Detection of Flow Distortions and Systematic Errors in Sonic Anemometry Using the Planar Fit Method

We describe the coordinate transformations that can be used to convert the velocity components measured by a set of sonic anemometers with time-dependent tilt fluctuations into a single, time-independent coordinate system. By applying the planar fit method (PFM) to each anemometer dataset, it is possible, for planar flows, to locate the flow plane at each measurement point and compare its orientation with the topography. Installation on a ship is also considered. An application of this method to intercomparison data has led to the detection of an instrument error due to a misalignment between the assembly of the sonic transducers and the anemometer pedestal. If this error occurs, pedestal levelling does not guarantee that measurements are unbiased. A correction method is proposed and the results of two experiments are shown. Flow planarity at different levels and flow distortion caused by the mast are highlighted. The influence of the error on the evaluation of the Reynolds stresses using PFM or the double rotation method and the triple rotation method is discussed and the tilt corrected stresses calculated using the three methods compared.     

A numerical study on the effect of an extratropical cyclone on the evolution of a midlatitude front

The extratropical transition (ET) of tropical cyclone (TC) Haima (2004) was simulated to understand the impact of TC on midlatitude frontal systems. Two experiments were conducted using the Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. In the control run (CTL), a vortex was extracted from the 24-hour pre-run output and then inserted into the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) global final (FNL) analysis as an initial condition, while TC circulation was removed from the initial conditions in the sensitivity run (NOTC). Comparisons of the experiments demonstrate that the midlatitude front has a wider meridional extent in the NOTC run than that in the CTL run. Furthermore, the CTL run produces convection suppression to the southern side of the front due to strong cold advection related to the TC circulation. The easterly flow north of the TC not only decelerates the eastward displacement of the front and contracts its zonal scale but also transports more moisture westward and lifts the air along equivalent potential temperature surfaces ahead of the front. As a result, the ascending motion and diabatic heating are enhanced in the northeastern edge of the front, and the anticyclonic outflow in the upper-level is intensified. The increased pressure gradient and divergent flow aloft strengthen the upper-level jet and distort the trough axis in a northwest-southeast orientation. The thermal contrast between the two systems and the dynamic contribution related to the TC circulation can facilitate scalar and rotational frontogenesis to modulate the frontal structure.     

Minimizing flow distortion errors in a sonic anemometer

This paper describes a simple approach to minimizing probe-induced flow distortion errors in a three-axis sonic anemometer. By separating the three axes, mutual interference between the transducers and supports in the three arrays is reduced. Only a transducer shadow correction determined from wind tunnel tests is needed to obtain measurements that are virtually insensitive to probe orientation relative to the mean flow. Preliminary results from a series of three atmospheric tests verify the effectiveness of this correction.     

台风灿鸿造成浙江东北部大暴雨地形作用的数值模拟研究

利用中尺度非静力数值模式WRF V3.6.1对台风灿鸿(1509)进行了高分辨率数值模拟,模式较好地再现了台风灿鸿的发展演变过程和在浙江东北部产生的强降水。观测资料显示台风接近浙江期间,在东北气流下,浙东北地形的摩擦辐合及抬升作用使得大量的对流云团汇集在台风西北侧,对流系统活跃,是浙江东北部产生强降水的重要原因。控制试验也模拟出了在台风接近陆地时,内核区西北侧存在有组织的、切向分布的小尺度对流系统,由地形强迫产生的降雨量和地形走向一致,迎风坡降雨量增加。通过升降地形,改变土地类型和将杭州湾水体用陆地替换等敏感性试验发现:(1)地形的影响对台风降雨量的增幅最为明显。通过降低地形,台风西北侧小尺度雨带明显减弱,浙江东北地区降水也明显减少。可见地形会影响这些中小尺度系统的结构和演变,引起降水异常变化。(2)大暴雨期间,台风一直维持较强的对称性,具有典型的眼墙和暖心结构。     

纬向非对称加热对大气环流影响的模型实验

利用实验室内实验方法,在一旋转圆盘内模拟各种形式加热场对大气环流的作用。本文总结了各种形式扰动热源作用下环流特点。在实验室内进一步证实热源在平均槽脊形成中的作用。并发现在非常定情况下热源对槽脊移动的影响,甚至引起整个环流发生骤变,促使流场的各种波型相互调整。     

