The Amazon river breeze and the local boundary layer: II. Linear analysis and modelling

Observed boundary-layer circulations close to the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers near Manaus in the Brazilian equatorial Amazon forest were presented in Part I. These are shown through linear analysis and second-order turbulence modelling to be aspects of a river breeze superimposed on the basic flow. Linear analysis is presented to estimate the spatial structure and intensity of a breeze induced by a river with width and thermal contrast similar to that observed in the central Amazon. It is found that observed thermal contrasts are sufficient to produce a river breeze that can be perceived more than 20 km inland daily. A one-dimensional second-order closure model is used to show that observed nocturnal low-level wind maxima and diurnal surface wind rotation are aspects of a river breeze interacting with the seasonally-varying mean flow. At night, partial decoupling of the surface from the lower atmosphere allows the land breeze to be expressed as a low-level wind maximum. During the day, convective mixing communicates upper level winds to the surface during rapid morning boundary-layer growth. Rotation of the surface wind follows as the river breeze circulation is then superimposed.     

The Amazon river breeze and the local boundary layer: I. Observations

Observations of the diurnal evolution of the planetary boundary layer over the Amazon rain forest, made at sites close to the confluence of the Solimões and Negro rivers (approximately at 3°S, 60°W) near Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, show the existence of a diurnal rotation of the wind near the surface and the frequent presence of low-level nocturnal wind maxima. These circulations are shown to be plausibly explained as elements of a river and land breeze circulation induced by the thermal contrast between the rivers and the adjacent forest.     

On the Formation of an Elevated Nocturnal Inversion Layer in the Presence of a Low-Level Jet: A Case Study

We report on observed nocturnal profiles, in which an inversion layer is located at the core of a low-level jet, bounded between two well-mixed layers. High-resolution vertical profiles were collected during a field campaign in a small plain in the Israeli desert (Negev), distant 100 km from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. During the evening hours, the synoptic flow, superposed on the late sea breeze, forms a low-level jet characterized by a maximum wind speed of 12 m s ⁻¹ at an altitude of 150 m above the ground. The strong wind shear at the jet maximum generates downward heat fluxes that act against the nocturnal ground cooling. As a result, the typical ground-based nocturnal inversion is “elevated” towards the jet centre, hence a typical early morning thermal profile is observed a few hours after sunset. Since the jet is advected into the region, its formation does not depend on the presence of a surface nocturnal inversion layer to decouple the jet from surface friction. On the contrary, here the advected low-level jet acts to hinder the formation of such an inversion. These unusual temperature and wind profiles are expected to affect near-ground dispersion processes.     

Convective cloud downdrafts as the cause of large blowdowns in the Amazon rainforest

Summary Nelson et al. (1994) report a non-uniform distribution of large (0.33 to 33 km²) blowdowns in the rainforests of Amazonia. Occurrence of such large disturbances in the wet, low wind speed regime of the Amazon Basin cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms such as fire or hurricanes. While downdrafts from deep convective clouds are likely candidates, this paper draws upon meteorological observations from the central Amazon Basin to show that the requisite magnitudes of wind speed can be reached but only under conditions which would explain the observed horizontal distributions of the large blowdowns. Outflow velocities due to density driven downdrafts in the convective clouds are shown from observations to reach 15 m/s and correspond to the propagation velocities of longlived Amazon squall lines. Maintenance over 48 h of these squall lines depends upon the correspondence between the outflow velocity and the propagation velocity. The storms propagate within a basic current moving at 5 m/s, increasing the outflow velocities to 21 m/s. The development of a storm-generated pressure field must be called upon to increase the magnitude of the density and basic currents to more than 30 m/s. Such conditions occur only when the convection is embedded in squall lines which reach their diurnal maximum at locations nearly coincident with the observed locations of the maxima in large blowdowns. The characteristics of the observed blowdowns in terms of orientation, size and shape are consistent with winds derived from the postulated downward moving density currents being deflected and accelerated orthogonally at canopy top and forest floor.The causes and distribution of large blowdowns in the wet, low wind regime of the Amazon rainforest are shown to be important in explaining the disturbance regime of that system. Such disturbances are necessary in maintaining diversity of the system by locally disrupting the canopy, altering levels of incident radiation received at the surface and changing patterns of nutrient cycling, carbon uptake and storage.With 6 Figures     

A comparison of wind speed shears for frontal and undisturbed synoptic conditions

Wind speed shear parameters derived from data collected at a 481-m TV tower are computed for disturbed conditions (cold frontal passage), all undisturbed winds, undisturbed high winds, and undisturbed low winds. The exponential values of the wind speed power law for the case of disturbed conditions are found to be smaller than those for the case of all undisturbed winds, for practically all atmospheric stabilities; the largest exponential value (0.45) appears in the undisturbed low wind case at Richardson numbers near 0.25. The largest mean and standard deviations of the wind shear at the lowest layer (7–26 m) are 0.129 and 0.066 s ^-1, respectively, which occur for the high wind case at near-neutral stability. The most significant differences between the cases of disturbed and all undisturbed winds are that the former has much larger wind speeds and wind shear standard deviations in atmospherically-stable conditions.Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy.     

