Abstract:
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.
