Abstract
It is suggested that the gross mean vertical structure of the undisturbed tropical atmosphere may be understood in terms of convective boundary layers driven in different ways and on different time scales by the evaporation of water from the sea surface. The mixed layer on a short time scale is driven partly by the buoyancy produced by the light weight of the water vapor; the trade cumulus layer on an intermediate time scale by the buoyancy (but not heating) produced by the condensation of the water vapor in shallow trade cumulus clouds; and the troposphere itself on a long time scale by the buoyancyand heating produced by the condensation of the water vapor in the deep cumulonimbus clouds.
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May 1985
This paper was issued as a Harvard University report in 1974. For this version only Section 5 has been rewritten. There has been sufficient interest in this work over the years to warrant making it more widely available through the open literature.
Contribution No. 783 from NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
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Sarachik, E.S. A simple theory for the vertical structure of the tropical atmosphere. PAGEOPH 123, 261–271 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00877022
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00877022