Nocturnal Low-level Winds and Their Impacts on Particulate Matter over the Beijing Area

Three-month wind profiles, 260 m PM1 concentrations [i.e., particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 1 μm], and carrier-to-noise ratio data at two Beijing sites 55 km apart (urban and suburban) were collected to analyze the characteristics of low-level nocturnal wind and PM in autumn and winter. Three mountain-plain wind events with wind shear were selected for analysis. The measurements indicated that the maximum wind speeds of the northerly weak low-level jet (LLJ) below 320 m at the suburban site were weaker than those at the urban site, and the LLJ heights and depths at the suburban site were lower than those at the urban site. The nocturnal 140 m mean vertical velocities and the variations in vertical velocity at the urban site were larger than those at the suburban site. A nocturnal breeze with a weak LLJ of ～3 m s-1 noticeably offset nocturnal PM transport due to southerly flow and convergence within the northern urban area of Beijing. Characteristics of the nocturnal LLJ, such as start-up time, structure, intensity, and duration, were important factors in determining the decrease in the nocturnal horizontal range and site-based low-level variations in PM.     

Temporal evolution of winter smog within a nocturnal boundary layer at Christchurch, New Zealand

Summary In July 2000 (South Hemisphere winter), the Christchurch Air Pollution Study (CAPS2000) was performed in order to establish a comprehensive data set for documentation and analysis of nocturnal winter smog conditions in the Christchurch area. Field activities included meteorological surface measurements, tethersonde ascents, radiosoundings and sodar measurements. Air pollutant monitoring included CO, NO, NO_x, O₃, PM₁₀, PM_2.5, and black carbon measurements near the surface, and for the first time vertical CO-profile measurements in the nocturnal boundary layer up to 100 m height. A prerequisite for nocturnal winter smog conditions is the evolution of stable stratification before the evening traffic and domestic heating reach a maximum. When stable stratification persists during domestic heating and road traffic in the morning, a second pronounced maximum of air pollutants evolves at around 0800 NZST. The meteorological measurements also revealed a complex nocturnal surface wind field, dominated by drainage winds from the Port Hills to the south and from the Canterbury Plains to the west of the Christchurch city area. A resulting convergence zone forms over the central parts of the city and is accompanied by low wind speeds. The position of the convergence zone varies during the night. These low winds over the city centre, in conjunction with stable stratification, favour the accumulation of air pollutants in the lowest tens of metres. The nocturnal winter smog situation ends with the erosion of the surface inversion at about 1100 NZST. It is shown from analysis of the vertical CO profiles that the level of air pollution in the Christchurch area depends on the height of the stable nocturnal boundary layer, which itself is governed by variations in the local wind systems.     

Low-level wind response to mesoscale pressure systems

Observations are presented which show a strong correlation between low-level wind behaviour (e.g., rotation near the surface) and the passage of mesoscale pressure systems. The latter are associated with frontal transition zones, are dominated by a pressure-jump line and a mesoscale high pressure area, and produce locally large horizontal pressure gradients. The wind observations are simulated by specifying a time sequence of perturbation pressure gradient and subsequently solving the vertically-integrated momentum equations with appropriate initial conditions. Very good agreement is found between observed and calculated winds; in particular, (i) a 360 ° rotation in wind on passage of the mesoscale high; (ii) wind-shift lines produced dynamically by the pressure-jump line; (iii) rapid linear increase in wind speed on passage of the pressure jump.     

