The effects of cumulus moisture transports on the simulation of climate with a general circulation model.

Abstract

A hybrid cumulus parameterization was developed to study the effects of cumulus heat and moisture transports on climate simulations. This parameterization consists of a cumulus mass flux representation of the convective fluxes of heat and moisture, and moist adiabatic adjustment representation of the release of latent heat and the removal of moisture by precipitation processes. This hybrid scheme was implemented and tested in the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model. The simulations made with the hybrid parameterization resulted in upper-tropospheric temperatures that were as much as 8oC higher than the standard scheme in the tropics. In addition, the tropospheric water content simulated with the hybrid parameterization was considerably greater than that of the standard model. Our results suggest that the zonal mean tropical troposphere, when perturbed, undergoes a sort of radiative-convective adjustment.-from Authors