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Initiation of deep convection caused by land-surface inhomogeneities in West Africa: a modelled case study

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Abstract

Simulations with the Consortium for Small Scale Modelling model were performed to investigate the impact of land surface inhomogeneities on the initiation of convection. A case from the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis campaign, 11 June 2006, was selected. On this day, a mesoscale convective system was observed and simulated. The simulation scenarios included a realistic and an increased initial soil moisture distribution as well as a homogeneous soil moisture and texture field. Land use and orography were the same in all runs. Heat and moisture budget calculations were applied to analyse the processes responsible for the evolution of pre-convective atmospheric conditions and convection-triggering thermally induced circulation systems. Convective cells were initiated in all experiments. However, the amount of cells, their origin, evolution, and precipitation amount differed. First shallow clouds were initiated over areas with higher sensible heat fluxes. The evolution of subsequent deep convection was triggered by secondary circulation systems caused by baroclinic conditions generated by clouded and unclouded regions. The further evolution of the precipitation cells strongly depended on convective inhibition in the areas the cells moved into.

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Acknowledgments

Based on a French initiative, AMMA was built by an international scientific group and is currently funded by a large number of agencies. It has been the beneficiary of a major financial contribution from the European Community’s Sixth Framework Research Programme. Detailed information on scientific coordination and funding is available on the AMMA international web site http://amma-international.org. Acknowledgment is made for the use of ECMWF’s computing and archive facilities through the special project ‘Mesoscale modelling using the DWD COSMO-Modell’.

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  1. Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Postfach 3640, 76021, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Bianca Adler, Norbert Kalthoff & Leonhard Gantner

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  1. Bianca Adler
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  2. Norbert Kalthoff
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  3. Leonhard Gantner
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Correspondence to Bianca Adler.

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Responsible editor: B. Holtslag.

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Adler, B., Kalthoff, N. & Gantner, L. Initiation of deep convection caused by land-surface inhomogeneities in West Africa: a modelled case study. Meteorol Atmos Phys 112, 15–27 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-011-0131-2

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