Tropical Convection

Nolan Research group Nolan Research group
This figure presents a conceptual model for the life cycle of a convectively coupled Kelvin wave (CCKW). Over several days, the dynamical pressure anomaly moves out ahead of the convection and the area of enhanced precipitation dissipates. The wave forms new convective clusters and the cycle repeats. See Blanco et al. (2016b), below.

Over the course of several projects we explored the dynamics of tropical convection in various environments such as radiative-convective equilibrium, in the intertropical convergence zone, and in convectively-coupled tropical waves.

Some recent papers:

Blanco. J. E., D. S. Nolan, and B. E. Mapes, 2019: Nonlinear zonal propagation of organized convection in the tropics. J. Atmos. Sci., 76, 2837-2867.

Blanco, J. E., D. S. Nolan, and B. E. Mapes, 2016b: Convectively coupled Kelvin waves in aquachannel simulations: 2. Life cycle and dynamical-convective coupling, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 121, 11,319–11,347.

Blanco, J. E., D. S. Nolan, and S. N. Tulich, 2016a: Convectively coupled Kelvin waves in aquachannel simulations: 1. Propagation speeds, composite structures, and comparison with aquaplanets, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 121, 11,287–11,318.

Nolan, David S., Stefan N. Tulich, and Joaquin E. Blanco, 2016: ITCZ structure as determined by parameterized versus explicit convection in aquachannel and aquapatch simulations. J. Adv. Model. Earth. Syst., 8, doi: 10.1002/2015MS000560.