大气环流指数低频振荡机制的流体物理实验研究

使用旋转的环形水槽,用热力驱动的斜压流体作模拟实验,研究地形对斜压波流动状态的影响。使用对称分布的双峰正弦波地形,测量流体中层的流场,计算流函数并作谐波分析,对比无地形及有地形强迫的大尺度流动状态。实验表明,大尺度地形的作用是,对斜压波在时间和空间进行调制,使流动在时间和空间变得不均匀,使斜压波产生127转台旋转周期的振荡。量纲分析表明,这一周期相当于地球自转的26d。这使我们认为,大气环流指数的低频振荡的原因,可能是由于近似对称分布的亚洲及美洲山系大尺度地形的作用,造成大气动量随时间的变化,即对大气流动在时间和空间进行调制造成的。     

Two-dimensional field of thermal turbulence at the edge of an escarpment

Acoustic sounder measurements of the temperature structure parameter were obtained at the edge of an escarpment which is part of a ridge of mountains. These measurements indicate that in mountainous terrain, the daytime two-dimensional field of thermal turbulence is strongly affected by relative sun-slope orientation and wind direction out to ranges of at least 200–300 m. For the geometry of this site, westerly flow results in a field which tends to decrease rapidly to the west in the morning with a much less rapid decrease in the afternoon. At night, easterly flow results in significantly higher thermal turbulence compared to that obtained during westerly flow.These measurements show an increase in thermal turbulence at horizontal ranges of 100–200 m to the west of the escarpment during early afternoon on days with deep mixed layers. It is conjectured that this is due to the mountain upslope wind.     

Numerical experiments on internal gravity waves in an accelerating shear flow

The influence of an accelerating shear flow on the propagation of an internal gravity wave in a continuously stratified fluid is studied by means of two-dimensional numerical simulations. These are motivated by earlier laboratory experiments [Thorpe, S.A. 1978b. On internal gravity waves in an accelerating shear flow, Vol. 88. J. Fluid Mech. pp. 623–639]. In these experiments the mean flow is an accelerated Couette flow and the mean density profile is linear. The laboratory experiments revealed the striking effect of the unsteady shear flow in the evolution of an internal gravity wave leading to the wave focusing in a region where the flow is extremum. This phenomenon is associated with the growth of small scale density fluctuations. As a result density overturns are sometimes observed. This behaviour is well reproduced by the numerical simulations. We provide insights on the flow dynamics in particular on the possible occurrence of wavebreaking. We show that the dynamics is characterized by two competitive mechanisms that is a damping of the wave and a local enhancement of its steepness leading sometimes to density overturns. The budget for the energy of the wave reveals that the initial damping of the wave results from wave-mean flow interactions. These interactions lead to the development of a fine scale vertical density structure which is associated with high vertical shear. We find that in some cases wavebreaking occurs as a result of shear instability. The value of the acceleration of the mean flow is very likely to influence the onset of the instability. The scaling laws of the wave evolution, in particular the rate of decrease of its energy, are determined. From these laws the lifetime of the wave is found as a function of the acceleration of the shear. It may be expected that, in the ocean, this development will result in the largest fluctuations derived from wave-flow interactions occurring where the mean flow in the wave direction is greatest. Waves travelling normal to a two-dimensional shear flow will be unchanged. Waves travelling parallel will be damped. This may have particular application at the continental shelf where flow, mainly parallel to the isobaths, will damp waves travelling along-slope, but allows waves travelling normal to the isobaths (e.g., directly across the shelf-break) to be transmitted without attenuation. Similar effects are expected for the evolution of a high frequency wave interacting with a lower frequency (e.g., near inertial) motion.     

Progress in the scale modeling of urban climate: Review

Summary This paper describes progress made in the scale modeling of urban climate. The studies reviewed are mainly indoor and outdoor experiments that use an array of urban-like flow obstacles or roughness elements such as cubes, blocks, and cylinders. Except for several important and unique studies, the many experiments that use a single obstacle, or those that use an array of elements to create a vegetation-like roughness are excluded from this review. Topics considered include turbulent flow, scalar dispersion, local transfer coefficient, radiative transfer, and the surface energy balance. More than 40 relevant studies are cited, and both significant developments and remaining problems are described. The future application of scale models to obtain a comprehensive understanding of urban climate is also examined, with the focus mainly upon the possibility of outdoor experiments.     

