Spectra of surface wind speed and air temperature over the ocean in the mesoscale frequency range in JASIN-1978

Based on the data from an array of buoys during the JASIN-1978 field experiment made in an area northwest of Scotland, power spectra of surface wind speed and air temperature over the ocean in the mesoscale frequency range were studied. The averaged composite spectrum of wind speed for the whole period shows the existence of a spectral gap in the frequency range from 10^–4 to 5 × 10^–3 Hz. However, significant peaks in this range are often seen in particular spectra under certain weather conditions. Mesoscale spectral peaks of wind speed occur in 14 segments of the data record, approximately 10% of the total duration of the observations. In 4 of these segments, the mesoscale spectral peaks of both wind speed and air temperature occurred simultaneously. Several wave patterns of mesoscale atmospheric disturbances when mesoscale spectral peaks were seen are derived from phase differences between buoys. Significant mesoscale peaks in spectra appear in relatively strong winds and unstable or near-neutral atmospheric conditions, and none in stable atmospheric conditions. A criterion of wind speed and atmospheric stability is found for the mesoscale spectral peak appearance.     

Seasonal variations of spectra of wind speed and air temperature in the mesoscale frequency range

Seasonal variations of the spectra of wind speed and air temperature in the mesoscale frequency range from 1.3 × 10^-4 to 1.5 × 10^-3 Hz (10 min to 2 h periods) have been studied through observations over land for one year. Spectrographs [time series of isopleths of spectral densities, f · S(f) vs f] of wind speed and air temperature contain occasional peaks that are attributed to short-lived mesoscale atmospheric activity with narrow frequency bands. Significant spectral peaks of wind speed were found in 19% of the total observations in winter, and in 15–16% in the other seasons; for air temperature, they occured in 12% of observations in autumn, and in 16–19% in the other seasons. The peaks most often occurred in the period range from 30 min to 1 h; most had durations less than 24 h. Mesoscale fluctuations of wind speed and air temperature were highly correlated, and in most cases, phase differences were 90–180 ° with air temperature leading wind speed. Significant spectral peaks of wind speed often occurred during northerly seasonal cold winds in winter, and accompanied tropical and/or mid-latitude cyclones in the other seasons. When the peaks occurred, wind speed was usually relatively high and the atmospheric surface layer was unstable.     

Temperature fluctuations inside a cloud-laden airstream flowing over a hill station

Observations of temperature in a cloud-laden monsoon airstream at a height of 12 m above ground at a hill station, Mahabaleshwar (elevation 1390 m asl), were obtained for ten hours using a linearised thermistor (YSI Part 44202) as a temperature sensor, and analysed. It was found that the frequency distributions of temperatures were multimodal. The horizontal temperature gradients in the air stream were symmetrically distributed. The temperature spectra in the frequency range (0.001 to 0.1 Hz) studied can be classified into a lower frequency regime and a higher frequency regime separated approximately at the frequency 0.01 Hz or the wave number 3 km^–1. The spectra in the higher range conform to Kolmogorov's power law for the inertial subrange and those in the lower range exhibit a steeper negative slope of the order of -1.3. There is very little variation of air temperature associated with rainfall intensities greater than 4 mm hr^–1; for lower intensities, the smaller the intensity, the greater the variation.     

Inertial ranges in three-dimensional quasi-geostrophic turbulence

A theory is presented both for spectral energy transfer and for the transfer of spectral components of pseudo-potential enstrophy in a homogeneous quasi-geostrophic turbulent field which is rendered anisotropic by the distortion caused by a random collection of vortices superimposed on the principal motions. The fluid is, thus, subjected to an almost irrotational distortion. The random vortices cause straining effects on turbulent velocity and temperature fluctuations and modify the energy spectrum in the spectral ranges of interest. The strain imposed by the distortion is assumed to be homogeneous. For three-dimensional quasi-geostrophic turbulence that conserves pseudo-potential enstrophy as well as energy, this theory predicts –8/3 and –4 power inertial-range energy spectra.The predictions favourably corroborate the observed spectrum of energy in the atmosphere in the region of hemispheric wave-numbers 10–16 with a –8/3 slope and at higher wave-numbers with –4 slope on a log-log energy-wave-number diagram. The transfer rates of pseudo-potential enstrophy in the range 10n16 and of energy in the rangen>16 are identically zero, while the transfer of energy in the first range is from higher to lower wave-numbers and that of the pseudo-potential enstrophy in the second range is from lower to higher wave-numbers.As compared with the earlier two-dimensional turbulence theory of Kraichnan and the quasigeostrophic turbulence theory of Charney, the present theory predicts more realistic shapes of the energy spectra of atmospheric motions at scales shorter than the baroclinic excitation scales.     

