Coupled Map Modeling for Cloud Dynamics

Abstract

A coupled map model for cloud dynamics is proposed, which consists of the successive operations of the physical processes; buoyancy, diffusion, viscosity, adiabatic expansion, fall of a droplet by gravity, descent flow dragged by the falling droplet, and advection. Through extensive simulations, the phases corresponding to stratus, cumulus, stratocumulus and cumulonimbus are found, with the change of the ground temperature and the moisture of the air. They are characterized by order parameters such as the cluster number, perimeter-to-area ratio of a cloud, and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy.