Variations in Deep Convective Storm Morphology and Organization in the Dynamic and Thermodynamic Environments of CAMP2Ex and PISTON

This study seeks to elucidate the impacts of changing thermodynamic environments on tropical deep convective morphology and organization within the Maritime Continent (MC). The characteristics of tropical deep convection in varying dynamic and thermodynamic environments were well observed during the NASA Cloud, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP²Ex) and the ONR Propagation of Intra-Seasonal Tropical Oscillations (PISTON) field campaigns. While such observations are critical to enhance our understanding of cloud properties in the MC, they lack information on cloud processes. Together with these field observations, we employ the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) to fully characterize the three-dimensional cloud process rates and properties as a function of thermodynamic and dynamic environment. Simulations covering the Philippine Archipelago have been performed with RAMS at grid spacings sufficient to resolve deep convective clouds, for a two-month period in 2019 encompassing both field campaigns. The long duration and large domain of these simulations allow us to capture the development and characteristics of a variety of deep convective clouds in different and evolving dynamic and thermodynamic environments. A feature tracking algorithm has been used to track convection propagation and lifecycle. This cloud tracking dataset has then been clustered into different convective morphologies and stratified by dynamic and thermodynamic environments, thereby allowing us to clarify the relationship between thermodynamic conditions and convective morphology, organization and lifecycle. The modeling results, together with comparisons with the observations from the CAMP²Ex and PISTON field campaigns, including dropsonde and balloon-borne radiosondes released in both campaigns, will be presented.