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Convective Self-Aggregation Occurs Without Radiative Feedbacks in Warm Climates
  • Lin Yao,
  • Da Yang
Lin Yao
University of California Davis

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Da Yang
Unknown
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Abstract

Previous research showed that radiative feedbacks are essential to the spontaneous development of convective aggregation (CSA) in idealized atmosphere models. We find that the contribution of radiative feedbacks decreases with warming and that, in warm climates, CSA occurs without radiative feedbacks. We perform 2D simulations in different climates using a cloud-resolving model and use a local moist static energy (LMSE) framework to quantify the contribution of radiative feedbacks to the increase of LMSE variance, which characterizes the development of CSA. The result shows that radiative contribution dominates the LMSE variance production when SST is less than 300 K; when SST is higher than 300 K, adiabatic variance production becomes more important than radiative production. Then we turn off radiative feedbacks by horizontally homogenizing radiative heating rates at all model levels. CSA still occurs in warmer climates (310–320 K). This result agrees with the LMSE diagnosis and additional 3D simulations.
24 May 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
25 May 2023Published in ESS Open Archive