Tuesday, 11 February 2003: 2:15 PM
Cloud physics and water vapor in the evanescent convection altitude regime
Recent work has shown that water vapor levels near the boundary
between the tropical troposphere and stratosphere depart from
thermodynamic equilibrium (saturation with respect to ice) in a manner
that appears to vary systematically with the microphysical nature of
cumulonimbus cloud tops. This implies a control, independent of
thermodynamics, on water near the tropopause, in contrast to the
situation in most of the troposphere where observations and models
have generally supported thermodynamic control of climatic water
vapor. Here we investigate the relationship between the mean and
seasonally varying state of the tropical upper troposphere and lower
stratosphere, and convective transports of water including its stable
isotopes, using a simple convective climate model. We argue that a
gradual reduction with height in convective influence on water vapor
and other constituents is consistent with observations, while an
abrupt transition from a highly-mixed troposphere to an unmixed
(vertically) stratosphere is not. We also present evidence that at
heights where convective influence is waning, lofted ice tends to
relax the atmospheric vapor toward equilibrium, but at a sufficiently
slow rate so that the mean vapor levels reached will be expected to
depend on process details as well as temperature. The altitudes where
this is so are of great importance since they determine the water
vapor content of the entire stratosphere.
Supplementary URL: