Some experiments on the use of tropical diabatic heating information for initial state specification

Abstract

The local response to tropical diabatic heating is studied by using diabatic normal mode initialization procedures. It is shown that diabatic initialization is able to produce a well-balanced state in regions of heating provided the appropriate vertical modes are initialized. However, the persistence of balance during model integration is strongly dependent on the compatibility between the specified heating during initialization and the heating during the model integration. Finally, a procedure is developed in which cloud-top temperature data is used to identify regions of deep convection where heating rates are specified during initialization. -from Author