Open AccessBoundary Layer Diabatic Processes, the Virtual Effect, and Convective Self‐Aggregation
Author(s) -
Yang Da
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of advances in modeling earth systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.03
H-Index - 58
ISSN - 1942-2466
DOI - 10.1029/2017ms001261
Subject(s) - diabatic , convection , boundary layer , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , atmosphere (unit) , convective boundary layer , water vapor , mechanics , planetary boundary layer , meteorology , geology , physics , thermodynamics , adiabatic process
The atmosphere can self‐organize into long‐lasting large‐scale overturning circulations over an ocean surface with uniform temperature. This phenomenon is referred to as convective self‐aggregation and has been argued to be important for tropical weather and climate systems. Here we present a boundary layer centric framework based on the available potential energy budget of convective self‐aggregation. We show that boundary layer diabatic processes dominate the available potential energy production and are, therefore, essential to convective self‐aggregation. We further show that the enhanced virtual effect of water vapor can lead to convective self‐aggregation.