Abstract

The energy cycle of a convectively-organized system, as realized by a convective-scale idealized simulation, is analyzed in wavelet space. In the equilibrium state, most of the available potential energy that is generated by convective heating is immediately converted into kinetic energy by means of buoyancy forcing, consistent with the free-ride principle. In turn, most of the generated convective kinetic energy is manifest as gravity waves propagating away from convective centers. The kinetic energy of these small-scale gravity waves is transferred upscale by their own advective nonlinearities. Finally, a large-scale circulation generated by this "inverse cascade' drives the formation of an organized structure in the precipitation field.