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UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
FACULTY OF PHYSICS Guest
2025-08-21 0:49 |
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Conference: Bucharest University Faculty of Physics 2025 Meeting
Section: Theoretical and Computational Physics, High-Energy Physics, Applied Mathematics
Title:
A sandpile model of convective clouds
Authors:
Cristian VRACIU
Affiliation:
Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest
Department of Theoretical Physics, Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
E-mail
cv.vraciu@gmail.com
Keywords:
Convection, Criticality, Self-organization, Clouds
Abstract:
Atmospheric convective clouds exhibit intermittent and scale-invariant behavior characteristic of complex dynamical systems. In this study, we model the initiation and evolution of convective cloud systems using a self-organized criticality (SOC) framework, specifically adapting the sandpile model. In our model, the sandpile represents convective clouds in which each grain of sand added to the system represents a convective element that creates a cloud or makes the cloud deeper. When a cloud reaches a value of 4 (representing a congestus cloud) or 5 (representing a cumulonimbus), grains of sand are added to their neighbor cells, mimicking the effect of convective forcing due to the gust front in the atmospheric boundary layer. The results provide insight into the emergent behavior of moist convection and suggest that SOC-based models offer a viable minimal framework for exploring the nonlinear dynamics of atmospheric convection.
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