Some aspects of internal gravity waves in the multicell-type convective system

Summary Some aspects of internal gravity waves in the multicell-type convective system are examined using a linear theory and a nonlinear numerical model. The basic-state wind is assumed to increase linearly with height and then remain constant.In the theoretical part, the two-dimensional, linear, steady-state response of a stably stratified atmosphere to specified cooling representing the evaporative cooling of falling precipitation in the subcloud layer is analytically considered. It is shown that there exist an updraft on the upstream side of the cooling and a downdraft on the downstream side. As the wind shear increases enough, the magnitude of the updraft decreases. This is because a large portion of the specified cooling is used to compensate for the positive vorticity associated with the positive wind shear and accordingly the effective cooling necessary to produce perturbations is reduced.In the numerical part, a two-dimensional version of the ARPS (Advanced Regional Prediction System) that is a nonhydrostatic, compressible model with detailed physical processes is employed. Results from the dry simulation, in which the steady cooling is specified in the model, show that the simulated quasi-steady field resembles the linear, steady-state solution field because the nonlinearity factor of thermally-induced waves in this case is small. For the moist simulation, the quasi-steady perturbations obtained from the dry simulation are used as initial conditions. It is shown that gravity waces can effectively initiate convection even with small amplitude and that updraft at the head of the density current somewhat resembles the linear, steady-state response of a stably straified flow to the specified cooling. The updraft, that is, forced internal gravity waves, at the head of the density current is responsible for the initiation of consecutive convective cells that move downstream and develop as a main convective cell. This study suggests that internal gravity waves play a major role in the initiation of consecutive convective cells in the multicell-type convective system and hence in its maintenance.