Duque et al. (2025) Simulating Closed‐to‐Open Mesoscale Cellular Convection Over the Southern Ocean: Part II. Perturbed Physics Experiments

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-12
• Authors: Estefania Montoya Duque, Yi Huang, Steven T. Siems, Hugh Morrison, Peter T. May
• DOI: 10.1029/2025jd044199

Research Groups

Not explicitly stated in the abstract.

Short Summary

This study investigates the drivers of mesoscale cellular convective (MCC) cloud organization and the transition from closed-to-open cells over the Southern Ocean. It finds that enhanced cloud ice production and microphysical latent cooling are key factors in MCC organization and break-up, while sea surface temperature influences cloud morphology but is not the primary driver of the closed-to-open cell transition.

Objective

• To investigate three potential drivers of the organization and transition from closed-to-open cell mesoscale cellular convective (MCC) clouds over the Southern Ocean under post-frontal conditions: (a) sea surface temperature (SST) including its gradients, (b) cloud ice production processes, and (c) microphysical latent cooling.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Mesoscale (Southern Ocean)
• Temporal Scale: Event-based (post-frontal conditions), focusing on morphological evolution.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Convection-permitting configuration of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model.
• Data sources: Model simulations (perturbed physics experiments).

Main Results

• Sea surface temperature (SST) is not the primary driver of the closed-to-open MCC transition.
• Warmer SST influences cloud cellular morphology by deepening the boundary layer and enhancing precipitation.
• Colder SST influences cloud cellular morphology by suppressing boundary layer mixing, leading to reduced cloud cover.
• Enhanced ice production plays a key role in MCC organization, driving cloud "break-up" by increasing precipitation formation.
• Cloud evaporative cooling significantly affects MCC organization, likely by influencing negative cloud buoyancy, allowing clouds to grow deeper and drying the boundary layer.

Contributions

• Highlights critical processes that govern mesoscale cellular convective (MCC) cloud behavior.
• Provides valuable insights for improving the representation of shallow clouds in climate models.
• Aids efforts to reduce uncertainties in climate sensitivity projections.

Funding

Not mentioned in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Duque2025Simulating,
  author = {Duque, Estefania Montoya and Huang, Yi and Siems, Steven T. and Morrison, Hugh and May, Peter T.},
  title = {Simulating Closed‐to‐Open Mesoscale Cellular Convection Over the Southern Ocean: Part II. Perturbed Physics Experiments},
  journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1029/2025jd044199},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025jd044199}
}