Lagrangian Large Eddy Simulations of Trade Cumulus Organization During ATOMIC

Abstract:

The Atlantic Tradewind Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Interaction Campaign (ATOMIC) was designed to understand the relationship between shallow convection and large-scale meteorological and oceanic environments in the trade wind region. It is the U.S. counterpart of the European field campaign called EUREC⁴A and took place in January – February 2020 in the Atlantic Ocean east of Barbados. NOAA’s WP-3D aircraft and the Ronald H. Brown research ship carried instruments collecting cloud, aerosol, boundary-layer, and oceanic properties.

This study is a modeling component of the ATOMIC project. We present Lagrangian large eddy simulations of trade cumulus organization observed during the ATOMIC field campaign. We drive the simulations with ERA5 reanalysis large-scale meteorology and ATOMIC in-situ aerosol data. We evaluate the simulations with ATOMIC in-situ data and with satellite observations. We explore different states of trade cumulus organization, address the transition between different states, and identify environmental conditions that are conducive to the transition.