Abstract
Equilibrium solutions are constructed using an idealized model for mixed and partially mixed boundary layers to show the dependence of the equilibrium cloud layer thickness on different physical processes. The condition when a mixed layer becomes cloud-free is reduced to a comparison between three pressure scales, associated with the surface wind and divergence, the radiative cooling and the subsaturation of the entrained air. The evaporation of layer cloud by cloud-top mixing is also formulated in terms of simple pressure scales.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v41i3.11837 | Journal eISSN: 3035-9554
Language: English
Page range: 246 - 254
Submitted on: Mar 22, 1988
Accepted on: Jul 18, 1988
Published on: Jan 1, 1989
Published by: Stockholm University Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
© 1989 Alan K. Betts, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.