M. R. Russo

Quantifying the imprint of a severe Hector thunderstorm during ACTIVE/SCOUT-O3 onto the water content in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere

Abstract The development of a severe Hector thunderstorm that formed over the Tiwi Islands, north of Australia, during the Aerosol and Chemical Transport in Tropical Convection/Stratospheric-Climate Links with Emphasis on the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (ACTIVE/SCOUT-O3) field campaign in late 2005, is simulated by the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (ARW) model and the Met Office Unified Model (UM). The general aim of this paper is to investigate the role of isolated deep convection over the tropics in regulating the water content in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UT/LS). Using a horizontal resolution as fine as 1 km, the numerical simulations reproduce the timing, structure, and strength of Hector fairly well when compared with field campaign observations. The sensitivity of results from ARW to horizontal resolution is investigated by running the model in a large-eddy simulation mode with a horizontal resolution of 250 m. While refining the horizontal resolutio...