Convective aggregation in equatorial case studies

Several recent studies have shown self-aggregation of convection in high-resolution idealised radiative-convective equilibrium simulations, and this aggregation has been linked to feedbacks between radiation, surface fluxes, and convection. Here, similar idealised simulations are compared to observed cases of aggregated convection as well as to high-resolution simulations of these cases using the same model as in the idealised cases. These comparisons are used to investigate whether the same processes identified in the idealised models, or different processes, are important in the evolution of aggregation in the real world.