A Numerical Simulation of Observed Cumulus Humilis Clouds

Abstract

Life cycles of cumulus humilis clouds which have been observed by a stereophotogrammetric method are simulated by an axisymmetric numerical model with the observed atmospheric condition as the initial one.It is shown that when the ambient wind speed and shear is light, the simulated lifetime and the time variations of the cloud base height, cloud top height and cloud horizontal dimension agree well with the results of the observation. When the ambient wind speed and shear is strong, the simulated lifetime is more than twice of the observed result.