Turbulence structure in shallow precipitating cumulus convection

Low clouds are one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate projections. The development of precipitation in shallow cumulus clouds (cloud tops less than 4 km high) add additional complexity to the atmospheric boundary layer dynamics. Precipitation affects the atmospheric boundary layer energy balance and modulates the large-scale horizontal organization of convection. The turbulence structure of the boundary layer is studied using large-eddy simulation (LES). We present results from an unprecedented size LES, with a domain of 330 km and 40 m grid resolution. The LES captures both cloud-scale and mesoscale flow organization. The horizontal flow organization is quantified using the premultiplied spectra and the scaling of the temperature and humidity fluxes is discussed.