乌鲁木齐机场东南大风数值预报及地形敏感性试验

利用WRF模式和GFS资料对乌鲁木齐机场一次东南大风天气进行了预报和地形敏感性试验。模式预报的结果表明:WRF模式对东南大风的起风时间、持续时间、风速大小等方面有较强的预报能力。地形敏感性试验表明:1乌鲁木齐市区与机场300m左右的高度差对机场风速的影响很大;2机场上空下沉运动的强弱与东南大风的强弱有很好的对应关系;3机场东南大风的风速变化并不总是与峡谷两端气压梯度力的变化同步。此次东南大风天气的产生是低空动量下传、狭管效应和下坡风共同作用的结果。动量下传主要出现在海拔2000m以下的高度,下坡风主要出现在海拔935m以下的高度。     

The structure of the stably stratified internal boundary layer in offshore flow over the sea

Observations obtained mainly from a research aircraft are presented of the mean and turbulent structure of the stably stratified internal boundary layer (IBL) over the sea formed by warm air advection from land to sea. The potential temperature and humidity fields reveal the vertical extent of the IBL, for fetches out to several hundred of kilometres, geostrophic winds of 20–25 m s^–1, and potential temperature differences between undisturbed continental air and the sea surface of 7 to 17 K. The dependence of IBL depth on these external parameters is discussed in the context of the numerical results of Garratt (1987), and some discrepancies are noted.Wind observations show the development of a low-level wind maximum (wind component normal to the coast) and rotation of the wind to smaller cross-isobar flow angles. Potential temperature () profiles within the IBL reveal quite a different structure to that found in the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) over land. Over the sea, profiles have large positive curvature with vertical gradients increasing monotonically with height; this reflects the dominance of turbulent cooling within the layer. The behaviour is consistent with known behaviour in the NBL over land where curvature becomes negative (vertical gradients of decreasing with height) as radiative cooling becomes dominant.Turbulent properties are discussed in terms of non-dimensional quantities, normalised by the surface friction velocity, as functions of normalised height using the IBL depth. Vertical profiles of these and the normalised wavelength of the spectral maximum agree well with known results for the stable boundary layer over land (Caughey et al., 1979).     

Local foehn effects in the upper Isar Valley, Part 2: numerical simulations

Summary The local wind system in the upper Isar Valley (Bavarian Alps) near Mittenwald has the peculiarity that regularly strong foehn-like nocturnal flows occur, mainly during clear nights in autumn and winter. We will refer to this phenomenon as “Minifoehn”, as its properties are similar to the classical deep foehn in the sense that its breakthrough into the Isar Valley usually brings a striking increase in temperature and a concomitant decrease in relative humidity. Numerical simulations with the MM5 model reveal that this phenomenon is related to a nocturnal drainage flow originating from a plateau south of Mittenwald. This flow is driven by the temperature difference between this plateau (1180 m) and the free atmosphere above Mittenwald (920 m, 15 km north of the plateau) at the same level. The air masses flow through two different valleys that merge again further downstream. The upper part of one of the two drainage currents goes over a small mountain ridge (1180 m) south-west of Mittenwald and then descends into the Isar Valley, leading to an advection of potentially warm air towards Mittenwald. This branch of the drainage current constitutes the Minifoehn. The remaining part of the drainage current flows through a narrow gap towards the Isar Valley and then joins the drainage flow of this valley. As these air masses are significantly cooler than the Minifoehn branch, large horizontal temperature gradients can be found around Mittenwald. The dynamical behaviour of the cold air flow turns out to be qualitatively consistent with shallow-water theory only in the absence of a forcing by large-scale winds. Otherwise, gravity-wave induced pressure perturbations interact with the drainage flow and modify the low-level flow field. The simulations show that the gravity waves are excited by the mountain range that separates the two valleys mentioned above. Moreover, the simulations indicate that the structure of this nocturnal wind system is not very sensitive to the direction of synoptic-scale winds as long as they come from the southern sector. On the other hand, ambient northerly winds are able to prevent the drainage flow and therefore the local foehn effects in the Isar Valley provided that synoptic winds are strong enough. The results of the MM5 simulations are in good agreement with the measurements and observations described in part 1 of this study.     