A group-kinetic theory with a closure by memory loss for modeling turbulence in the atmosphere and the oceans

Summary The principle of the group-kinetic method is elucidated. This method of renormalization serves as the basis for analyzing the spectral structure of turbulence. The spectral distributions include the Kolmogoroff lawk ^–5/3 for isotropic turbulence, the power lawk ^–1 for shear turbulence, the spectrum for stratified turbulence not in the power law form, the power lawk ^–3 for two-dimensional geostrophic turbulence, and the power lawsk ^–3,k ^–2 andk ^–5 for two-dimensional Rossby wave turbulence with uniform and differential rotations. We discuss a spectrum-dependent modeling in reference to the problems of the universal functions and parameters in the similarity theories for the atmospheric surface layer and the planetary boundary layer. A renormalization-based modeling of atmospheric turbulence is proposed.     

Turbulent Pressure Statistics in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer from Large-Eddy Simulation

We use large-eddy simulation (LES) to study the turbulent pressure field in atmospheric boundary layers with free convection, forced convection, and stable stratification. We use the Poisson equation for pressure to represent the pressure field as the sum of mean-shear, turbulence–turbulence, subfilter-scale, Coriolis, and buoyancy contributions. We isolate these contributions and study them separately. We find that in the energy-containing range in the free-convection case the turbulence–turbulence pressure dominates over the entire boundary layer. That part dominates also up to midlayer in the forced-convection case; above that the mean-shear pressure dominates. In the stable case the mean-shear pressure dominates over the entire boundary layer.We find evidence of an inertial subrange in the pressure spectrum in the free and forced-convection cases; it is dominated by the turbulence–turbulence pressure and has a three-dimensional spectral constant of about 4.0. This agrees well with quasi-Gaussian predictions but is a factor of 2 less than recent results from direct numerical simulations at moderate Reynolds numbers. Measurements of the inertial subrange pressure spectral constant at high Reynolds numbers, which might now be possible, would be most useful.     

Temperature stratification of the atmospheric boundary layer over the Deccan Plateau,India, during the summer monsoon

The vertical and horizontal temperature structure of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) were studied using aircraft observations made in the lowest 2.4 km above ground level during the summer monsoon.The vertical temperature structure of the ABL in the region may be classified into the following four categories.Category The ABL consisted of two layers of thickness 700–900 m separated by a thin transition layer. The lapse rates in the former two layers were dry adiabatic.Category The lowest layer of the ABL of thickness 400–600 m was adiabatically stratified and the overlying layer was stable with gradients of potential temperature 4–5°C km^–1. The stable layer contained a thin adiabatic stratified layer of 200–300 m thickness at a height of 1.5 km.Category The lowest 200–400 m layer of the ABL was adiabatically stratified and the overlying layer was stable with potential temperature gradients of 5–6 °C km¹.Category The ABL was mainly stable with potential temperature gradients of 6 °C km^–1 or greater. Occasionally thin layers with adiabatic stratification were found embedded in the ABL.The temperature distribution of the horizontal temperature at 900 m was mainly normal. The high-frequency portion of the spectra lying between 0.05 and 0.16 Hz (corresponding to wave length 1 km to 300 m) oscillated around the –\2/3 power law line. The spectral curve showed a significant peak at 0.011 Hz having a wave-length of 5 km.Department of Geoscience, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27650, U.S.A.     

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.     

Vertical profiles of small-scale temperature structure in the atmosphere

Measurements of air temperature fluctuations at frequencies from 1–100 Hz have been made with instruments carried by free-flying balloons. Structure functions and spectra of the temperature field have been calculated for various heights within the range 0.1–8 km above ground. The frequent occurrence of shallow regions, possibly layers, which exhibit locally enhanced values of the structure coefficient has been confirmed.     

