Airborne surveys of the atmospheric boundary layer above the marginal ice zone on the Newfoundland shelf

Abstract

Airborne measurements in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) above the marginal ice zone (MIZ) on the Newfoundland Shelf reveal strong lateral variations in mean wind, temperature and the vertical fluxes of heat and momentum under conditions of cold, off‐ice wind. Flux measurements in (and near) the surface layer indicate that the neutral 10‐m drag coefficient depends on ice concentration, ranging from 2 × 10^‐3 at 10% coverage to 5 × 10^‐3 at 90%. Furthermore, cross‐ice‐edge transects consistently show increasing wind speed, temperature and heat flux in the off‐ice direction, but the momentum flux may either increase or decrease, depending on the relative importance of surface buoyancy flux and roughness. For the conditions encountered in this experiment, it appears surface wave maturity does not have a significant influence on the drag coefficient in fetch‐limited regimes near the ice edge.     

A theory for the scalar roughness and the scalar transfer coefficients over snow and sea ice

Although the bulk aerodynamic transfer coefficients for sensible (C _H ) and latent (C _E ) heat over snow and sea ice surfaces are necessary for accurately modeling the surface energy budget, they have been measured rarely. This paper, therefore, presents a theoretical model that predicts neutral-stability values of C _H and C _E as functions of the wind speed and a surface roughness parameter. The crux of the model is establishing the interfacial sublayer profiles of the scalars, temperature and water vapor, over aerodynamically smooth and rough surfaces on the basis of a surface-renewal model in which turbulent eddies continually scour the surface, transferring scalar contaminants across the interface by molecular diffusion. Matching these interfacial sublayer profiles with the semi-logarithmic inertial sublayer profiles yields the roughness lengths for temperature and water vapor. When coupled with a model for the drag coefficient over snow and sea ice based on actual measurements, these roughness lengths lead to the transfer coefficients. C _E is always a few percent larger than CH. Both decrease monotonically with increasing wind speed for speeds above 1 m s^–1, and both increase at all wind speeds as the surface gets rougher. Both, nevertheless, are almost always between 1.0 × 10^–3 and 1.5 × 10^–3.     

Temporal and Spatial Variations of the Aerodynamic Roughness Length in the Ablation Zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet

To understand the response of the Greenland ice sheet to climate change the so-called ablation zone is of particular importance, since it accommodates the yearly net surface ice loss. In numerical models and for data analysis, the bulk aerodynamic method is often used to calculate the turbulent surface fluxes, for which the aerodynamic roughness length (z ₀) is a key parameter. We present, for the first time, spatial and temporal variations of z ₀ in the ablation area of the Greenland ice sheet using year-round data from three automatic weather stations and one eddy-correlation mast. The temporal variation of z ₀ is found to be very high in the lower ablation area (factor 500) with, at the end of the summer melt, a maximum in spatial variation for the whole ablation area of a factor 1000. The variation in time matches the onset of the accumulation and ablation season as recovered by sonic height rangers. During winter, snow accumulation and redistribution by snow drift lead to a uniform value of z ₀≈ 10⁻⁴ m throughout the ablation area. At the beginning of summer, snow melt uncovers ice hummocks and z ₀ quickly increases well above 10⁻² m in the lower ablation area. At the end of summer melt, hummocky ice dominates the surface with z ₀ > 5  ×  10⁻³ m up to 60 km from the ice edge. At the same time, the area close to the equilibrium line (about 90 km from the ice edge) remains very smooth with z ₀ = 10⁻⁵ m. At the beginning of winter, we observed that single snow events have the potential to lower z ₀ for a very rough ice surface by a factor of 20 to 50. The total surface drag of the abundant small-scale ice hummocks apparently dominates over the less frequent large domes and deep gullies. The latter results are verified by studying the individual drag contributions of hummocks and domes with a drag partition model.     

