Explicit Simulation of Cumulus Ensembles with the GATE Phase III Data: Comparison with Observations

Abstract The macroscopic behavior of cumulus convection and its mesoscale organization during Phase III of the Global Atmospheric Research Program's (GARP) Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE) is simulated with a two-dimensional (2D) cloud ensemble model. The model includes a three-phase bulk microphysics parameterization, a third-moment turbulence closure and an interactive, radiative transfer parameterization. The observed large-scale, horizontal advective effects and large-scale vertical velocity me imposed on the model's thermodynamic equations uniformly in the horizontal. The simulated, domain-averaged horizontal wind components are nudged toward the observed winds. A detailed comparison with available observations is made in this study. The observed time variations of the surface precipitation rate, surface evaporation rate, outgoing longwave radiation flux, and the vertical distributions of temperature, water vapor mixing ratio, and relative humidity are successfully reproduced by the model, as well...