Summer season land cover—Convective cloud associations for the midwest U.S. “Corn Belt”

Carleton, Andrew M.; Adegoke, Jimmy; Allard, Jason; Arnold, David L.; Travis, David J.

doi:10.1029/2000gl012635

Cited by 37 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Within an area of approximately 200 x 200 km 2 , the size of a typical climate model grid box, the probability of storm initiation is about one third 85 higher over drier soils compared to wet areas. This relationship is consistent with previous studies looking at both Sahelian soil moisture 6 , and land cover in other regions [23][24] , where afternoon convection is favoured over surfaces with a greater sensible heat flux.…”

supporting

confidence: 81%

Frequency of Sahelian storm initiation enhanced over mesoscale soil-moisture patterns

et al. 2011

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Richard J.; Couvreux, Fleur; De Kauwe, Martin. 2011 Frequency of Sahelian storm initiation enhanced over mesoscale soil-moisture patterns. Nature Geoscience, 4 (7). 430-433. 10.1038/ngeo1173Copyright © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited This version available http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/14104/ NERC has developed NORA to enable users to access research outputs wholly or partially funded by NERC. Copyright and other rights for material on this site are retained by the authors and/or other rights owners. Users should read the terms and conditions of use of this material at http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/policies.html#access This document is the author's final manuscript version of the journal article prior to the peer review process. Some differences between this and the publisher's version may remain. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from this article.www.nature.com/ Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trade marks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner.

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confidence: 81%

Frequency of Sahelian storm initiation enhanced over mesoscale soil-moisture patterns

et al. 2011

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“…In a one-dimensional framework, fluxes of equivalent potential temperature are almost independent of Bowen ratio (as discussed by Garcia-Carreras, 2011) and it is therefore unclear, a priori, whether new convection will form over hot, dry or wet, cool surfaces. Observations have shown that new convective cells generally initiate preferentially over surfaces with locally enhanced sensible heat fluxes, that is, over warm, dry soil (Carleton et al, 2001;Negri et al, 2004;Taylor and Ellis, 2006;Wang et al, 2009); in the case of soil moisture, this implies a negative soil moisture-precipitation feedback. One reason for this is that although over wet soils the lower sensible heat fluxes reduce entrainment of low equivalent potential temperature air, which increases convective available potential energy (CAPE), the shallower convective boundary layer (CBL) with a strong lid tends to lead to higher convective inhibition (CIN; Adler et al, 2011;Garcia-Carreras et al, 2011).…”

Section: Convection and Land-surface Interaction Over West Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of soil moisture and convectively generated waves on the initiation of a West African mesoscale convective system

Birch

Parker

O’Leary

et al. 2012

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

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A mesoscale convective system (MCS) case study was observed over northeast Mali as part of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) on 31 July 2006. Observations of this case suggest that the soil-moisture heterogeneity and atmospheric gravity waves emitted from a 'parent' MCS were important trigger mechanisms for this system. This study uses high-resolution Met Office Unified Model (MetUM) simulations to assess the importance of the synoptic circulation, land-surface and gravity waves in the initiation and development of the MCS. During the early afternoon shallow convection developed over a region of dry soil within a synoptic-scale convergence zone, which was caused by the confluence of the southerly monsoon flow with winds associated with the circulation around the Saharan heat low. Two pronounced waves were emitted from a nearby 'parent' storm and propagated towards the convergence zone. When the second wave reached the location of the shallow convection, deep convection was immediately initiated. Further convective cells developed later in the afternoon over dry soil, many adjacent to strong soil moisture gradients; these aggregated with the main storm, which later developed into the case study MCS. A comparison of model simulations with/without the soil-moisture heterogeneity and gravity waves shows that the synoptic-scale circulation and convergence zones, specified by the atmospheric analysis, were the most important factors for the successful simulation of the MCS. If the location of the initiation of the system is to be forecast accurately, the land-surface, that is, the soil moisture, must be represented adequately. In order to reproduce the timing of the secondary initiation of convection correctly the model must be able to capture gravity waves that are emitted by existing systems.

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“…However, the locations of the axes of CAPE and LI are located over the driest soils in the eastern portion of the study region. This shift in the patterns could be caused either by advection of lowlevel moisture that creates higher CAPE values downwind of the maximum soil moisture values or by the development of mesoscale circulation patterns that have been shown to enhance convective patterns along transition zones of surface properties, including soil moisture (Ookouchi et al 1984;Pielke and Segal 1986;Avissar and Pielke 1989;Fast and McCorcle 1991;Chang and Wetzel 1991;Emori 1998;Liu et al 1999;Pielke 2001;Carleton et al 2001). The lowest CIN values, indicating a stronger cap, are located in the northeastern portion of the study region where there are low-to-moderate soil moisture values (Fig.…”

Section: ) Nollj/sp-19 August 2001mentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The models generally indicate that the heterogeneities lead to the development of mesoscale circulation patterns (Ookouchi et al 1984;Pielke and Segal 1986;Avissar and Pielke 1989;Fast and McCorcle 1991;Chang and Wetzel 1991;Emori 1998;Liu et al 1999;Pielke 2001;Carleton et al 2001;Berbery et al 2003;Trier et al 2004;Holt et al 2006). Fast and McCorcle (1991) specifically found that the mesoscale circulation patterns develop along soil moisture boundaries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Synergistic Relationship between Soil Moisture and the Low-Level Jet and Its Role on the Prestorm Environment in the Southern Great Plains

Frye

Mote

2010

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

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Changes in low-level moisture alter the convective parameters [e.g., convective available potential energy (CAPE), lifted index (LI), and convective inhibition (CIN)] as a result of alterations in the latent and sensible heat energy exchange. Two sources for low-level moisture exist in the southern Great Plains: 1) moisture advection by the low-level jet (LLJ) from the Gulf of Mexico and 2) evaporation and transpiration from the soils and vegetation in the region. The primary focus of this study is to examine the spatial distribution of soil moisture on a daily basis and to determine the effect it has on the convective parameters. The secondary objective is to investigate how the relationship between soil moisture and convective parameters is altered by the presence of an LLJ. The soil moisture data were obtained through newly developed procedures and advances in technology aboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Imager. The convective parameter data were obtained through the North American Regional Reanalysis dataset. The study examined seven warm seasons (April-September) from 1998 to 2004 and found that the convective environment is more unstable (CAPE . 900 J kg 21 , LI , 228C) but more strongly capped (CIN . 70 J kg 21 ) on days with an LLJ present. Spearman's rank correlation analysis showed a less stable atmosphere with increased soil moisture, after soil moisture reached 5%, on most days. Additional analysis determined that on all synoptic-type days the probability of reaching various thresholds of convective intensity increased as soil moisture values increased. The probabilities were even greater on days with an LLJ present than on the days without an LLJ present. An examination of four days representing each synoptic-type day indicates that on the daily scale the intensity of the convective environment is closely related to the high soil moisture and the presence of an LLJ.

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Summer season land cover—Convective cloud associations for the midwest U.S. “Corn Belt”

Cited by 37 publications

References 24 publications

Frequency of Sahelian storm initiation enhanced over mesoscale soil-moisture patterns

Frequency of Sahelian storm initiation enhanced over mesoscale soil-moisture patterns

Impact of soil moisture and convectively generated waves on the initiation of a West African mesoscale convective system

The Synergistic Relationship between Soil Moisture and the Low-Level Jet and Its Role on the Prestorm Environment in the Southern Great Plains

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