On the role of clouds and moisture in tropical waves: A two-dimensional model study

Observations show that convective perturbations of the tropical atmosphere are associated with substantial variations of clouds and water vapor. Recent studies suggest that these variations may play an active role in the large-scale organization of the tropical atmosphere. The present study investigates that possibility by using a two-dimensional, nonrotating model that includes a set of physical parameterizations carefully evaluated against tropical data. In the absence of cloud-radiation interactions, the model spontaneously generates fast upwind (eastward) moving planetary-scale oscillations through the wind-induced surface heat exchange mechanism. In the presence of cloud-radiative effects, the model generates slower upwind (eastward) propagating modes in addition to small-scale disturbances advected downwind (westward) by the mean flow. Enhanced cloud-radiative effects further slow down upwind propagating waves and make them more prominent in the spectrum. On the other hand, the model suggests that interactions between moisture and convection favor the prominence of moist Kelvin-like waves in tropical variability at the expense of small-scale advective disturbances. These numerical results, consistent with theoretical predictions, suggest that the interaction of water vapor and cloud variations with convection and radiation plays an active role in the large-scale organization of the tropical atmosphere.