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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Observations of Kinematics and Thermodynamic Structure Surrounding a Convective Storm Cluster over a Low Mountain Range

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Abstract Measurements of a convective storm cluster in the northern Black Forest in southwest Germany have revealed the development of a warm and dry downdraft under its anvil cloud that had an inhibiting effect on the subsequent development of convection. These measurements were made on 12 July 2006 as part of the field campaign Prediction, Identification and Tracking of Convective Cells (PRINCE) during which a number of new measurement strategies were deployed. These included the collocation of a rotational Raman lidar and a Doppler lidar on the summit of the highest mountain in the region (1164 m MSL) as well as the deployment of teams carrying radiosondes to be released in the vicinity of convective storms. In addition, an aircraft equipped with sensors for meteorological variables and dropsondes was in operation and determined that the downdraft air was approximately 1.5 K warmer, 4 g kg−1 drier, and therefore 3 g m−3 less dense than the air at the same altitude in the storm’s surroundings. The Raman lidar detected undulating aerosol-rich layers in the preconvective environment and a gradual warming trend of the lower troposphere as the nearby storm system evolved. The Doppler lidar both detected a pattern of convergent radial winds under a developing convective updraft and an outflow emerging under the storm’s anvil cloud. The dryness of the downdraft air indicates that it had subsided from higher altitudes. Its low density reveals that its development was not caused by negative thermal buoyancy, but was rather due to the vertical mass flux balance accompanying the storm’s updrafts.