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Convective available potential energy

About: Convective available potential energy is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 936 publications have been published within this topic receiving 43773 citations. The topic is also known as: CAPE.


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Journal ArticleDOI
07 Mar 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the influence of index Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) and CINE on the occurrence of winds generated by downbursts in southern Brazil.
Abstract: Downbursts are meteorological phenomena formed from severe convective storms and give rise to strong gusts of wind. When there is intense entrainment of dry and cold air at high levels through the clouds of deep vertical development it is established a phenomenon called evaporative cooling. This phenomenon rise up masses of dense and cold air inside the cloud that keeps sustained by convective currents until the moment that the downward forces outweigh the upward forces. At this moment streams of descend air called downdrafts are established, they fall to the ground and then spread horizontally on a ring shape. This study aims to analyze the occurrence of this phenomenon in the southern Brazil through the characteristics that define the occurrence of downbursts suggested in the literature. Because of the importance of knowledge of the occurrence of environments in which downbursts are favorable to occur, it is analyzed the influence of index Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) and Convective Inhibition Index (CINE) on the occurrence of winds generated by downbursts.The results show that the use of indices CAPE and CINE on an isolated form in the definition of environments favorable to the occurrence of convective downbursts are not sufficient and is suggest the observation of other meteorological variables and index on this process. Through two case studies, it was observed winds from storms with characteristics of downbursts, thus it is observed the occurrence of the phenomenon in southern Brazil.

3 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used an Advanced Regional Eta-coordinate Model (AREM) to simulate nine mid-night heavy rainfall events during August 2003 over the western part of Sichuan basin.
Abstract: Nine mid-night heavy rainfall events during August 2003 over the western part of Sichuan basin were simulated by using an Advanced Regional Eta-coordinate Model(AREM)The mechanisms responsible for the diurnal variation of the rainfall are addressed by analyzing the model outputsThe results show that mid-night rainfall over western Sichuan basin usually occurs under a specific large scale background circulation,both the orography forcing-induced convergence/ascending motion and the unstable layer resulted from the thermal forcing of ground surface contribute to the formation and development of the midnight rainfall over Sichuan basinDuring the daytime,the low-level temperature and humidity gradually increase with gradually intensified land-air heat flux exchanges,and reach their maximum values after the noonIn the mean time,the low-level warm/moist northeast flow associated with a cyclonic curvature over the western basin gradually strengthens,and the low-level convergence appears,when the warm/moist northeast flow encounters eastward-facing mountain slopes in the western basinThe low-level convergence transports the warm and moist air upward,which leads to the increasing of both the thickness and intensity of the unstable layer in the lower troposphereAfter sunset,the relative humidity in the lower atmosphere gradually increases due to radiation cooling,which makes the air easier to be saturated and the convective available potential energy(CAPE) to accumulate in the lower atmosphereIn the mean time,the topography-induced low-level convergence triggers the release of accumulated CAPE,which finally results in the occurrence of midnight convective rainfall

3 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: The WISCDYMM (the Wisconsin Dynamic and Microphysical Model) model as mentioned in this paper was developed in the author's research group and has been used for various researches but especially those related with the physics and dynamics atop thunderstorms.
Abstract: This paper will briefly report on the cloud model that has been used in our group for various researches but especially those related with the physics and dynamics atop thunderstorms. The successful applications of this model to investigate several satellite observed dynamical processes atop thunderstorms will also be summarized. The model is WISCDYMM (the Wisconsin Dynamic and Microphysical Model), developed in the author’s research group. The earliest form was described in Straka (1989) and subsequently modified by others (Johnson et al. 1993, 1994; Lin and Wang, 1997; Wang, 2003). Its properties are described in the following subsections.

3 citations

Posted ContentDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the vertical velocity and air mass flux in convective clouds are statistically analyzed using 9 aircraft in-situ data collected from three field campaigns: High-Plains Cumulus (HiCu) 10 conducted over the mid-latitude High Plains, COnvective Precipitation Experiment (COPE) 11 conducted in a midlatitude coastal area, and Ice in Clouds Experiment-Tropical (ICE-T), 12 conducted over a tropical ocean.
Abstract: 8 The vertical velocity and air mass flux in convective clouds are statistically analyzed using 9 aircraft in-situ data collected from three field campaigns: High-Plains Cumulus (HiCu) 10 conducted over the mid-latitude High Plains, COnvective Precipitation Experiment (COPE) 11 conducted in a mid-latitude coastal area, and Ice in Clouds Experiment-Tropical (ICE-T), 12 conducted over a tropical ocean. This study yields the following results. (1) Small-scale updrafts 13 and downdrafts (< 500 m in diameter) are frequently observed in the three field campaigns, and 14 they make important contributions to the total air mass flux. (2) The probability density functions 15 (PDFs) of the vertical velocity are exponentially distributed. For updrafts, the PDFs of the 16 vertical velocity are broader in ICE-T and COPE than in HiCu; for downdrafts, the PDFs of the 17 vertical velocity are broader in HiCu and COPE than in ICE-T. (3) Vertical velocity profiles 18 1 Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., doi:10.5194/acp-2015-1021, 2016 Manuscript under review for journal Atmos. Chem. Phys. Published: 4 February 2016 c © Author(s) 2016. CC-BY 3.0 License.

3 citations

Journal Article
Wu Chi1
TL;DR: The mesoscale convective system (MCS) that produced the heavy rainfall during 20-21 Jun 2005 in Guangdong Province is examined in this paper, where the convergence of vapor flux in the ahead of the jet stream core at 925 hPa level appears to be a crucial factor for its development.
Abstract: The Mesoscale Convective System(MCS) that produced the heavy rainfall during 20-21 Jun 2005 in Guangdong Province is examinedThe observations reveal that the MCS initiated and developed in front of a cold frontThe convergence of vapor flux in the ahead of the jet stream core at 925 hPa level appears to be a crucial factor for its developmentA 24-hour numerical simulation of the developing and mature as well as decline stages of the MCS is performed using the fifth generation Penn State/NCAR mesoscale model(MM5)The synoptic scale circulation evolutions and the mesoscale precipitation distributions associated with the MCS are reproduced successfully by the modelUsing the higher-resolution output of the model,the meso-β-scale structure and evolution of the MCS at the mature stage are examinedThe results show that:(1) with the development of the strong convective core,the associated positive relative vorticity core in the lower troposphere extends to the mid-upper troposphere,so as to form a deep and intense cyclonic air-column penetrating to the upper troposphere in the severe convective region of mature MCSIn the meantime,bands of positive and negative vertical vorticity,paralleled to the convective zone,are found in the middle troposphereThe maximum positive vorticity is near the severe convective zone,the negative vorticity near the rear of the convective zone and submaximum positive vorticity farther back(2) On the surface map,the MCS is composed of a mesolow and a mesohigh which are located in the front of severe convective zone and behind the zone,respectively,ie,the severe convective zone occurred at the transition zone between the mesolow and the mesohigh(3) The mesoscale circulation characteristics viewed in the coordinate system moving with the MCS include: a strong,nearly perpendicular convective scale updraft penetrates the troposphere of the severe convective zone;a convective scale downdraft within the lower troposphere is behind severe convective zone;two major branches of inflows which occurred respectively near 300 hPa and 900 hPa are ahead of the severe convective zone;the mesoscale updraft and downdraft are divided near 0℃ level in the stratiform precipitation region;the convergent inflows in the lower troposphere appear at 900 hPa and the divergent outflows in the upper troposphere appear at 200 hPa

3 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202365
202291
202151
202038
201932
201827