Zhu et al. (2026) An Approach for Simultaneous Estimation of Entrainment and Detrainment Rates in Deep Convective Clouds

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-09
• Authors: Lei Zhu, Chunsong Lu, Guang J. Zhang, Junjun Li, Xiaoqi Xu, Xin He, Cheng Sun
• DOI: 10.1029/2025jd044879

Research Groups

Not specified in the abstract.

Short Summary

This study introduces a novel precipitation efficiency-based approach to simultaneously estimate entrainment (ε) and detrainment (δ) rates in deep convective clouds (DCCs) from observational data, demonstrating its reliability and revealing that detrainment rates are generally greater than entrainment rates in DCCs.

Objective

• To develop and evaluate a new precipitation efficiency-based approach for simultaneously estimating entrainment (ε) and detrainment (δ) rates in deep convective clouds (DCCs) using observational data, addressing the current lack of direct methods for δ.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Deep convective cloud scale.
• Temporal Scale: Cloud process timescales for entrainment and detrainment rates.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Numerical simulations (for evaluation), Precipitation Efficiency-based (PE-based) approach (newly proposed).
• Data sources: Numerical simulations, aircraft observations of deep convective clouds.

Main Results

• The proposed PE-based approach reliably estimates entrainment (ε) and detrainment (δ) rates in deep convective clouds (DCCs), with magnitudes and vertical variations comparable to those from the bulk-plume approach.
• Variations in presumed entrained air properties have minimal impact on estimated ε and δ.
• Increasing the fraction of in-cloud air in presumed detrained air leads to larger δ values, while ε remains largely unaffected.
• Higher precipitation efficiency increases both ε and δ estimates, with a more pronounced effect on δ.
• An optimal precipitation efficiency for accurate estimation was identified through comparisons with the bulk-plume approach.
• Application to aircraft observations of DCCs reveals that detrainment (δ) is greater than entrainment (ε).

Contributions

• Introduction of a novel precipitation efficiency-based approach for simultaneously estimating entrainment and detrainment rates in precipitating deep convective clouds, filling a critical gap in observational methods.
• Provides a method to derive new datasets of entrainment and detrainment rates from deep convective cloud observations.
• Advances the understanding and parameterization of deep convective clouds by characterizing cloud-environment interactions.

Funding

Not specified in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Zhu2026Approach,
  author = {Zhu, Lei and Lu, Chunsong and Zhang, Guang J. and Li, Junjun and Xu, Xiaoqi and He, Xin and Sun, Cheng},
  title = {An Approach for Simultaneous Estimation of Entrainment and Detrainment Rates in Deep Convective Clouds},
  journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025jd044879},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025jd044879}
}