Climatological sensitivities of shallow-cumulus bulk entrainment in continental and oceanic locations

Abstract Cumulus entrainment is a complex process that has long challenged conceptual understanding and atmospheric prediction. To investigate this observationally, two retrievals are used to generate multi-year climatologies of shallow-cumulus bulk ( ? ) at Atmospheric Radiation Measurement cloud observatories, one in the US southern Great Plains (SGP) other Azores archipelago eastern North Atlantic (ENA). The statistical distributions thus obtained, as well certain environmental cloud-related sensitivities , consistent with previous findings from large-eddy simulations. retrieved robustly increases cloudlayer relative humidity decreases wider clouds ensembles larger cloud-base mass fluxes. While also correlates negatively measures cloud-layer vigor (e.g., maximum in-cloud vertical velocity depth), extent which these metrics actually regulate (or vice-versa) unclear. Novel include robust decrease increasing subcloud wind speed oceanic flows, flux individual cumuli. A strong land–ocean contrast found, median values 0.5-0.6 km ?1 continental SGP site 1.0-1.1 ENA site. This trend associated drier deeper layers, along fluxes, SGP, all favor reduced . flow-dependence implies its various should be accounted for cumulus parameterization schemes.