Turbulence Statistics Above And Within Two Amazon Rain Forest Canopies

The turbulence structure in two Amazon rain forestswas characterised for a range of above-canopystability conditions, and the results compared withprevious studies in other forest canopies and recenttheory for the generation of turbulent eddies justabove forest canopies. Three-dimensional wind speedand temperature fluctuation data were collectedsimultaneously at up to five levels inside and abovetwo canopies of 30–40 m tall forests, during threeseparate periods. We analysed hourly statistics, jointprobability distributions, length scales, spatialcorrelations and coherence, as well as power spectraof vertical and horizontal wind speed.The daytime results show a sharp attenuation ofturbulence in the top third of the canopies, resultingin very little movement, and almost Gaussianprobability distributions of wind speeds, in the lowercanopy. This contrasts with strongly skewed andkurtotic distributions in the upper canopy. At night,attenuation was even stronger and skewness vanishedeven in the upper canopy. Power spectral peaks in thelower canopy are shifted to lower frequencies relativeto the upper canopy, and spatial correlations andcoherences were low throughout the canopy. Integrallength scales of vertical wind speed at the top of thecanopy were small, about 0.15 h compared to avalue of 0.28 h expected from the shear lengthscale at the canopy top, based on the hypothesis that theupper canopy air behaves as a plane mixing layer. Allthis suggests that, although exchange is not totallyinhibited, tropical rain forest canopies differ from other forests in that rapid, coherentdownward sweeps do not penetrate into the lowercanopy, and that length scales are suppressed. This isassociated with a persistent inversion of stability inthat region compared to above-canopy conditions. Theinversion is likely to be maintained by strong heatabsorption in the leaves concentrated near thecanopy top, with the generally weak turbulence beingunable to destroy the temperature gradients over thelarge canopy depth.     

The inland boundary layer at low latitudes: II Sea-breeze influences

Two-dimensional mesoscale model results support the claim of evening sea-breeze activity at Daly Waters, 280 km inland from the coast in northern Australia, the site of the Koorin boundary-layer experiment. The sea breeze occurs in conditions of strong onshore and alongshore geostrophic winds, not normally associated with such activity. It manifests itself at Daly Waters and in the model as a cooling in a layer 500–1000 m deep, as an associated surface pressure jump, as strong backing of the wind and, when an offshore low-level wind is present, as a collapse in the inland nocturnal jet.Both observational analysis and model results illustrate the rotational aspects of the deeply penetrating sea breeze; in our analysis this is represented in terms of a surge vector — the vector difference between the post- and pre-frontal low-level winds.There is further evidence to support earlier work that the sea breeze during the afternoon and well into the night — at least for these low-latitude experiments — behaves in many ways as an atmospheric gravity current, and that inland penetrations up to 500 km occur.     

A study of the diurnal behavior of boundary-layer winds at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory

Diurnal wind variations are examined at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory which is located 25 km east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Data were obtained from a 300-m tower which was instrumented at eight levels and operated almost continuously for three weeks during September 1978. Observations on clear days, for which the diurnal heating and cooling of the local terrain slopes can be expected to affect the winds, show that daytime winds tend to be easterly (upslope) throughout the 300-m depth. At night, a temperature inversion typically develops to about 100 m. Below this level, the nocturnal flow tends to be downslope; above the inversion, a distinctly different regime of flow develops. A diurnal wind oscillation, characterized by strong southerly flow beginning near sunset and ending near midnight, occurred in the upper layer on 25% of the days during the study period. Rapid clockwise rotation of the wind vector occurred during the period of increased wind speed. This oscillation occurred only on days when the synoptic-scale geostrophic wind was southerly. It is suggested that this non-steady state behavior is an inertial oscillation affected by the diurnally varying temperature gradients and local topography.     

Fine-resolution regional climate model simulations of the impact of climate change on tropical cyclones near Australia

Fine-resolution regional climate simulations of tropical cyclones (TCs) are performed over the eastern Australian region. The horizontal resolution (30 km) is fine enough that a good climatological simulation of observed tropical cyclone formation is obtained using the observed tropical cyclone lower wind speed threshold (17 m s^–1). This simulation is performed without the insertion of artificial vortices (bogussing). The simulated occurrence of cyclones, measured in numbers of days of cyclone activity, is slightly greater than observed. While the model-simulated distribution of central pressures resembles that observed, simulated wind speeds are generally rather lower, due to weaker than observed pressure gradients close to the centres of the simulated storms. Simulations of the effect of climate change are performed. Under enhanced greenhouse conditions, simulated numbers of TCs do not change very much compared with those simulated for the current climate, nor do regions of occurrence. There is a 56% increase in the number of simulated storms with maximum winds greater than 30 m s^–1 (alternatively, a 26% increase in the number of storms with central pressures less than 970 hPa). In addition, there is an increase in the number of intense storms simulated south of 30°S. This increase in simulated maximum storm intensity is consistent with previous studies of the impact of climate change on tropical cyclone wind speeds.     