‘Surface Drag in the Arctic Marginal Sea-ice Zone: A Comparison of Different Parameterisation Concepts’

Two parameterisation schemes for the turbulent surface fluxes and drag coefficients over the Arctic marginal sea-ice zone (MIZ) are (further) developed, and their results are compared with each other. Although the schemes are based on different principles (flux averaging and parameter averaging), the resulting drag coefficients differ only slightly in the case of neutral and stable stratification. For unstable stratification and sea-ice conditions being typical for the north-eastern Fram Strait, the drag coefficients resulting from the parameter-averaging concept are 5–10% larger than those of the flux-averaging concept. At a sea-ice concentration of 45%, the parameter-averaging method overestimates the heat fluxes by a factor of 1.2. An inclusion in the schemes of form drag caused by floe edges and ridges has a much larger effect on the drag coefficient, and on the momentum fluxes, than the choice between the parameter-averaging or flux-averaging methods. Based on sensitivity studies with the flux-averaging scheme, a simple formula for the effective drag coefficient above the Arctic MIZ is derived. It reduces the computational costs of the more complex parameterisations and could also be used in larger scale models. With this simple formula, the effective drag coefficient can be calculated as a function of the sea-ice concentration and skin drag coefficients for water and ice floes. The results obtained with this parameterisation differ only slightly from those using the more complex schemes. Finally, it is shown that in the MIZ, drag coefficients for sea-ice models may differ significantly from the effective drag coefficients used in atmospheric models.     

A study of the planetary boundary layer over the polynya downwind of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea using aircraft data

Turbulence data collected with the gust probe system on the NOAA P-3 aircraft over the polynya downwind of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea are used to study the fluxes of heat, momentum, and moisture from the polynya. The data also allow study of the effect of the topography of St. Lawrence Island on the atmospheric boundary-layer flow over the polynya and ultimately on ice production in the polynya. Two cases are studied: one (Feb. 15, 1982) where the topographic effects are minimal and the other (Feb. 18, 1983) where the topographic effects are dominant. Calculation of the surface drag coefficient, C _D, for the Feb. 15, 1982 case over young grey/white ice gave a value of 1.2 × 10^-3, which is in close agreement with previous results. The value of the drag coefficient for the grey/white ice regime on Feb. 18, 1983, where the upstream topography on St. Lawrence Island had an important influence on the flow over the polynya, was 3.2 × 10^-3. It was determined that this higher value was related to the more efficient mixing of momentum downward by turbulent eddies generated by flow over and around the topography. The area-averaged heat transfer coefficient, C _H, over the polynya was on the order of 1.1 × 10^-3 for both days, but there were large variations in heat flux across the polynya due to variations in the flow caused by the topography. Conditional sampling techniques applied to the turbulence data showed that the fractional areas occupied by updrafts and downdrafts were 28% and 36%, respectively, and that these results were within the range of values found in previous studies for over-land and over-ocean conditions.     

Stability dependence of the drag and bulk transfer coefficients over a coastal sea surface

Bulk transfer coefficients were evaluated from eddy correlation flux measurements on a fixed pier during onshore winds. The mean values are C _D = 1.69 × 10^-3, C _H = 2.58 × 10^-3 and C _E = 1.51 × 10^-3. The drag coefficient, C _D, gradually increases with wind speed but C _H and C _E are independent of wind speed. According to theory and empirical formulas based on experimental results over flat grassland, the transfer coefficients should gradually increase with increasing instability. This is confirmed experimentally in the stable region in our case. However, the drag coefficient appears to decrease with increasing instability, which is against the theoretical result. A stability dependence is not clearly observed for C _H or C _E.     

