Idealized simulations of the tropical atmosphere have predicted that clouds can spontaneously clump together in space, despite perfectly homogeneous settings. This phenomenon has been called self-aggregation, and it results in a state where a moist cloudy region with intense deep convective storms is surrounded by extremely dry subsiding air devoid of deep clouds. We review here the main findings from theoretical work and idealized models of this phenomenon, highlighting the physical processes believed to play a key role in convective self-aggregation. We also review the growing literature on the importance and implications of this phenomenon for the tropical atmosphere, notably, for the hydrological cycle and for precipitation extremes, in our current and in a warming climate.
Muller C., Yang D., Craig G., Cronin T., Fildier B., Haerter J.O., Hohenegger C., Mapes B., Randall D., Shamekh S. and Sherwood S.C. (2021) Spontaneous Aggregation of Convective Storms. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics 54(1). 10.1146/annurev-fluid-022421-011319
@article{Muller2021,
Title = {Spontaneous Aggregation of Convective Storms},
Author = {Muller, Caroline and Yang, Da and Craig, George and Cronin, Timothy and Fildier, Benjamin and Haerter, Jan O. and Hohenegger, Cathy and Mapes, Brian and Randall, David and Shamekh, Sara and Sherwood, Steven C.},
Editor = {},
Journal = {Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics},
Year = {2021},
Volume = {54},
Doi = {10.1146/annurev-fluid-022421-011319},
Abstract = {Idealized simulations of the tropical atmosphere have predicted that clouds can spontaneously clump together in space, despite perfectly homogeneous settings. This phenomenon has been called self-aggregation, and it results in a state where a moist cloudy region with intense deep convective storms is surrounded by extremely dry subsiding air devoid of deep clouds. We review here the main findings from theoretical work and idealized models of this phenomenon, highlighting the physical processes believed to play a key role in convective self-aggregation. We also review the growing literature on the importance and implications of this phenomenon for the tropical atmosphere, notably, for the hydrological cycle and for precipitation extremes, in our current and in a warming climate.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Muller, Caroline
AU - Yang, Da
AU - Craig, George
AU - Cronin, Timothy
AU - Fildier, Benjamin
AU - Haerter, Jan O.
AU - Hohenegger, Cathy
AU - Mapes, Brian
AU - Randall, David
AU - Shamekh, Sara
AU - Sherwood, Steven C.
TI - Spontaneous Aggregation of Convective Storms
T2 - Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics
PY - 2021
VL - 54
DO - 10.1146/annurev-fluid-022421-011319
AB - Idealized simulations of the tropical atmosphere have predicted that clouds can spontaneously clump together in space, despite perfectly homogeneous settings. This phenomenon has been called self-aggregation, and it results in a state where a moist cloudy region with intense deep convective storms is surrounded by extremely dry subsiding air devoid of deep clouds. We review here the main findings from theoretical work and idealized models of this phenomenon, highlighting the physical processes believed to play a key role in convective self-aggregation. We also review the growing literature on the importance and implications of this phenomenon for the tropical atmosphere, notably, for the hydrological cycle and for precipitation extremes, in our current and in a warming climate.
ER -
