9311735 Raymond The premise underlying this research is that the essential dynamics of convective systems in the tropical atmosphere can be represented by a combination of a nonlinear balance model and parameterizations for cumulus convection, solar and thermal radiation, and surfaces fluxes. The principal investigator argues that conceptual framework of the balanced model can be used to study a variety of scales of atmospheric motion related to convection in tropical regimes, and has the potential for providing new insights into the dynamics. Predictions of a nonlinear balance model will be compared with some of the observations from three different tropical field programs, each of which focused on a different tropical phenomena: the Hawaiian Rainband Project (orographically forced rainbands), the Tropical Experiment in Mexico (tropical cyclogenesis), and the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (Madden-Julian oscillation, westerly wind bursts, and equatorial troughs). The support for this project will be shared by the Large-scale Dynamic Meteorology, Mesoscale Dynamic Meteorology, and Climate Dynamics Programs. ***
