Interaction of microphysics and dynamics in a warm conveyor belt simulated with the ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) model ...

• Main Authors: Oertel, Annika, Miltenberger, Annette K., Grams, Christian M., Hoose, Corinna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: European Geosciences Union (EGU) 2023
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5445/ir/1000162665; https://publikationen.bibliothek.kit.edu/1000162665

Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) produce a major fraction of precipitation in extratropical cyclones and modulate the large-scale extratropical circulation. Diabatic processes, in particular associated with cloud formation, influence the cross-isentropic ascent of WCBs into the upper troposphere and additionally modify the potential vorticity (PV) distribution, which influences the larger-scale flow. In this study we investigate heating and PV rates from all diabatic processes, including microphysics, turbulence, convection, and radiation, in a case study that occurred during the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment (NAWDEX) campaign using the Icosahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) modeling framework. In particular, we consider all individual microphysical process rates that are implemented in ICON's two-moment microphysics scheme, which sheds light on (i) which microphysical processes dominate the diabatic heating and PV structure in the WCB and (ii) which microphysical processes are the most ...