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Buoyancy statistics in moist turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2010

JÖRG SCHUMACHER  and
OLIVIER PAULUIS
JÖRG SCHUMACHER*
Affiliation:
Institut für Thermo- und Fluiddynamik, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Postfach 100565, D-98684 Ilmenau, Germany
OLIVIER PAULUIS
Affiliation:
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, 251 Mercer Street, New York, NY 10012-1185, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

We study shallow moist Rayleigh–Bénard convection in the Boussinesq approximation in three-dimensional direct numerical simulations. The thermodynamics of phase changes is approximated by a piecewise linear equation of state close to the phase boundary. The impact of phase changes on the turbulent fluctuations and the transfer of buoyancy through the layer is discussed as a function of the Rayleigh number and the ability to form liquid water. The enhanced buoyancy flux due to phase changes is compared with dry convection reference cases and related to the cloud cover in the convection layer. This study indicates that the moist Rayleigh–Bénard problem offers a practical framework for the development and evaluation of parameterizations for atmospheric convection.

Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 648 , 10 April 2010 , pp. 509 - 519
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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References

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