Articles | Volume 26, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-13959-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-13959-2026
Research article
 | 
06 Oct 2026
Research article |  | 06 Oct 2026

Driving mechanisms for subsiding shells in simulations of deep moist convection

Quinlan R. Mulhern, John M. Peters, and Jake P. Mulholland

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Thunderstorms redistribute air throughout the lowest layer of the atmosphere. One way in which this occurs is when air descends around the edges of clouds, known as a subsiding shell. By studying computer simulations, we found that the shells were formed by droplets evaporating at the cloud edge and air being forced downward at cloud top by pressure differences. Larger pressure differences and accelerations were found in the dry environment because updrafts were stronger in that simulation.
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