Sensitivity of the Shallow-to-Deep Convective Transition to Moisture and
Wind Shear in the Amazon
Abstract
Deep convection is the primary influence on weather and climate in
tropical regions. However, understanding and simulating the
shallow-to-deep (STD) convective transition has long been challenging.
Here, we conduct high-resolution numerical simulations to assess the
environmental controls on the evolution of isolated convection in the
Amazon during the wet season. Observations and large-scale forcing
derived through the constrained variational analysis approach for the
GoAmazon2014/5 experiments are used in the simulations and model
validation. The model consistently reproduces the GOAmazon observations
for precipitation, moisture, and surface fluxes of radiation, latent and
sensible heat. Through sensitivity experiments, we examine the relative
importance of moisture and vertical wind shear in controlling the STD
convective transition. Reducing the pre-convective humidity within the
lower 1.5 km significantly suppresses vertical development and lowers
the ice water path. Additionally, the maximum precipitation rate
decreases almost quadratically with column water vapor. Conversely, a
reduction of column water vapor above 1.5 km by a factor of two or more
is necessary to produce a comparable decrease in ice water path or
precipitation. Moderate low-level wind shear facilitates the STD
transition, leading to an earlier peak of ice water compared to stronger
wind shear or its absence. Although upper-level wind shear negatively
influences high cloud formation, its role in controlling the STD
transition is relatively smaller than that of low-level wind shear. Our
results help quantify the role of moisture and wind shear on the STD
transition, but also suggest that dynamic factors may exert a more
pronounced influence.