Vaughan Phillips
Research in the Area of Clouds, Aerosols and Climate
Physical Meteorology
Author
Summary, in English
A salient aspect of the tropics is the prevalence of deep convection. It spans much of the depth of the troposphere, due to the positive buoyancy of cloudy updrafts warmed by latent heating from condensation. Cells of deep convection transfer heat, moisture and momentum to upper levels. They are crucial for the large-scale atmospheric circulation.
Most precipitation from tropical systems is from deep convection. The most vigorous deep convection is lit up by lightning, especially over land.
Deep convection, certain sources of aerosol and of greenhouse gases, certain aspects of climate feedbacks, and some mesoscale cloud systems (e.g. hurricanes) are more common in the tropics than elsewhere. The tropics have a unique role in atmospheric radiative transfers, with their excess energy from radiation driving large-scale flows. However, the nature of many of the small-scale processes in the area of physical meteorology differs little qualitatively between the tropics and extra-tropics, although their frequency of occurrence may be different. For example, aerosols activate by the same set of mechanisms in the tropics as elsewhere.
In the rest of this chapter, aspects of the science of aerosols, clouds and radiation are outlined, with a mention of any phenomena particularly common or different in the tropics. Some highlights from the latest research in the broad field are mentioned.
Most precipitation from tropical systems is from deep convection. The most vigorous deep convection is lit up by lightning, especially over land.
Deep convection, certain sources of aerosol and of greenhouse gases, certain aspects of climate feedbacks, and some mesoscale cloud systems (e.g. hurricanes) are more common in the tropics than elsewhere. The tropics have a unique role in atmospheric radiative transfers, with their excess energy from radiation driving large-scale flows. However, the nature of many of the small-scale processes in the area of physical meteorology differs little qualitatively between the tropics and extra-tropics, although their frequency of occurrence may be different. For example, aerosols activate by the same set of mechanisms in the tropics as elsewhere.
In the rest of this chapter, aspects of the science of aerosols, clouds and radiation are outlined, with a mention of any phenomena particularly common or different in the tropics. Some highlights from the latest research in the broad field are mentioned.
Publishing year
2010
Language
English
Publication/Series
"Tropical Meteorology" in "Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)"
Links
Document type
Book chapter
Publisher
UNESCO, EOLSS Publishers, Oxford, UK
Topic
- Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
Keywords
- Deep convection
- aerosol
- cloud-particle
- graupel
- charge separation
Status
Published