Estimation of the Exchange Coefficient of Heat During Low Wind Convective Conditions

For the first time, the exchange coefficient of heat C_H has been estimated from eddy correlation of velocity and virtual temperature fluctuations using sonic anemometer measurements made at low wind speeds over the monsoon land atJodhpur (26°18' N, 73°04' E), a semi arid station. It shows strong dependence on wind speed, increasing rapidly with decreasing wind speed, and scales according to a power law C_H = 0.025U₁₀ ^-0.7 (where U₁₀ is the mean wind speed at 10-m height). A similar but more rapid increase in the drag coefficient C_Dhas already been reported in an earlier study. Low winds (<4 m s^-1) are associated with both near neutral and strong unstable situations. It is noted that C_H increases with increasing instability. The present observations best describe a low wind convective regime as revealed in the scaling behaviour of drag, sensible heat flux and the non-dimensional temperature gradient. Neutral drag and heat cofficients,corrected using Monin–Obukhov (M–O) theory, show a more uniform behaviour at low wind speeds in convective conditions, when compared with the observed coefficients discussed in a coming paper.At low wind convective conditions, M-O theory is unable to capture the observed linear dependence of drag on wind speed, unlike during forced convections. The non-dimensional shear inferred from the present data shows noticeable deviations from Businger's formulation, a forced convection similarity. Heat flux is insensitive to drag associated with weak winds superposed on true free convection. With heat flux as the primary variable, definition of new velocity scales leads to a new drag parameterization scheme at low wind speeds during convective conditionsdiscussed in a coming paper.     

Momentum and sensible heat fluxes calculated by the dissipation technique during the Ocean Storms Project

High frequency measurements of wind velocity and temperature were made during the Ocean Storms Project in November 1987. The dissipation method was applied to the resulting time series in order to determine friction velocities,u _*, and the characteristic temperature scale,t _*, at 1-min intervals. These values were then compared to the 1-min mean wind speed and air-sea temperature differences to determine relationships for the drag coefficient (C _d ) and Stanton number (C _h ). The drag coefficient was comparable to other values reported in the literature, although the variation with wind speed was greater than reported by other investigators. An examination of the residual time series indicated a systematic low frequency periodicity of about 2-hr duration which was attributed to a fluctuating wind interacting with the surface gravity wave field. The temperature fluctuations did not produce meaningful estimates ofC _h for stable conditions. For unstable conditions, a value of 1.09±0.02×10^–3 was found.     

Bulk transfer coefficient over a snow surface

The drag coefficient C _D and the bulk transfer coefficient for sensible heat C _H over a flat snow surface were determined experimentally. Theoretical considerations reveal that C _D depends on the friction velocity u _* as well as on the geometrical roughness h of the snow surface. It is found that C _D increases with increasing u _* and/or h. The dependency of C _H on u _* and h is so small that it is possible to consider C _H as a constant for practical purposes: C _{H, 1} = 2.0 × 10^–3 for a reference height of 1 m. The bulk transfer coefficient for water vapor is estimated at C _{E, 1} = 2.1 × 10^–3 for a reference height of 1 m.     

Measurements of the humidity structure function parameters,C q 2and C Tq,over the ocean

Atmospheric turbulence measurements, including temperature and humidity fluctuations, were made from the R/V Acania off the coast of California in June, 1979. The purpose of the experiment was to investigate the scaling properties of the humidity structure function parameter (C _q ²) and temperaturehumidity cospectrum structure parameter (C _Tq) in the marine surface layer. The bulk parameterization method was used to obtain Monin-Obukhov Similarity (MOS) scaling parameters u _*, T _*, q _*and L. Assuming a neutral stability humidity drag coefficient c _qn = 1.3 × 10^-3the dimensionless humidity structure function parameter C _q ²Z^2/3/q_* ²was found to be 18% lower than the corresponding temperature function obtained by Wyngaard et al. (1971). Furthermore, the measurements indicate that the temperature-humidity fluctuations are highly coherent well into the inertial subrange. The results have direct application to turbulent scattering of waves propagating in the atmosphere (particularly microwaves) and methods of estimating air-sea surface fluxes.     

Comments about the drag laws used in hail growth simulations

The values of the drag coefficient (C_D), experimentally obtained by different authors for graupels and hailstones, are carefully analyzed, in order to investigate how the numerical simulations of hail trajectories, which markedly depend on the C_D values assigned to the growing particle, can be improved. It is found that new measurements of C_D should be performed in the whole range of the Reynolds number (Re) of the cloud ice particles. These measurements should be carried out applying the same criterion to define the characteristic variables (particle cross section and dimensions) used to calculate C_D and Re. Furthermore, it is found that the C_D fitting curves should be expressed as a function not only of Re but also of other parameters which represent the particle surface roughness and the departure from the spherical form. Based on this finding, a plausible definition of these variables and the way to introduce them in a hail trajectory calculation are proposed.     