Fractal analysis of climatic data: Mean annual temperature records in Hungary

Summary Rescaled range analysis of the annual mean surface air temperatures at 7 meteorological stations in Hungary for the period of 1901–1991 indicates that the considered temperatures are fractals with a mean fractal dimension of 1.23 ± 0.01. This value compares favourably with the fractal dimensions of other climatic records, both on small time scale of 10–100 years and for time spans 10³–10⁶ years. Possibly such fractal dimensions are characteristic of climate change over the whole spectral range of 10 to 10⁶ years. If this assumption becomes confirmed through analysis of a wider set of climatic records, long-range climatic prediction (in statistical sense) on different time scales will appear feasible.With 4 Figures     

Microscale ordered motions and atmospheric structure associated with thin echo layers in stably stratified zones

The interpretation of ultra-high resolution radar observations of thin clear-air echo strata is made with the aid of fine-scale aircraft measurements. The echo layer, generally comprising two sub-strata each 5 m thick and spaced 7–10 m apart, is found within a 10–20 m deep section of a strong inversion where the thermal stability and shear are maximized, and the Richardson number is close to 0.25. Mechanical turbulence is restricted entirely to this layer; the variance of the N-S velocity component, ³, is the strongest, consistent with the orientation of the shear vector in this stratum. Spectra and cospectra of a 9-s slant run through the echo stratum show remarkably ordered motions. A strong negative peak of <w> covariance at 80-m scale, accompanied by a zero of <uw> covariance and bulges in the longitudinal () and vertical (w) velocity spectra, is identified with breaking Kelvin-Helmholtz waves oriented in the N-S direction along the shear vector. A synthesis of the temperature and velocity structures from measurements along the flight path confirms the ordered motion deduced from the spectra and reveals a group of K-H waves of 80-m length and 10-m height at the height of the radar echo. Microscale K-H ripples of 3–4 m length are also deduced to be present in the 0.5 m thick interfacial region where the thermal gradient and shear are strongly enhanced by the larger shearing K-H wave.Two possible sources of the echoes are proposed: (1) scatter from fully developed turbulence within the interfacial zone in an inertial subrange falling entirely in sub-meter scales; and (2) the incoherent summation of specular reflections from properly oriented portions of the microscale K-H ripples. While the authors favor the first of these mechanisms, both require stringent conditions of the physical microstructure which are beyond the available observations. Fossil turbulence is precluded as an echo mechanism.This paper is based in part on the doctoral dissertation by the senior author.Present affiliation: Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, Bedford, Mass., U.S.A.     

Spectra of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and Water Vapour in the Marine Atmospheric Surface Layer

Spectra of CO₂ and water vapour fluctuations from measurements made in the marine atmospheric surface layer have been analyzed. A normalization of spectra based on Monin–Obukhov similarity theory, originally developed for wind speed and temperature, has been successfully extended also to CO₂ and humidity spectra. The normalized CO₂ spectra were observed to have somewhat larger contributions from low frequencies compared to humidity spectra during unstable stratification. However, overall, the CO₂ and humidity spectra showed good agreement as did the cospectra of vertical velocity with water vapour and CO₂ respectively. During stable stratification the spectra and cospectra displayed a well-defined spectral gap separating the mesoscale and small-scale turbulent fluctuations. Two-dimensional turbulence was suggested as a possible source for the mesoscale fluctuations, which in combination with wave activity in the vertical wind is likely to explain the increase in the cospectral energy for the corresponding frequency range. Prior to the analysis the turbulence time series of the density measurements were converted to time series of mixing ratios relative to dry air. Some differences were observed when the spectra based on the original density measurements were compared to the spectra based on the mixing ratio time series. It is thus recommended to always convert the density time series to mixing ratio before performing spectral analysis.     

On the existence of a relation between the Kolmogoroff and von Kármán constants

A model is described, in which the mean vertical wind profile and turbulence spectra at different heights are calculated for a turbulent boundary layer without thermal stratification. The model makes use of Heisenberg's formula for the transfer of turbulent energy and is based on the assumption of a constant shearing stress in that boundary layer. As a result, a logarithmic wind profile follows with 0.39 as the value of von Kármán's constant, which is — in this model — strongly related to the inertial subrange of the turbulent energy spectra and therefore to the Kolmogoroff constant.This paper is based on studies done by the author during a one-year visit to CSIRO Division of Meteorological Physics, Aspendale, Australia, and was presented at the AGARD Specialists Meeting on The Aerodynamics of Atmospheric Shear Flows sponsored by the Fluid Dynamics Panel at Munich, Germany, during 15–17 Sept. 1969.     

