In this study, the development of a convective boundary layer （CBL） in the Badaujilin region was investigated by comparing the observation data of two cases. A deep neutral layer capped a CBL that occurred on 30 August 2009. This case was divided into five sublayers from the surface to higher atmospheric elevations： surface layer, mixed layer, inversion layer, neutral layer, and sub-inversion layer. The development process of the CBL was divided into three stages： S1, S2, and S3. This case was quite different from the development of the three-layer CBL observed on 31 August 2009 because the mixed layer of the five-layer CBL （CBL5） eroded the neutral layer during S2. The specific initial structure of the CBL5 was correlated to the synoptic background of atmosphere during nighttime. The three-stage development process of the CBL5 was confirmed by six simulations using National Center for Atmospheric Research （USA） large-eddy simulation （NCAR-LES）, and some of its characteristics are presented in detail.
The atmospheric latent energy and incoming energy fluxes of the atmosphere are analyzed here based on the historical simulations of nine coupled models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 （CMIP5） and two reanalysis datasets. The globally averaged atmospheric latent energy is found to be highly correlated with several types of energy flux, particularly the surface latent heat flux, atmosphere absorbed solar radiation flux, and surface net radiation flux. On the basis of these connections, a hydrological cycle controlled feedback （HCCF） is hypothesized. Through this feedback, the atmosphere absorbed solar radiation is enhanced and causes intensification of the surface latent heat flux when the atmospheric latent energy is abnormally strong. The representativeness of the HCCF during different periods and over different latitudinal zones is also discussed. Although such a feedback cannot be confirmed by reanalysis, it proves to be a common mechanism for all the models studied.
