Applicability of convective invariance to individual storms

Determine how the reframing of tropical convective responses to surface warming, including the apparent invariance of convective motions, applies to individual convective storms.

Background

The paper finds that radiative-convective equilibrium simulations show little change in column-integrated convective mass transport with warming. Instead, warming primarily redistributes convection vertically, while convective motions and associated water transport remain approximately invariant along isotherms. The authors note that this bulk-atmosphere result may not directly describe the behavior of individual storms, whose intensity and structure can respond differently to warming.

The unresolved issue is whether the convective invariance identified in idealized simulations is realized within individual storms and across storm environments. The paper identifies forthcoming satellite observations of vertical motions and convective structure as a possible means of testing this question in nature and at smaller scales.