Downdraughts and cold pools

Atmospheric convection generates cumulus clouds. If it is sufficiently intense, the clouds will produce heavy, localised rain showers. Associated with these showers are downdraughts of cold air, which strike the ground and spread out as 'cold pools'. These generate unusual, hazardous gusts. They can also trigger further convection, and hence affect the diurnal distribution of tropical rainfall.
This talk will describe work to examine and model the dynamics of these flows. This includes idealised studies of downdraughts and colliding cold pools, and also merging convective plumes. The last of these is relevant to the triggering of secondary convection, as well as having other applications. The parametrisation of cold-pool effects in a climate model will also be discussed.