Abrupt transitions in an atmospheric single-column model  with weak temperature gradient approximation

Stephens, Benjamin A.; Jackson, Charles S.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-389-2020

Articles | Volume 1, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-389-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-389-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 1, issue 2

Research article

|

14 Aug 2020

Research article |

| 14 Aug 2020

Abrupt transitions in an atmospheric single-column model with weak temperature gradient approximation

Benjamin A. Stephens and Charles S. Jackson

Data sets

Data for <q>Abrupt transitions in an atmospheric single-column model with weak temperature gradient approximation</q> B. A. Stephens and C. S. Jackson https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3911758

Short summary

We analyze abrupt transitions between tropical rainfall regimes in a single-column model (SCM) of the tropical atmosphere. Multiple equilibria have been observed before in SCMs, but here we analyze actual bifurcations. We attribute the transitions to a sudden loss of evaporative cooling in the lower column due to nonlinearities in microphysics. This study may have implications for atmospheric dynamics more broadly but also for understanding abrupt transitions in paleoclimate.