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Abstract Two analytical models with different starting points of convective parameterizations, the Fuchs and Raymond model on one hand and the Khairoutdinov and Emanuel model on the other, are used to develop “minimal difference” models for the MJO. The main physical mechanisms that drive the MJO in both models are wind-induced surface heat exchange (WISHE) and cloud–radiation interactions (CRI). The dispersion curves for the modeled eastward-propagating mode, the MJO mode, are presented for an idealized case with zero meridional wind and for the realistic cases with higher meridional numbers. In both cases, the two models produce eastward-propagating modes with the growth rate greatest at the largest wavelengths despite having different representations of cumulus convection. We show that the relative contributions of WISHE and CRI are sensitive to how the convection and entropy/moisture budgets are represented in models like these. Significance StatementThe Madden–Julian oscillation is the largest weather disturbance on our planet. It propagates eastward encompassing the whole tropical belt. It influences weather all around the globe by modulating hurricanes, atmospheric rivers, and other phenomena. Numerical models that forecast the Madden–Julian oscillation need improvement. Here we explore the physics behind the Madden–Julian oscillation using simple analytical models. Our models are based on the assumption that surface enthalpy fluxes and cloud–radiation interactions are responsible for the Madden–Julian oscillation but it should be borne in mind that other physical mechanisms have been proposed for the MJO. The impact of this research is to better understand the Madden–Julian oscillation mechanism. 

Abstract Convection observed in the OTREC field program in the tropical east Pacific and southwest Caribbean is simulated using a cloud‐resolving model employing the weak temperature gradient approximation. Simulations are made using reference profiles derived from three‐dimensional variational analyses of dropsonde data selected for different ranges of saturation fraction, a kind of column relative humidity. For each of these humidity ranges, two simulations are performed, one with ventilation of the model domain by the ambient wind (a new model feature) and one without this ventilation. The model results using ventilation are much closer to observation than those without ventilation, especially for drier environments. These results have strong implications for the distribution of ITCZ convection in the east Pacific and for the construction of cumulus parameterizations. 

Abstract Data from recent field programs studying deep convection may be useful in constraining cumulus parameterizations. To this end, gridded dropsonde analyses are made using data from the OTREC (Organization of Tropical East Pacific Convection) and PREDICT (PreDepression Investigation of Cloud‐Systems in the Tropics) projects to characterize the mesoscale properties of tropical oceanic convection in terms of selected thermodynamic parameters computable from the explicit grids of large‐scale models. In particular, saturation fraction, lower tropospheric moist convective instability, and convective inhibition appear to govern column‐integrated moisture convergence, while sea surface temperature is related to the top‐heaviness of mass flux profiles and the integrated entropy divergence. Local (as opposed to global) surface heat and moisture fluxes and convective available potential energy correlate weakly with these quantities. Recommendations to improve cumulus parameterizations are enumerated. 

Abstract We present preliminary results from the field program Organization of Tropical East Pacific Convection (OTREC), with measurements during August and September of 2019 using the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V over the tropical East Pacific and Southwest Caribbean. We found that active convection in this region has predominantly bottom‐heavy vertical mass fluxes, while decaying systems exhibit top‐heavy fluxes characteristic of stratiform rain regions. As in other regions that have been studied, a strong anti‐correlation exists between the low to mid‐level moist convective instability and the column relative humidity or saturation fraction. Finally, the characteristics of convection as a function of latitude differ greatly between the Southwest Caribbean and Colombian Pacific coast on one hand, and the intertropical convergence zone to the west. In particular, the strongest convection in the former is to the south, while it is to the north in the latter, in spite of similar latitudinal sea surface temperature distributions. 

Abstract According to Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite precipitation composites, a broad maritime area over the far eastern tropical Pacific and western Colombia houses one of the rainiest spots on Earth. This study aims to present a suite of mechanistic drivers that help create such a world‐record‐breaking rainy spot. Previous research has shown that this oceanic and nearly continental precipitation maximum has a strong early morning precipitation peak and a high density of mesoscale convective systems. We examined new and unique observational evidence highlighting the role of both dynamical and thermodynamical drivers in the activation and duration of organized convection. Results showed the existence of a rather large combination of mechanisms, including: (1) dynamics of the Choco (ChocoJet) and Caribbean Low‐Level Jets along their confluence zone, including the Panama semi‐permanent low; (2) ChocoJet deceleration offshore is favored by land breeze, enhancing the nighttime and early morning low‐level convergence; (3) a wind sheared environment that conforms to the long‐lived squall line theory; (4) action of mid‐level gravity waves, which further support the strong diurnal variability; and (5) mesoscale convective vortices related to subsidence in the stratiform region and top‐heavy mass flux profiles. This study emphasizes the multiscale circulation and thermodynamics mechanisms associated with the formation of one of the rainiest spots on Earth and showcases new observations gathered during the Organization of Tropical East Pacific Convection field campaign (OTREC; August–September, 2019) that support the outlined mechanisms. 

Abstract. The Organization of Tropical East Pacific Convection (OTREC) field campaign, conducted August through October 2019, focuses on studying convection in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean. An unprecedented number of dropsondes were deployed (648) during 22 missions to study the region of strong sea surface temperature (SST) gradients in the eastern Pacific region, the region just off the coast of Columbia, and in the uniform SST region in the southwestern Caribbean. The dropsondes were assimilated in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model. This study quantifies departures, observed minus the model value of a variable, in dropsonde denial experiments and studies time series of convective variables, saturation fraction which measures moisture and instability index and deep convective inhibition which quantify atmospheric stability and boundary layer stability to convection, respectively.Departures are small whether dropsondes are assimilated or not, except in a special case of developing convection and organization prior to Tropical Storm Ivo where wind departures are significantly larger when dropsondes are not assimilated. Departures are larger in cloudy regions compared to cloud-free regions when comparing a vertically integrated departure with a cloudiness estimation. Abovementioned variables are all well represented by the model when compared to observations, with some systematic deviations in and above the boundary layer. Time series of these variables show artificial convective activity in the model, in the eastern Pacific region off the coast of Costa Rica, which we hypothesize occurs due to the overestimation of moisture content in that region.