Cloud Formation over the Ocean upon Cold Air Intrusion

Abstract

The problem of stationary vertical distribution of saturated moist air thermodynamic parameters that takes place, for example, in an eyewall cloud of a tropical cyclone is considered. Based on these distributions, the cloud-growth dynamics problem is also considered. The heat and moisture fluxes from the ocean surface are determined by the wind and temperature difference and subcloud layer condition and last after the beginning of cloud formation. They change the condition of both the cloud and the subcloud layer. The coexistence and interaction of the two different regions require additional conditions. We assume continuity of the temperature and humidity profiles at the lower cloud boundary. The problem of cloud formation over the warmer ocean with account for water-phase transformations is considered in the present study. The cloud boundaries (the upper and the lower) in the process are determined and the temperature and moisture profiles within the cloud are also investigated. The lower boundary dipping is determined while taking the subcloud moisture into account. An approximate analytical model of these processes is formulated, and the corresponding equations are solved numerically. Approximate equations govern the vertical cloud structure well.