ABSTRACT
It is hoped that from here, and the references listed, that the reader will be prepared for the more technical contributions to this volume. In some cases, such as dry turbulent convection, the basic principles were laid down as far back as Prandtl (1932), but are still being refined today. However in other cases such as moist convection, the basic scaling laws are only being developed. Theory and modeling of such phenomena as supercell thunderstorms and squall lines that are discussed in this volume has led to a comparatively rich understanding of these phenomena. Beyond these scaling relationships, there is also a need to improve our understanding of the statistical properties of cloud ensembles that are needed for parameterizations in global models. For this, further work on how ensembles of convective systems discussed in this volume interact with large-scale atmospheric circulations interact is needed.