Momentum and scalar transfer coefficients over aerodynamically smooth antarctic surfaces

Vertical profiles of wind speed, temperature and humidity were used to estimate the roughness lengths for momentum (z ₀), heat (z _H ) and moisture (z _Q) over smooth ice and snow surfaces. The profile-measurements were performed in the vicinity of a blue ice field in Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica. The values ofz ₀ over ice (3·10^–6 m) seem to be the smallest ever obtained over permanent, natural surfaces. The settling of snow on the ice and the loss of momentum at saltating snow particles serve as momentum dissipating processes during snow-drift events, expressed as a strong dependence ofz ₀ on u_#.The scalar roughness lengths and surface temperature can be evaluated from the temperature and humidity profile measurements if the ratioz _H /z _Q is specified. This new method circumvents the difficult measurement of surface temperature. The scalar roughness lengths seem to be approximately equal toz0 for a large range of low roughness Reynolds numbers, despite the frequent occurrence of drifting snow. Possible reasons for this agreement with theory of non-saltating flow are discussed.     

Air-sea bulk transfer coefficients in diabatic conditions

On the basis of recent data for the roughness Reynolds number of the sea surface, and using the Owen-Thomson theory on the transfers of heat and mass between a rough surface and the flow above it, the bulk transfer coefficients of the sea surface have been estimated. For a reference height of 10 m, the neutral-lapse transfer coefficient for water vapor is larger by only a few percent than that for sensible heat. When the wind speed at the 10-m height is u ₁₀>3 m s^–1, the coefficient for sensible heat C _H is larger by about 10% than that for momentum C _D . For u ₁₀<5 m s^–1, however, the value of C _D exceeds the value of C _H , and for u ₁₀=15 m s^–1 it is shown that C _H 0.8C _D . It may be also proposed that 10³ C _D =1.11 to 1.70, 10³ C _E =1.18 to 1.30, and 10³ C _H =1.15 to 1.26 for a range of u ₁₀=4 to 20 m s^–1. A plot of diabatic transfer coefficients versus wind speed is obtained by using a parameter of the sea-air temperature difference. For practical purposes, the coefficients are approximated by empirical formulae.     

A Simple Kinetic Model for Autoxidation of S(IV) Oxides Catalyzed by Iron and/or Manganese Ions

The reaction kinetics of S(IV) autoxidation catalyzed by single metal ions of Mn(II) and Fe(II) or Fe(III) and by a mixture of Mn(II) and Fe(II) under the conditions representative for acidified atmospheric liquid water was investigated. A simple power law kinetic model based on the stability constants for metal-sulfito complexes formed during the first step of a radical chain mechanism predicts well the kinetics for the reactions catalyzed by single metal ions. The calculated stability constants for iron (5.7×10³ dm³ mol^–1) and manganese (10×10⁴ dm³ mol^–1) sulfito complexes are close to those reported in the literature. The catalytic synergism between Mn(II) and Fe(II) was confirmed. For this system the following power law rate equation was suggested:r_tot = S_Fe · r_Fe + S_Mn · r_Mn ,where r_Fe and r_Mn are the reaction rates in the presence of Fe(II) and Mn(II), respectively. S_Fe and S_Mn are proportional factors, which account for the synergistic effect. The proposed power law rate equation predicts the reaction kinetics very well. The values of S_Fe (1.35) and S_Mn (15) indicate that the influence of Fe(II)/Fe(III) on Mn(II)/Mn(III) cycling is larger than, vice versa, agreeing with the reaction mechanism proposed for the S(IV) autoxidation catalyzed by mixed metal ions.     

