Usefulness of Liquid-Water Potential Temperature in a Shallow-Cloud Model

Abstract

Abstract The advantages of using Betts' (1973) liquid-water potential temperature (θl) and also a total moisture variable (qw) within a shallow-cloud numerical model are enumerated. The saturation condition is parameterized as a function of these two variables and pressure, and the subgrid-scale buoyancy flux is expressed in terms of the subgrid-scale vertical fluxes of θl and qw.