloud systems and their environment from the flight level, airborne Doppler radar, microphysics probes, ocean surface imaging, global positioning system (GPS) dropsonde, and airborne expendable bathythermograph (AXBT) data. The aircraft observations revealed interactions among dry air, the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), convective cloud systems, and air–sea interaction induced by convective cold pools, which may play important roles in the multiscale processes of MJO initiation. This overview focuses on some key aspects of the aircraft observations that contribute directly to better understanding of the interactions among convective cloud systems, environmental moisture, and the upper ocean during the MJO initiation over the tropical Indian Ocean. Special emphasis is on the distinct characteristics of convective cloud systems, environmental moisture and winds, air–sea fluxes, and convective cold pools during the convectively suppressed, transition/onset, and active phases of the MJO.
Journal Article
Radar-observed squall line propagation and the diurnal cycle of convection in Niamey, Niger, during the 2006 African Monsoon and Multidisciplinary Analyses Intensive Observing Period
Surface radar observations near Niamey, Niger, during the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) campaign in 2006 documented the structure, motion, and precipitation of cloud systems during the monsoon season. These unique observations for that part of the Sahel were combined with satellite rain estimates and infrared satellite imagery to study the diurnal cycle of rainfall in Niamey, Niger. This study confirms the bimodal structure of the diurnal rainfall cycle in Niamey during AMMA, seen by previous studies of West African rainfall. Radar analysis of squall line mesoscale convective systems (SLMCS) and non‐MCS isolated convection clearly demonstrated that the nocturnal maximum was associated with the observed arrival time of westward propagating SLMCS. Satellite imagery suggested that these SLMCS formed in elevated terrain to the east of Niamey the prior afternoon. Radar observations showed that local isolated convection produced the smaller afternoon maximum. Early in the monsoon season, locally generated convection produced an afternoon diurnal rainfall maximum that was delayed by several hours compared to midseason when African easterly wave (AEW) activity was much greater. We suggest that the observed greater mean convective inhibition early in the season, perhaps tied to the absence of large‐scale forcing from AEW, played a role in the delayed initiation time.
Journal Article
Comparing the Convective Structure and Microphysics in Two Sahelian Mesoscale Convective Systems: Radar Observations and CRM Simulations
Two mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) observed during the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) experiment are simulated using the three-dimensional (3D) Goddard Cumulus Ensemble model. This study was undertaken to determine the performance of the cloud-resolving model in representing distinct convective and microphysical differences between the two MCSs over a tropical continental location. Simulations are performed using 1-km horizontal grid spacing, a lower limit on current embedded cloud-resolving models within a global multiscale modeling framework. Simulated system convective structure and microphysics are compared to radar observations using contoured frequency-by-altitude diagrams (CFADs), calculated ice and water mass, and identified hydrometeor variables. Vertical distributions of ice hydrometeors indicate underestimation at the mid- and upper levels, partially due to the inability of the model to produce adequate system heights. The abundance of high-reflectivity values below and near the melting level in the simulation led to a broadening of the CFAD distributions. Observed vertical reflectivity profiles show that high reflectivity is present at greater heights than the simulations produced, thought to be a result of using a single-moment microphysics scheme. Relative trends in the population of simulated hydrometeors are in agreement with observations, though a secondary convective burst is not well represented. Despite these biases, the radar-observed differences between the two cases are noticeable in the simulations as well, suggesting that the model has some skill in capturing observed differences between the two MCSs.
Journal Article
Characteristics of an African Easterly Wave Observed during NAMMA
The evolution of an African easterly wave is described using ground-based radar and ancillary datasets from three locations in West Africa: Niamey, Niger (continental), Dakar, Senegal (coastal), and Praia, Republic of Cape Verde (oceanic). The data were collected during the combined African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) and NASA AMMA (NAMMA) campaigns in August–September 2006. Two precipitation events originated within the wave circulation and propagated with the wave across West Africa. Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) associated with these events were identified at all three sites ahead of, within, and behind the 700-mb wave trough. An additional propagating event was indentified that originated east of the wave and moved through the wave circulation. The MCS activity associated with this event did not show any appreciable change resulting from its interaction with the wave. The MCS characteristics at each site were different, likely due to a combination of life cycle effects and changes in relative phasing between the propagating systems and the position of low-level convergence and thermodynamic instability associated with the wave. At the ocean and coastal sites, the most intense convection occurred ahead of the wave trough where both high CAPE and low-level convergence were concentrated. At the continental site, convection was relatively weak owing to the fact that the wave dynamics and thermodynamics were not in sync when the systems passed through Niamey. The only apparent effect of the wave on MCS activity at the continental site was to extend the period of precipitation activity during one of the events that passed through coincident with the 700-mb wave trough. Convective organization at the land sites was primarily in the form of squall lines and linear MCSs oriented perpendicular to the low-level shear. The organization at the oceanic site was more complicated, transitioning from linear MCSs to widespread stratiform cloud with embedded convection. The precipitation activity was also much longer lived at the oceanic site due to the wave becoming nearly stationary near the Cape Verdes, providing an environment supportive of deep convection for an extended period.
Journal Article
Radar Observations of Convective System Variability in Relationship to African Easterly Waves during the 2006 AMMA Special Observing Period
A radar-based analysis of the structure, motion, and rainfall variability of westward-propagating squall-line mesoscale convective systems (SLMCSs) in Niamey, Niger, during the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Activities (AMMA) 2006 special observing period is combined with an analysis of 700-mb (hPa) winds and relative vorticity to study the relationship between SLMCSs and African easterly waves (AEWs). Radar results show that SLMCSs were the most important rainmakers in Niamey and accounted for about 90% of the rainfall despite being present less than 17% of the time. Analysis of the 700-mb synoptic-scale flow revealed that during the 2006 West African monsoon season the African easterly jet vacillated between about 10° and 15°N on time scales of 1–2 weeks. AEWs followed the jet as it vacillated north and south, thereby producing two preferred paths for AEWs propagating past Niamey’s longitude, a northern track along 8°–16°N and a southern track along 2°–6°N. It was found that Niamey SLMCSs occurred westward of the trough of AEWs propagating along either track. The properties of SLMCSs must then be placed in the context of their location relative to these two AEW tracks, rather than in the trough and ridge pattern of a single AEW track. Radar analysis further indicated that although the total amounts of rainfall produced by SLMCSs occurring in both African easterly jet latitude regimes were similar, significant structural differences occurred between the two groups of systems. SLMCSs that formed to the west of AEW troughs propagating along the northern track had a significantly larger mean stratiform rain fraction in an environment of lower convective available potential energy when compared with the SLMCSs that occurred to the west of the troughs of AEWs in the southern track. The authors conclude that AEWs that propagated farther north provided a more favorable environment for stratiform rain production in Niamey SLMCSs than those AEWs located farther south. These results may be helpful to studies of the two-way interaction between AEWs and convection in West Africa.
Journal Article