海陆纬向非均匀热力结构与跨赤道气流和温带西风急流分布的关系

用数值模拟方法,研究海陆热力结构季节变化对经圈环流、南北半球西风轴以及急流中心的影响。数值试验得到如下结果:(1)海陆纬向非均匀加热结构不仅有利于跨赤道气流的加强,而且形成跨赤道气流高、低层反向特征;(2)海陆纬向非均匀结构使模拟到的北半球西风急流更接近实况。说明南北半球海陆热力强迫不仅是全球跨赤道气流通道形成的重要原因,而且影响北半球西风急流的强度和分布。      

Sensitivity of a Greenland ice sheet model to ice flow and ablation parameters: consequences for the evolution through the last climatic cycle

Sensitivity experiments are conducted to test the influence of poorly known model parameters on the simulation of the Greenland ice sheet by means of a three dimensional numerical model including the mechanical and thermal processes within the ice. Two types of experiments are performed: steady-state climatic conditions and simulations over the last climatic cycle with a climatic forcing derived from the GRIP record. The experiments show that the maximum altitude of the ice sheet depends on the ice flow parameters (deformation and sliding law coefficients, geothermal flux) and that it is low when the ice flow is fast. On the other hand, the maximum altitude is not sensitive to the ablation strength and consequently during the climatic cycle it is driven by changes in accumulation rate. The ice sheet extension shows the opposite sensitivity: it is barely affected by ice flow velocity and the ice covered area is smaller for large ablation coefficients. For colder climates, when there is no ablation, the ice sheet extension depends on the sea level. An interesting result is that the variations with time of the altitude at the ice divide (Summit) do not depend on the parameters we tested. The present modelled ice sheets resulting from the climatic cycle experiments are compared with the present measured ice sheet in order to find the set of parameters that gives the best fit between modelled and measured geometry. It seems that, compared to the parameter set most commonly used, higher ablation rate coefficents must be used. Received: 19 September 1995 / Accepted: 30 May 1996     

Nonuniform Distribution Of High-Frequency Turbulence In The Unstable Boundary Layer

Turbulent flow data of wind velocity and temperature in the unstably stratifiedatmospheric boundary layer, derived from steel tower observations in the field and wind-tunnel experiments were used to study the relationship between the plumes and the small-scale eddies in the inertial subrange. Flow visualisation experiments in the wind tunnel were also conducted to observe the structure of the flow in the plumes, and time series data were analysed by using wavelet transforms. The results show that variances of velocity and temperature due to the small-scale eddies are large in the plumes and small outside of the plumes, and that the momentum and heat fluxes due to the small-scale eddies follow the same tendency as found in the variances. The ratios of the variances caused by the small-scale eddies in the plumes to the whole of the variances caused by the small-scale eddies in and out the plumes increase with non-dimensional height -z/L in which L is the local Obukhov length. Similar ratios of the fluxes caused by the small-scale eddies also show the same tendency. These ratios can be expressed as functions of -z/L for results based on field observationand the wind tunnel experiments. This relation hardly changes even if the wavelet function is changed. The flow visualisation experiments show that the plumes have a complicated structure in which mushroom type flows are stacked on top of each other. This characteristic structure seems to increase the energy of the small-scale eddies in the plumes.     

Density fronts in the vicinity of a long ridge

Laboratory experiments concerning the nature of density fronts in a two-layer fluid in the vicinity of a continuous ridge were conducted. The experiments were carried out in a circular rotating test cell containing an annular ridge of uniform cross-section. The density fronts were established by releasing a lighter fluid contained in a bottomless cylinder in the interior of the region defined by the topography into a heavier fluid occupying the rest of the test cell. The system was also equipped with an oscillating plunger located along the test cell axis to produce simulated tidal currents impinging in the normal direction on the ridge; experiments without and with tidal forcing were conducted. The governing parameters for the physical system considered are the Rossby, temporal Rossby, Burger and Ekman numbers and geometrical parameters. It is found that for both the non-forced and tidally forced experiments the fronts were stabilized by the ridge. The fronts in the simulated tidal currents experiments were found to advect radially outward more rapidly at early times than their non-forced counterparts; at large times, the temporal evolution of the front for these forced experiments approached that of the non-forced experiments. In the region interior to the annular ridge, the motion field is highly baroclinic, while outside this region, the flow response at the forcing frequency is barotropic. Scaling arguments regarding frontal position, viscous decay and barotropic oscillatory flow responses are advanced and supported by experimental observations.     

