Cold Pools as Conveyor Belts of Moisture

Abstract

Observations and simulations have found convective cold pools to trigger and organize subsequent updrafts by modifying boundary layer temperature and moisture as well as by lifting air parcels at the outflow boundaries. We study the causality between cold pools and subsequent deep convection in idealized large-eddy simulations by tracking colliding outflow boundaries preceding hundreds of deep convection events. When outflow boundaries collide, their common front position remains immobile, whereas the internal cold pool dynamics continues for hours. We analyze how this dynamics “funnels” moisture from a relatively large volume into a narrow convergence zone. We quantify moisture convergence and separate the contribution from surface fluxes, which we find to play a secondary role. Our results highlight that dynamical effects are crucial in triggering convection, even in radiative-convective equilibrium. However, it is the low-level convergence resulting from this dynamics that removes inhibition, moistens the atmosphere aloft, and ultimately permits deep convection.