On the Interaction between Moist Convection and Large-Scale Ascent in the Tropics

Abstract

Abstract A simple steady-state model is constructed for the interaction between moist convection and large-scale ascent in the tropics. The model is based on a bulk-plume representation of convection, and it is coupled to the large-scale circulation using methods developed for limited-area numerical models that are consistent with the weak temperature gradient approximation. Given the midtropospheric temperature anomaly in the ascent region, the model solves for the profiles of temperature, relative humidity, and large-scale vertical velocity in this region, as well as the tropical-mean profiles of temperature and relative humidity, as a function of two parameters representing the importance of entrainment and condensate re-evaporation in moist convection. According to the simple model, the ascent region is characterized by an anomalously moist and stable free troposphere with a top-heavy vertical velocity profile that peaks in the upper troposphere. These results are shown to be consistent with simulations using a cloud system–resolving model in which the large-scale circulation is parameterized. Furthermore, it is shown that, due to the effect of entrainment on the tropospheric lapse rate, the predicted vertical velocity profile is more top-heavy than the first-baroclinic mode profile used in previous reduced-complexity models of tropical dynamics. The simple model therefore provides a framework to link mixing and microphysical processes in moist convection to the large-scale structure of the tropical overturning circulation.