Some results of a trade cumulus cloud investigation
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5412Location
Caribbean SeaDOI
10.1575/1912/5412Abstract
Cross sections through two trade cumulus clouds are
presented, showing the temperatures, turbulence, and water vapor
content of the clouds and their nearby environment, the cloud
slope, and the external wind profile. The two clouds were
studied over the Caribbean Sea on the same afternoon in June,
1952, and were in widely differing phases of their life cycles.
The measurements were made from a slow-flying aircraft equipped
with sensing instruments and whose behavior as a meteorological
tool had been previously studied. Numerous calculations are
made from the cross sections, including total and dynamic entrainment,
drafts, slopes, and liquid water content. These are, where
possible, checked against the corresponding observations. In
addition to testing previously evolved theoretical models, and
the usefulness of the steady-state hypothesis, the data provide
some evidence concerning the formation and growth of larger
trade cumulus clouds from several smaller ones and by successive
stages.
Description
Originally issued as Reference No. 53-30, series later renamed WHOI-
Collections
Suggested Citation
Technical Report: Malkus, Joanne Starr, "Some results of a trade cumulus cloud investigation", 1953-05, DOI:10.1575/1912/5412, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5412Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
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On the structure of the trade wind moist layer
Malkus, Joanne Starr (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1957-01)Comparison of the lower trade-wind air under conditions of strong versus weak circulation is continued, Moisture and thermal structure and transports from the top of the mixed layer up to the trade-wind inversion are ... -
On the formation and structure of downdrafts in cumulus clouds
Malkus, Joanne Starr (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1954-08)Downdrafts, exhibiting speeds and mass transports comparable to those of the main updrafts, are a common feature of the cumulus clouds studied by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's FBI aircraft in the trade-wind region. ... -
Concerning the structure of some cumulus clouds which penetrated the high tropical troposphere
Malkus, Joanne Starr; Ronne, Claude (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1954-03)Some extremely large oceanic trade-mind cumulonimbus clouds extending upwards of 40,000 ft. into a region of strong winds and intense vertical shear have been studied by means of time-lapse photography. A simultaneous still ...