The Influence of Interactive Sea Surface Temperatures on Self‐Aggregation in Channel Domain Radiative‐Convective Equilibrium

Abstract Convective self‐aggregation describes the spontaneous organization of convection that occurs in radiative‐convective equilibrium (RCE) simulations. Here, we conduct RCE simulations coupled to 2‐ and 20‐m slab ocean models in a 3D channel domain to assess the influence of interactive sea surface temperatures (SST) on self‐aggregation. Our results support previous findings that simulations coupled to shallower slab oceans experience delayed self‐aggregation onset compared to simulations coupled to deeper slab oceans. More notably, we find distinct aggregated states in the simulations. The 20‐m simulation reaches a relatively unchanging state after day 60, whereas the 2‐m simulation continuously evolves. Low cloud‐SST feedbacks drive initial increased variability in the 2‐m simulation by spurring the expansion of a dominant dry region. Later, SST gradients arising from differential shortwave heating within the dry region promote low‐level moistening and convective initiation. These findings are useful for understanding ocean feedbacks to real‐world convection under weak large‐scale forcing.