Usefulness of Liquid-Water Potential Temperature in a Shallow-Cloud Model

J. W. Deardorff National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo. 80303

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Abstract

The advantages of using Betts' (1973) liquid-water potential temperature (θl) and also a total moisture variable (qw) within a shallow-cloud numerical model are enumerated. The saturation condition is parameterized as a function of these two variables and pressure, and the subgrid-scale buoyancy flux is expressed in terms of the subgrid-scale vertical fluxes of θl and qw.

Abstract

The advantages of using Betts' (1973) liquid-water potential temperature (θl) and also a total moisture variable (qw) within a shallow-cloud numerical model are enumerated. The saturation condition is parameterized as a function of these two variables and pressure, and the subgrid-scale buoyancy flux is expressed in terms of the subgrid-scale vertical fluxes of θl and qw.

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