Trade Cumulus Cloud Groups: Some Observations Suggesting a Mechanism of Their Origin
Open Access
- 1 February 1957
- journal article
- Published by Stockholm University Press in Tellus
- Vol. 9 (1), 33-44
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1957.tb01851.x
Abstract
On a recent field trip to the western Caribbean, temperature gradients in the surface layers of the trade-wind oceans were found and related to the presence of cumulus cloud groups. The cloud groups generally formed over and slightly downwind of warm spots which were several kilometers in extent along the wind and 0.1—0.3° C in amplitude. Clouds were not found in the absence of warm spots although warm spots were occasionally encountered without clouds. Air circulations, similar to but weaker than those pro***duced by heated land masses, are hypothesized to exist over oceanic warm spots and their magnitude is estimated from previous work on heated islands. Observed differences in low-level moisture structure between clear and cloudy areas may be interpreted in terms of such circulations and their evolution with time. Some suggestions are made concerning the life cycles of trade cumuli. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1957.tb01851.xKeywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- The effects of a large island upon the trade‐wind air streamQuarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 1955
- THE FLOW OF A STABLE ATMOSPHERE OVER A HEATED ISLAND, PART IIJournal of Meteorology, 1953
- Vertical distribution of temperature and humidity over the Caribbean SeaPublished by MBLWHOI Library ,1949