Interaction of Convection and Large-Scale Tropical Flows

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The goal of this project is to better understand the interaction between deep convection in the tropics and large-scale atmospheric flows. The principal investigator will develop a dynamical model of the Hadley circulation, or broad band of deep convection located on or near the equator. Cumulus clouds in certain parts of the model domain will be explicitly resolved using a nested-grid (high resolution grid within a coarser resolution grid) approach. Important physical processes such as cloud-radiation interactions, latitudinal organization of deep convection, and the exchanges of sensible heat, water vapor, and momentum at the air-sea interface will be simulated. This research is important for improving our understanding of the general circulation of the atmosphere in weather and climate models. It should also provide insights as how best to represent (implicitly) cumulus cloud activity in large-scale and global models.