Direct entrainment and detrainment rate distributions of individual shallow cumulus clouds in an les

Abstract

Probability distribution functions of shallow cumulus cloud core entrainment and detrainment rates are calculated using 4362 individual cumulus clouds isolated from LES (large eddy simulation) using a cloud tracking algorithm. Calculation of the mutual information between fractional entrainment/detrainment and a variety of mean cloud core properties suggests that fractional entrainment rate is best predicted by the mean cloud buoyancy B and the environmental buoyancy lapse rate d and δ(w, χc) are found for both individual shallow cumulus clouds and cloud ensembles. It is found that clouds with high buoyancy in strong stratification experience low entrainment rates, while clouds with high vertical velocities and critical mixing fractions experience low detrainment rates. © 2005 Author(s).