SCIENTIFIC EDUCATIONAL CENTER science idea

Scientists have taken a fresh look at how severe thunderstorms cause water vapor to be pumped from the troposphere — the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface —into the stratosphere. Their research suggests a feature called "hydraulic jump" as part of this process.
When severe thunderstorms develop, most of them grow rapidly up the troposphere until they reach the tropopause. Unable to grow further, their tops smooth out and give storms a characteristic anvil shape.
However, in some particularly severe thunderstorms, intense updrafts can make their way up into the stratosphere. This can cause cirrus clouds to form over the anvil (AACP, Above-Anvil Cirrus Plumes) a few kilometers above the storm, where they spread downwind.
It is believed that these cloud formations not only portend impending bad weather, such as large tornadoes and hail, but also play an important role in pumping water vapor into the lower stratosphere, although this is still being discussed.
And an adequate physical model of AACP — and many of their characteristics and effects, including potential climate feedbacks - is missing.
To understand the physics of AACPS and their potential role in stratospheric hydration, scientists combined large vortex simulations and confirmatory radar observations.
They found that storm clouds rising into the stratosphere act as a topographic barrier, deflecting high-altitude wind currents.
This causes a hydraulic surge downstream from the storm in the tropopause, which causes an intense injection of water vapor deep into the stratosphere at a rate that can exceed 7 tons per second after establishment.
According to the authors, AACPS are visible manifestations of this process.
The study is published in the journal Science.
ab-news.ru (Maria Samsonova)