Comparisons of Localized Convection due to Localized Forcing and to Preconditioning

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Abstract
Although observations indicate that localization of deep convection results from oceanic preconditioning and only to a lesser extent from the gradients in the atmospheric forcing, most laboratory and numerical simulations of oceanic deep convection localize convection via the buoyancy forcing. It is as yet unclear to what extent the localized forcing simplification is representative of realistic preconditioned convection and whether conclusions drawn from analyzing the former scenario can be applied to the latter. Comparison between these two localized convection scenarios is the focus of this study. The analysis is conducted using a high-resolution, nonhydrostatic numerical model that assumes no variations in the latitudinal direction. Although this model cannot represent baroclinic instability, it represents well the violent mixing phase of chimney formation that precedes baroclinic instability. Because of the inherently different initial and boundary conditions, there is no single comparison t... Abstract Although observations indicate that localization of deep convection results from oceanic preconditioning and only to a lesser extent from the gradients in the atmospheric forcing, most laboratory and numerical simulations of oceanic deep convection localize convection via the buoyancy forcing. It is as yet unclear to what extent the localized forcing simplification is representative of realistic preconditioned convection and whether conclusions drawn from analyzing the former scenario can be applied to the latter. Comparison between these two localized convection scenarios is the focus of this study. The analysis is conducted using a high-resolution, nonhydrostatic numerical model that assumes no variations in the latitudinal direction. Although this model cannot represent baroclinic instability, it represents well the violent mixing phase of chimney formation that precedes baroclinic instability. Because of the inherently different initial and boundary conditions, there is no single comparison t...

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