Physical Mechanisms Controlling the Offshore Propagation of Convection in the Tropics: 2. Influence of Topography

Abstract

Abstract A set of idealized convection‐permitting simulations is performed to investigate the influence of topography on the physical mechanisms responsible for the nocturnal offshore propagation of convection around tropical islands. All simulations have an idealized island in the middle of a long channel oceanic domain, with constant sea surface temperature and without rotation. To diagnose the impact of topography, we compare a flat island simulation with two simulations with mountain ranges of different shapes. The topography over the island has a strong impact on the diurnal cycle of convection as clouds tend to remain all day over the highest topography. This weakens the diurnal cycle and the land breeze front and triggers a comparatively less frequent long‐distance offshore propagation of convection. As in the flat simulation, the distance of offshore propagation is particularly sensitive to humidity and temperature at the top of the boundary layer. A shallow circulation that is asymmetric with respect to the island influences the boundary layer top humidity and can favor propagation on one side of the island or the other. These results mimic cloud and precipitation patterns observed prior to the Madden‐Julian Oscillation propagation over the Maritime Continent. The shape of the topography does not seem to influence the offshore propagation of convection significantly except for mountain‐valley breezes that reinforce the land breeze and the establishment of the asymmetric shallow circulation.

Keywords

• convection
• land breeze
• topography
• offshore propagation
• tropical islands
• gravity waves