Testing convective parameterizations with tropical measurements of HNO3, CO, H2O, and O3: Implications for the water vapor budget

The updraft and downdraft mass flux profiles generated by convective parameterizations differ significantly from each other. Most convective parameterizations are tested against temperature and relative humidity profiles from radiosondes. Chemical tracers provide important additional constraints on the vertical redistribution of mass by convective parameterizations. We compile tropical climatologies of water vapor (H 2 O), ozone (O 3 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitric acid (HNO 3 ) from a variety of satellite, aircraft, and balloon‐based measurement platforms. These climatologies are compared with the profiles predicted by a variant of the Emanuel convective parameterization, a two‐column model of the tropical atmosphere, and by the implementations of the Relaxed Arakawa Schubert (RAS) and Zhang and McFarlane (ZM) parameterizations in a three‐dimensional global forecast model. In general, the models with more pronounced convective outflow in the upper troposphere compare more favorably with observations. These models are associated with increased evaporative moistening in the middle and lower troposphere.