The Generative Mechanism of Cloud Streets

Cloud streets were successfully simulated by numerical model (RAMS) including an isolated mountain near the coast, large sensible heat flux from the sea surface, uniform stratification and wind velocity with low Froude number (0.25) in the inflow boundary. The well developed cloud streets between a pair of convective rolls are simulated at a level of 1 km over the sea. The following five results were obtained: 1) For the formation of the pair of convective rolls, both strong static instability and a topographically induced mechanical disturbance are strongly required at the same time. 2) Strong sensible heat flux from the sea surface is the main energy source of the pair of convective rolls, and the buoyancy caused by condensation in the cloud is negligibly small. 3) The pair of convective rolls is a complex of two sub-rolls. One is the outer roll, which has a large radius, but weak circulation, and the other is the inner roll, which has a small radius, but strong circulation. The outer roll gathers a large amount of moisture by convergence in the lower marine boundary, and the inner roll transfers the convergent moisture to the upper boundary layer by strong upward motion between them. 4) The pair of inner rolls form the line-shaped cloud streets, and keep them narrow along the center-line of the domain. 5) Both by non-hydrostatic and by hydrostatic assumptions, cloud streets can be simulated. In our case, non-hydrostatic processes enhanced somewhat the formation of cloud streets. The horizontal size of the topography does not seem to be restricted to within the small scale where non-hydrostatic effects are important.