This study aims to revisit the classic “hot tower” hypothesis proposed by Riehl and Simpson (Malkus) in 1958 and revisited in 1979. Our investigation centers on the convective mass flux of hot towers within the tropical trough zone, using geostationary (GEO) satellite data and an innovative analysis technique, known as ML16, which integrates various data sources, including hot tower heights, ambient profiles, and a plume model, to determine convective mass flux. The GEO-based ML16 approach is evaluated against collocated ground-based radar wind profiler observations, showing broad agreement. Our GEO-based estimate of hot tower convective mass flux, 2.8 × 10¹¹–3.4 × 10¹¹ kg s⁻¹, is similar to the revisited estimate in Riehl and Simpson (1979), 2.6–3.0 × 10¹¹ kg s⁻¹. Additionally, our analysis gives a median count of around 550 hot towers with a median size of about 11 km, in contrast to the previous estimates of 1600–2400 hot towers, each characterized by a fixed size of 5 km. We discuss the causes of these discrepancies, emphasizing the fundamental differences between the two approaches in characterizing tropical hot towers. While both approaches have various uncertainties, the evidence suggests that greater credibility should be placed on results derived from direct satellite observations. Finally, we identify future opportunities in Earth Observations that will provide more accurate measurements, enabling further evaluation of the role played by tropical hot towers in mass transport.

本研究旨在重新审视 Riehl 和 Simpson （Malkus） 于 1958 年提出并于 1979 年重新审视的经典“热塔”假说。我们的研究集中在热带槽区内热塔的对流质量通量上，使用对地静止 （GEO） 卫星数据和一种称为 ML16 的创新分析技术，该技术集成了各种数据源，包括热塔高度、环境剖面和羽流模型，以确定对流质量通量。基于 GEO 的 ML16 方法与并置的地基雷达风廓线仪观测进行了评估，显示出广泛的一致性。我们基于 GEO 的热塔对流质量通量估计值 2.8 × 10¹¹–3.4 × 10¹¹ kg s⁻¹，与 Riehl 和 Simpson （1979） 中重新审视的估计值相似，即 2.6–3.0 × 10¹¹ kg s⁻¹。此外，我们的分析给出了大约 550 个热塔的中位数，中位大小约为 11 公里，而之前估计的 1600-2400 个热塔，每个热塔的固定大小为 5 公里。我们讨论了这些差异的原因，强调了两种方法在描述热带热塔方面的根本差异。虽然这两种方法都有各种不确定性，但证据表明，直接卫星观测的结果应该更加可信。最后，我们确定了地球观测的未来机会，这些机会将提供更准确的测量，从而能够进一步评估热带热塔在公共交通中的作用。