On cumulus mergers ( Florida USA).

Joining together or merging is postulated to be a major way in which convective clouds become larger, enhancing their transports and impacts upon their environment. Cumulus shower merger is defined in terms of echoes from a calibrated digitized 10-cm radar reviewing a 0.9 x 10⁵ km² area in south Florida, U.S.A., which encompasses a 1.3 x 10⁴ km² experimental area for randomized seeding. A detailed physical and statistical study is reported for three relatively undisturbed untreated days in the summer of 1973. Physical hypotheses suggesting the importance of downdrafts in cumulus merging are developed. The relevance of mergers to hydrology, weather modification and the largescale impacts of convective clouds is discussed.- from English summary