A comparison of turbulence statistics in the surface layer over plant canopies with those over several other surfaces

Turbulence statistics, including higher order moments, in the surface layer over plant canopies were compared with those observed over several different surfaces, using a nondimensional height (z – d)/z ₀: The values of (z – d)/z ₀extend over a very wide range from 10 over plant canopies to 10⁷ over the ocean. Several properties such as intensities of turbulence and skewness factors show a remarkable height-dependency in the air layer below (z – d)/z ₀ = 10², which is supposed to be much influenced by the underlying surface. In that layer, some peculiar phenomena, such as a downward energy transport and positive flux of shear stress, are frequently observed.     

Cloud condensation nuclei measurements at Mace Head, Ireland, over the period 1994–2002

Analyses of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentrations (cm^− 3) measured at the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, near Carna, County Galway, Ireland, using a DH Associates Model M1 static thermal diffusion cloud chamber over the period from March 1994 to September 2002 are presented in this work. Air masses are defined as being ‘marine’ if they originate from a wind direction of 180–300° and ‘continental’ air masses are defined as originating from a wind direction of 45–135°. Air masses without such filtering were classified as ‘undefined’ air masses. Air masses were found to be dominated by marine sector air, re-affirming Mace Head as a baseline atmospheric research station. CCN levels for specific air masses at Mace Head were found to be comparable with earlier studies both at Mace Head and elsewhere. Monthly averaged clean marine (wind direction of 180–300° and black carbon absorption coefficient < 1.425 Mm^− 1) CCN and marine CCN varied between 15–247 cm^− 3 and 54–670 cm^− 3, respectively. As expected, significant increases in number concentration were found in continentally sourced CCN over that of marine CCN and were found to follow a log-normal distribution significantly tighter than that of clean marine air masses. No significant trend was found for CCN over the 9-year period. While polluted continental air masses showed a slight increase in CCN concentrations over the winter months, most likely due to increased fuel usage and a lower mixed boundary layer, the dominance of marine sector air arriving at Mace Head, which generally consists of background CCN concentrations, reduced seasonal differences for polluted air. Marine air showed a distinct seasonal pattern, with elevated values occurring over the spring and summer seasons. This is thought to be due to enhanced biogenic aerosol production as a result of phytoplankton bloom activity in the North Atlantic.     

Organised Motion and Radiative Perturbations in the Nocturnal Canopy Sublayer above an Even-Aged Pine Forest

Using time series measurements of velocity, carbon dioxideand water vapour concentration, and temperature collected justabove a 15 m tall even-aged pine forest, we quantify the roleof organized motion on scalar and momentum transport withinthe nocturnal canopy sublayer (CSL). We propose a frameworkin which the nocturnal CSL has two end-members, bothdominated by organised motion. These end-members representfully developed turbulent flows at near-neutral or slightly stablestratification and no turbulence for very stable stratification.Our analysis suggests that ramps dominate scalar transport fornear-neutral and slightly stable conditions, while linear canopywaves dominate the flow dynamics for very stable conditions.For intermediate stability, the turbulence is highly damped andoften dominated by fine scale motions. Co-spectral analysissuggests that ramps are the most efficient net scalar mass-transportingagent while linear canopy waves contribute little to net scalartransport between the canopy and atmosphere for averagingintervals that include complete wave cycles. However, canopywaves significantly contribute to the spectral properties of thescalar time series. Ramps are the most frequently occurringorganised motion in the nocturnal CSL for this site.Numerous night-time runs, however, resided between thesetwo end-members. Our analysis suggests that whenradiative perturbations are sufficient large (>20 W m^-2 innet radiation), the flow can switch from being highly dampedfine-scale turbulence to being organized with ramp-like properties. We also found that when ramps are already the dominant eddymotion in the nocturnal CSL, radiative perturbations have aminor impact on scalar transport. Finally, in agreement withprevious studies, we found that ramps and canopy waves havecomparable length scales of about 30–60 metres. Consequencesto night-time flux averaging are also discussed.     

Nonlinear magneto-acoustic waves in the solar atmosphere

The weakly nonlinear evolution of quasi-isentropic magnetoacoustic waves in the solar atmosphere is analyzed. The plasma is assumed to be initially homogeneous, in thermal equilibrium and with a straight and homogeneous magnetic field frozen in. Additionally, the plasma is assumed to be cooled by the standard cooling function in the range of 10⁴ K<T<10⁷ K and heated by a mechanism which is proportional to the density and temperature. The range of temperature where the plasma is isentropically unstable, the e-folding time for thermal instability and the corresponding time and length-scale for wave breaking are found.     

