The PI has recently developed a new representation of cumulus convection that attempts to overcome classical problems by relating the convection explicitly to the dynamics of clouds and tying the moistening effect of clouds explicitly to cloud microphysical parameters. This grant supports studies to understand the interaction of convective clouds with large-scale circulations and climate by attempting to simulate such circulations with simplified numerical models using various convection schemes, including the new scheme of the PI. The immediate objectives the PI will pursue under are: 1. Comprehensive radiative-convective equilibrium simulations using his new scheme; 2. Semiprognostic tests of the new scheme; 3. Theoretical study of equatorial easterly waves; 4. Construction and testing of an equatorial beta-plane numerical model using several different convection schemes, with the main objective of exploring the sensitivity of simulated intraseasonal oscillations to the various convection schemes and to parameters used by the schemes. This research is important because it strives to increase knowledge of the processes by which convective clouds interact with climate.
