Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley Previously Published Works bannerUC Berkeley

Sticky Thermals: Evidence for a Dominant Balance between Buoyancy and Drag in Cloud Updrafts

Published Web Location

http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-15-0042.1
No data is associated with this publication.
Abstract

The vertical velocities of convective clouds are of great practical interest because of their influence on many phenomena, including severe weather and stratospheric moistening. However, the magnitudes of forces giving rise to these vertical velocities are poorly understood, and the dominant balance is in dispute. Here, an algorithm is used to extract thousands of cloud thermals from a large-eddy simulation of deep and tropical maritime convection. Using a streamfunction to define natural boundaries for these thermals, the dominant balance in the vertical momentum equation is revealed. Cloud thermals rise with a nearly constant speed determined by their buoyancy and the standard drag law with a drag coefficient of 0.6. Contrary to suggestions that cloud thermals might be slippery, with a dominant balance between buoyancy and acceleration, cloud thermals are found here to be sticky, with a dominant balance between buoyancy and drag.

Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.

Item not freely available? Link broken?
Report a problem accessing this item