Measurements Of Fine-Scale Structure At The Top Of Marine Stratocumulus

During the Dynamics and Chemistry of the MarineStratocumulus (DYCOMS) experiment in July–August 1985, the NCAR Electra aircraft flew a series of flight legs just at the top of the marinestratocumulus cloud decks that cap the mixed layer off the coast of southernCalifornia. Because of the corrugated structure of the cloud-top, the aircraft, which was flown at a nearly constant level and adjusted only to maintain its altitude at the average cloud-top height, was alternately within and above the clouds – roughly half the time in each domain. These legs were used to examine the structure of the cloud-top by compositing the segments on either side of the cloud/clear-air interface, which was identified by the transitions of liquid water measured by the Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe (either increasing or decreasing) through a threshold of 0.04 × 10^-3 kg m^-3.An equivalent vertical distance (EVD) from the cloud-top was obtained from the horizontal flight legs by estimating the average slope of the cloud-top from the cloud-top radiation temperature. The results show that a near discontinuity occurs in variables across cloud top over an EVD of 0.3 m, but that above this, the air has already been modified by boundary-layer air. Thus, cloud-top is not the limit of mixing of boundary-layer air. This mixing may extend to tens of metres or more. The bulk Richardson number in the vicinity of cloud-top increases from near zero within the cloud to about 1.2 at an EVD of 3–6 m above cloud. Fluctuations of the three velocity components within cloud are nearly equal; above cloud the vertical component structure function is about half the horizontal components. The scalar structure functions are about an order of magnitude higher above cloud than in cloud. The structure parameters of temperature and humidity measured just below cloud-top agree reasonably well with predicted values based on a previously-developed model for the clear convective boundary layer. Above cloud, the scalar structure parameters are much larger, but their interpretation is questionable, since this region does notcontain isotropic turbulence.     

The global energy cycle of stationary and transient atmospheric waves: Results from ECMWF analyses

Summary The role of stationary (monthly mean) and transient (departure from monthly mean) waves within the atmospheric energy cycle is examined using global analyses from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) for the period 1980–1987. Only January and July averages are considered.It is confirmed that planetary stationary waves are basically baroclinic. Their contribution to the globally averaged energy cycle of the atmosphere is comparable to that of the transient waves. In January they contribute about 40% to the baroclinic conversion (CA) from zonal mean to eddy available potential energy. Local values for the northern hemisphere even show a predominant role of the stationary wave conversions over those originating from transient waves. Part of the available potential energy of stationary waves (A _SE) is converted to kinetic energy by warm air rising and cold air sinking. Nonlinear energy conversion, which can be interpreted as destruction of stationary temperature waves by transients, is the second sink forA _SE. The order of magnitude of these two processes is similar.Barotropic nonlinear conversions, though negligible in the global average, reveal large conversion rates between the mean positions of the polar and the subtropical jets. Their orientation is suggestive of a tendency to increase stationary wave kinetic energyK _SE at its local minimum between the jets at the expense of the synoptic scale transients.While all terms of the energy cycle related to stationary waves reveal a predominance of the planetary scale (zonal wave numbers 1–3) transient waves are governed by synoptic scale waves (zonal wave numbers 4–9) only with respect to the baroclinic and barotropic conversions: a significant amount of transient wave energy (50% for the global average ofA _TE) is due to planetary scale waves.With 15 Figures     

Fluxes of gases and particles above a deciduous forest in wintertime

Eddy-correlation measurements of the vertical fluxes of ozone, carbon dioxide, fine particles with diameter near 0.1 m, and particulate sulfur, as well as of momentum, heat and water vapor, have been taken above a tall leafless deciduous forest in wintertime. During the experimental period of one week, ozone deposition velocities varied from about 0.1 cm s^–1 at night to more than 0.4 cm s^-1 during the daytime, with the largest variations associated primarily with changes in solar irradiation. Most of the ozone removal took place in the upper canopy. Carbon dioxide fluxes were directed upward due to respiration and exhibited a strong dependence on air temperature and solar heating. The fluxes were approximately zero at air temperatures less than 5 °C and approached 0.8 mg m^–2 s^–1 when temperatures exceeded 15 °C during the daytime. Fine-particle deposition rates were large at times, with deposition velocities near 0.8 cm s^–1 when turbulence levels were high, but fluxes directed upward were found above the canopy when the surface beneath was covered with snow. Diffusional processes seemed to dominate fine-particle transfer across quasilaminar layers and subsequent deposition to the upper canopy. Deposition velocities for particulate sulfur were highly variable and averaged to a value small in magnitude as compared to similar measurements taken previously over a pine forest in summer.