87th AMS Annual Meeting

Wednesday, 17 January 2007: 1:45 PM
Impacts of diurnal variations in sea-surface temperature on deep convection over tropical oceans
214B (Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center)
Philip Cunningham, Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL; and C. A. Clayson
Although there has been much discussion of the diurnal cycle of convection and precipitation over the ocean, causes of the diurnal cycle have not yet been entirely identified. Atmosphere-ocean coupled single-column model simulations have shown there to be a significant atmospheric response to sea-surface temperature diurnal variability extending well past the marine boundary layer. Convection as such must be responsible for at least part of these variations; however, no current modeling results have been shown using a model with realistic convection. We will show the results of a high-resolution model forced with diurnal sea-surface temperature variability and initial atmospheric stability typical of the western tropical Pacific Ocean. Specific analyses of the simulations with and without the diurnal forcing will be shown.

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