Moisture modes with an oscillating vertical motion profile shape in
steady-state weak temperature gradient simulations
Abstract
Weak Temperature Gradient (WTG) modeling using a small cloud-resolving
model (CRM) admits multiple equilibria depending upon the initial model
conditions. A new kind of equilibrium is presented here which undergoes
a periodic and steady-state oscillation that is emergent from static
boundary conditions. The periodic oscillation is shown to be a moisture
mode with an oscillating vertical motion profile shape generated by the
interaction between vertical motion and radiation. A simple two-mode
model based on decomposing the vertical motion profile and associated
radiative cooling variations can describe the oscillation.