On the theory of convective jets and thermals in the atmosphere

Abstract

In traditional theoretical models of convection from isolated sources, results usually depend little on their sizes: convective jets and isolated thermals rapidly “forget” the source geometry. However, new problems in which the sizes of a source are relatively large and can significantly influence results have recently become important. These are, for example, problems of the dynamics of intensive methane emissions of geologic origin. The paper generalizes some well-known integral models of thermals and jets. Although these simple schemes cannot compete with complicated numerical models in describing the spatial structure of the currents, they are shown to be able to reproduce a number of important numerical results rather well (the height and time of the rise of convective elements) and, moreover, to find clear physical laws and determine explicit dependences on parameters of the problem.