Temperature and Humidity Profiles in Mesoscale Unsaturated Downdrafts

Abstract

Profiles of temperature and humidity beneath precipitating anvil clouds in tropical convective systems suggest the presence of a mesoscale unsaturated downdraft there. In this paper, a one-dimensional, steady-state, hydrostatic model of a downdraft is used to simulate profiles of temperature and humidity beneath anvil clouds. With a realistic drop-size distribution, the model calculations produce profiles that closely resemble observed soundings beneath anvil clouds. Such calculated profiles can be useful in computing the mass, heat and moisture budgets of tropical convective systems.