Convective mass flux is essential in shaping the complex interactions between convection and the surrounding environment and is a key parameter in most GCM cumulus parameterizations. However, global observations of this variable are not yet available. Observing convective vertical motion has therefore been prioritized as a key target for future Earth-observing missions (e.g., ESA’s EarthCARE mission and NASA’s INCUS and AOS missions). As a supplement to these anticipated observations, we present an alternative satellite-based method for estimating convective mass flux. This method employs a hybrid approach that integrates information across scales, including satellite observations of convective cloud properties, ambient soundings, and a plume model, combining them in a Bayesian framework to retrieve vertical profiles of convective vertical velocity (wc) and convective mass flux (Mc). These satellite-based estimates of convective mass flux create new possibilities for studying convective dynamics globally and for evaluating GCM cumulus parameterizations. Several applications were conducted, including a recent adaptation of the method to geostationary satellite observations, where we used the derived convective mass flux to revisit the “Hot Tower” hypothesis, originally proposed by Riehl and Malkus (Simpson) in 1958.

• doi:10.1002/2016JD024753; 

• doi: 10.1029/2020GL090675; 

• doi.org/10.1007/s10712-024-09856-6

Tropical deep convection is essential for transporting air masses and chemical species from near the surface to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. However, this transport process is challenging to quantify through observations or accurately represent in models due to its small spatial scales and brief temporal durations. Here, we present a method to characterize convective transport using the transit time distribution framework, G(t), which captures the relative contributions of various transport pathways with different transit times. We demonstrate that the convective transport transit time distribution, G(t), can be derived from airborne in situ measurements of chemical species with a range of lifetimes, as these lifetimes act as “clocks” to probe different transport pathways. This approach provides valuable insights for quantifying transport processes and could potentially serve as a unique diagnostic for evaluating the representation of convective transport in global models.

• doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080424

• doi:10.1029/2020JD034358