Wintertime extratropical cyclone frequency around Japan

Data analysis and regional atmospheric model (RAM) experiments revealed key factors in the control of wintertime cyclone passage routes from Northeast Asia to the western North Pacific. The cyclone routes were independent of the global flow pattern in the interannual variability, while cyclone growth closely agreed with linear baroclinic theory. The RAM experiments with a different lateral boundary condition composed of a combination of monthly mean and transient components also showed that the upstream eddies are important for the track route, but the background states are not. Additionally, the RAM experiments showed that the mean flow controlled the growth rate of cyclones.     

Flow dynamics in a trough blowout

The dynamics and geomorphological development of a trough blowout located at Fiona Beach in the Myall Lakes National Park in NSW, Australia are examined. Wind velocities and flow structure were measured utilising an array of miniature Rimco cup anemometers, Gill bi-vane and UVW instruments, and wind vanes. Flow measurements indicate that when the wind approaches the trough blowout parallel to the throat orientation, jets occur both in the deflation basin and along the erosional walls, relative flow deceleration and expansion occur up the depositional lobe, jets are formed over the depositional lobe crest accompanied by downwind flow separation on the leeward side of the lobe, and flow separation and the formation of corkscrew vortices occur over the crests of the erosional walls. Maximum erosion and transport occur up the deflation basin and onto the depositional lobe. Trough blowout morphologies are explained as a function of these flow patterns.When the wind approaches the blowout obliquely, the flow is steered considerably within the blowout. The degree and complexity of topographic steering is dependent on the blowout topography. The flow is usually extremely turbulent and large corkscrew vortices are common. The local topography of a blowout can be very important in determining flow patterns, overall sand transport and blowout evolutionary conditions and paths.Estimates of potential sand transport within the blowout may be up to two orders of magnitude lower than actual rates if remote wind data are used.     

凹坑地形风流结构对污染物散布的模拟研究

利用建立的三维非静力高分辨率高阶湍流闭合模式与随机游动扩散模式研究了一个深凹露天矿区污染物散布的规律,同时在风洞中进行了示踪实验。结果表明,由于凹坑内复环流结构的存在,使得坑内污染物浓度较大,且浓度最大值出现在源的上风侧。数值试验与风洞试验结果吻合较好。     

On deep mean flow generation mechanisms and the abyssal circulation of numerical model gyres

Mesoscale resolution ocean general circulation model (EGCM) experiments have been carried out under a variety of different model physical assumptions, and the different model systems often produce very different deep mean flow fields. The flat bottom, rectangular basin experiments exhibit two distinct types of deep mean flow, which are here called “corotating” and “counterrotating”. Counterrotating deep flow, in which two adjacent deep gyres, with circulation of opposite senses, underlie the upper ocean eastward jet and its recirculation, has been found only in models with adiabetic two-layer model physics. None of the more complex model systems exhibit counterrotating deep flows; this type of flow is apparently restricted to a particular range of forcing/dissipation parameter space and/or particular model physical assumptions.Since the deep flow in these EGCM systems is generally weak, geostrophic dynamics provides the basic deep flow interior balance and the mean vertical velocity field, through the lower layer vorticity equation, largely determines the deep interior flow. The dynamical constraints on the mean vertical velocity field introduced by different model physical equations are reviewed and the adiabatic quasi-geostrophic (QG) two-layer model system is shown to be strongly constrained in several respects. In particular, the idea that eddy and mean heat flux divergence (or “layer thickness flux divergence”) drive the mean vertical velocity does not generalize to more complicated dynamical systems in which there is the possibility of altering the mean vertical density profile and/or in which the horizontal flow can be divergent. As a consequence of the constraints, there can be no basin net vorticity input to the lower layer via vortex stretching in the QG system.Because of the adiabatic QG constraints and the particular parametric regime in which the published adiabatic QG EGCM experiments exist, a very plausible explanation can be found for the existence of the deep cyclonic circulation of the model subtropical gyre. It is this cyclonic circulation that causes these deep flows to differ so dramatically from those of the more physically complex model systems. Because all the published adiabatic QG experiments that have non-trivial deep flows exhibit the counterrotating behavior, and because available ocean data do not support the existence of such a gyre in the North Atlantic, it seems important to thoroughly understand the reasons for the existence or absence of the deep cyclonic circulations. If they are an invitable feature of adiabatic QG systems, these models may need to be treated with caution as tools for understanding the mean ocean circulation.     

