The role of evaporative cooling in the cloud-top dynamics of the marine boundary layer has remained controversial during the last decades. The reason is twofold: on the one hand, the difficulty to study such small-scale processes, of the order of tens of meters or less; on the other hand, the importance of understanding the cloud break-up for the correct modeling of the planetary energy balance. Recently, theoretical analysis and direct numerical simulations have demonstrated that, in contrast to previous postulates, buoyancy reversal caused by evaporative cooling is not a sufficient condition to break up the cloud: turbulence is indeed enhanced, but very mildly. To become relevant, evaporative cooling requires the interaction with other local mechanisms of turbulence generation, like mean wind shear or radiative cooling. In this talk, we will explain this result, focusing on the corresponding small-scale fluid dynamics.

Diese Veranstaltung ist Teil der Reihe Karlsruher Meteorologisches Kolloquium

Referent/in
Dr. Juan Petro Mellado

MPI für Meteorologie, Hamburg
Atmosphere in the Earth System

Veranstalter
Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Hermann von Helmholtz Platz 1
76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen
Tel: 0721-608-0
E-Mail: sekretariat ∂does-not-exist.imk-asf kit edu

Zielgruppe
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeitende