A Sensitivity Study of Radiative–Convective Equilibrium in the Tropicswith a Convection-Resolving Model

Abstract

Statistical-equilibrium (SE) states of radiative–convective systems in tropical oceanic conditions are simulated with a cloud ensemble model (CEM) in this study. Typical large-scale conditions from the Marshall Islands and the eastern tropical Atlantic regions are used to drive the CEM. The simulated SE precipitable water, column temperature, and relative humidity are only slightly higher than those of the observed mean states in both regions when time-invariant large-scale total advective cooling and moistening effects are imposed from observations. They are much higher than the observed if time-invariant observed large-scale ascent is imposed for the Marshall Islands region (i.e., ignoring horizontal advective effects). Compared with results from two similar studies, this SE state is somewhere between the cold/dry regime by Sui et al. and the warm/humid regime by Grabowski et al. Temporal variations of the imposed large-scale vertical motion that allows for subsidence make the SE state colder and drier. It remains about the same, however, if the magnitude of the imposed large-scale vertical motion is halved. The SE state is also colder and drier if solar radiation is absent. In general, all the SE states show that wet columns are thermally more stable (unstable) and dry columns are thermally more unstable (stable) in the lower (upper) troposphere. Column budget analyses are performed to explore the differences among the simulations performed in this study and among the different studies.