A numerical study of the interaction between two simultaneous storms: Goni and Morakot in September 2009

Significant anomalous tracks were observed when the severe tropical storm Goni(0907) and typhoon Morakot(0908) in September 2009 were evaluated in short distances.The relationship between the two is regarded as a case of binary interaction.Based on an MM5 model(fifth-generation mesoscale model of Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research),in this study a series of sensitivity experiments were designed to determine the binary interaction between them.The sensitivity of the storm characteristics to the binary interaction was demonstrated through modeling experiments with different TC intensities and sizes based on the bogus vortices initialization.Furthermore,the contributions of large-scale environmental flow and the effects of interaction between the motions of the cyclones were distinguished by numerical experiments using only one of the TC vortices.Results from these experiments show that Morakot(0908) had a greater impact on the motion of Goni(0907),whereas Goni(0907) had a relatively limited impact on Morakot(0908).At the upper level,the northeasterly jet flow in the third quadrant of Morakot(0908) enhanced the upper-level divergence of Goni(0907) and had an important role in maintaining and increasing Goni’s(0907) intensity.And at the lower level,Morakot(0908),with strong convergence and ascending airflow,made a stable transport channel of southwesterly warm and wet flow,thus supporting the lower-level water vapor convergence of Goni(0907).Goni(0907),which was located upriver of the southwesterly flow,intercepted part of the water vapor transportation in the southwesterly flow,causing the water vapor convergence to strengthen while the water vapor convergence of Morakot(0908) weakened.     

最敏感扰动的演变与夏季乌拉尔地区的持续性异常环流

通过数值实验对初始扰动不稳定发展建立异常环流型的过程进行了分析。选择了东亚夏季风异常的１９９１年和１９８５年两个典型年份的平均环流作为基流,以共轭敏感性分析得到的最敏感扰动作为初始扰动,分析其在不同的环流背景下的发展情况。结果说明,１９９１年欧亚地区的基流不稳定性较强,且初始扰动结构有利扰动发展,因而通过能量频散在乌拉尔地区激发扰动并强烈发展,建立起阻塞形势。而１９８５年的扰动在乌拉尔地区形成正涡度距平,不利于阻高的建立。从而导致１９９１年和１９８５年夏季乌拉尔地区几乎相反的异常环流。一系列对比实验说明,异常环流型的建立,不仅依靠能量的频散,更依靠扰动通过正压不稳定过程从基流吸收能量而发展。它既有赖于基流自身的不稳定,又取决于初始扰动的结构以及相对于基流的位置。基流选择了具有特定结构的初始扰动型,只要在有利位置上给予扰动,就能够激发出扰动波列,建立强的持续异常环流型。不论初始波列的位相在一定范围内如何改变,扰动总是倾向于在基流的特定不稳定区域发展。     

A numerical study of atmospheric pollution over complex terrain in Switzerland

A pollution-related study has been carried out for the Swiss city of Bienne that is located in complex terrain at the foot of the Jura mountains. The study consists of an analysis of pollutant transport and dispersion from various emittors located in the city, using a coupled system of mesoscale and micro-scale atmospheric numerical models. Simulations of atmospheric flow with the mesoscale model over a 20 × 20 km domain (horizontal resolution: 500 m; vertical resolution: 250 m) are used to initialize a microscale model centered over the city. The domain of this latter model is 4 × 4 km (horizontal resolution: 100 m; vertical resolution: 10 m). Plume trajectories are computed in the micro-scale model, and are a function of the regional-scale flow field previously calculated by the mesoscale model. Results show that the flow — and hence the plume trajectories embedded within this motion field — an sensitive not only to channeling effects by the local valley systems, but also to local or regional meteorological effects resulting from cloud activity, urban heat island, and the direction of the synoptic scale flow with respect to the orientation of the Jura mointains.