大气环境条件对夜间飑线影响的敏感性试验

利用CM1数值模式,以2017年8月7日发生在长江三角洲地区的一次夜间飑线过程为例,开展弱切变背景下中层相对湿度、低层风切变和对流有效位能的敏感性试验。结果表明:中层相对湿度升高,有利于夜间飑线雷达回波面积、回波强度和地面降温幅度增大。湿度降低,虽导致夜间飑线的雷达回波宽度变窄,但有利于夜间飑线结构和强度的维持。中层相对湿度的改变对夜间飑线成熟阶段的地面最大风速的影响并不十分明显,但是中层相对湿度的降低会增大地面最大风速的波动;低层风切变的增大使夜间飑线雷达回波强度增强、面积增大、移速变慢,也使飑线冷池强度增强,而对成熟飑线的冷池厚度和地面最大风速影响不大,但是更弱的环境风垂直切变更容易出现脉冲风暴地面强风。低层风切变的减小不利于夜间飑线的发展以及成熟夜间飑线结构和强度的维持;对流有效位能越大,越有利于夜间飑线雷达回波强度和回波面积以及冷池强度和厚度的增大,也有利于夜间飑线地面降温幅度和地面最大风速的增大。中等大小的对流有效位能更有利于成熟夜间飑线强度和结构的维持。低对流有效位能不利于夜间飑线发展,但在中层湿环境条件下依然能发展成为成熟的夜间飑线。该研究揭示了中层相对湿度、低层风切变和对流有效位能等大气环境条件对夜间飑线发生、发展的影响机制,为夜间飑线的预报提供了参考依据。      

Mesoscale nocturnal jetlike winds within the planetary boundary layer over a flat,open coast

Mesoscale nocturnal jetlike winds have been observed over a flat, open coast. They occur within the planetary boundary layer between 100 and 600 m. At times the wind shear may reach 15 m s^-1 per 100 m. Unlike the common low-level jet that occurs most often at the top of the nocturnal inversion and only with a wind from the southerly quadrant, this second kind of jet exists between nocturnal ground-based inversion layers formed by the cool pool, or mesohigh, and the elevated mesoscale inversion layer over the coast. It occurs mostly when light % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaaiikaiabgs% MiJkaaiwdacqGHsislcaaI2aGaaeyBaiaabccacaqGZbWaaWbaaSqa% beaacqGHsislcaaIXaaaaOGaaiykaaaa!3FCF!\[( \leqslant 5 - 6{\text{m s}}^{ - 1} )\] geostrophic winds blow from land to sea and when the air temperature over adjacent seas is more than 5 °C warmer than that over the coast. This phenomenon may be explained by combined Venturi and gravity-wind effects existing in a region from just above the area a few kilometres offshore to 100–600 m in height approximately 40–50 km inland because this region is sandwiched between the aforementioned two inversion layers.     

Patterns of weak,near-surface winds at Melbourne,Australia

Up to 30 months of near-surface anemograph records have been examined from 13 locations in and near Melbourne, Australia, to determine the wind patterns which existed during prolonged periods of light winds (at least 3 hours at 2 m s^-1 or less). A coherent katabatic wind system was found to develop in at least part of the monitored region on approximately 30% of nights. The flow broadly followed the slope of the basin surrounding the city, with a strong flow down the main river valley, and was partly reinforced by a land breeze in bayside areas. Other valleys also acted as channels for these winds. The general tendency of these katabatic winds was to converge towards the central business district and the northern part of Port Phillip Bay adjacent to the city centre. Where winds from different directions interacted, one of the winds dominated or successive replacement occurred causing the wind direction to vary considerably during a period.There were indications that in the presence of low-level stability with a synoptic gradient wind between east and north, the gradient flow may be deflected around the major topographic barrier to the northeast of the city. The existence of such a situation would have major implications in terms of air quality due to the possibility of pollutants being recirculated in conditions when vertical diffusion was very limited.     

北极低空急流和低层逆温特征观测分析

利用北冰洋冰表面热量平衡计划1997年10月中旬至1998年10月上旬的探空气球探测结果,分析了北极地区近地层逆温和低空急流特征.结果表明,96％的观测时次(11:15和23:15,协调世界时)出现近地层逆温,其中22％的逆温为贴地逆温,70％的逆温厚度在250～850 m之间,冬半年贴地逆温发生频率、逆温层厚度和逆温层内的温度变化都明显要大于夏半年.全年间低空急流出现频率为41％,平均高度为520 m,最大频率出现在150 m附近,70％的急流出现在600m高度以下.急流平均风速为10.6m·s-1,风速在4～13 m·s-1范围内的急流约占总数的75％,东和东南方向为全年急流的主导风向.根据对急流核和地面风速之间转换角分布的分析,惯性震荡可能是北极低空急流的主要成因.