Boundary-layer observations over water and arctic sea-ice during on-ice air flow

Observations made on 8 and 9 May 1988 by aircraft and two ships in and around the marginal ice zone of the Fram Strait during on-ice air flow under cloudy and cloud-free conditions are presented.The thermodynamic modification of the air mass moving from the open water to the ice over horizontal distances of 100–300 km is only a few tenth of a degree for temperature and a few tenth of a gram per kilogram for specific humidity. This is due to the small temperature differences between sea and ice surfaces. During the day, the ice surface is even warmer than the sea surface. The stably stratified 200–400 m deep boundary layer is often topped by a moisture inversion leading to downward fluxes of sensible as well as latent heat.The radiation and energy balance at the surface are measured as functions of ice cover, cloud cover and sun elevation angle. The net radiationR _Nis the dominating term of the energy budget. During the day, the difference ofR _Nbetween clear and overcast sky is only a few W/m² over ice, but 100–200 W/m² over water. During the night,R _Nover ice is more sensitive to cloud cover.The kinematic structure is characterized by strong shears of the longitudinal and the transversal wind component. The profile of the latter one shows an inflection point near the top of the boundary layer. Dynamically-driven roll circulations are numerically separated from the mean flow. The secondary flow patterns have wavelengths of about 1 km and contribute substantially to the total variances and covariances.     

Ice drift in Southern Baffin Bay and Davis Strait: Research note

Abstract

Using satellite pictures of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, ice‐floes were tracked in order to give weekly surface velocities for 1978–1979. The approximate location of the edge of the ice sheet was also determined.

In winter the direction of travel was mainly southward in Davis Strait then, as the summer approached, the edge of the ice sheet retreated northward and floe motion became less clearly defined — even going north on occasion in Baffin Bay.

Near shore speeds along Baffin Island exceeded 50 cm s^‐1 in Davis Strait during November and February. Typical values in the winter/spring period were 10–15 cm s^‐1 between Davis Strait and Hudson Strait. Wind records at nearby shore stations showed directions to be mainly from the northwest, roughly parallel to the Baffin Island coastline.

The study confirms the usefulness of satellite pictures as a data source for modelling surface ice movement and for selecting navigation routes in these northern waters.     

Local advection processes in the surface layer of the marginal ice zone

Micro-scale turbulent transport processes over the marginal ice zone have been studied by use of a two-dimensional numerical model. It has been found that internal boundary layers (IBLs) of horizontal mean velocity, temperature, and specific humidity reveal a near field and a far field. In the near field, the change in surface roughness dominates the height and growth rate of a velocity IBL. The change in surface heat flux governs the near field of a temperature and humidity IBL. In the far field, approximately x/¦L _*2 ¦ ~ 20, where L _*2 is the downstream Obukhov length, the downstream stratification more and more influences the growth rate of IBLs basically by modifying the eddy viscosity.Above more complex terrain consisting of an ensemble of ice strips and leads, a merging height h ^M develops, below which the horizontal variability of the surface modification is clearly observed; h ^M varies with the length scale L of surface modification approximately in proportion to h ^M /L ~ 1/20 – 1/10, as a rule of thumb. Above the merging height, an enveloping IBL exists, whose growth depends on the ice cover, i.e., on the integral of surface modification, but changes very little with L.Local advection of momentum, heat, and moisture clearly affects the local surface heat fluxes. Sensible and latent heat fluxes are found to show also a near and far field. However, if areally averaged surface fluxes are to be deduced from grid-averaged flow variables, then details of local advection can be neglected to a reasonably good approximation.     

Characteristics of atmospheric turbulence in the surface layer over Antarctica

This paper presents meteorological measurements made during the antarctic summer period, on two 9 m and 3 m towers, on the rocky and ice shelf terrains of the Indian antarctic stations Maitri and Dakshin Gangotri, respectively. The measurements of fluctuations in temperature and wind speed made with relatively lesser precision instrumentation pertain to smaller wave numbers ~10^-2 m^-1 appropriate to outer scale L ₀ of the atmospheric turbulence spectrum. Autocorrelation analysis of the fluctuations in temperature and wind speed has been performed. A new autoregressive scheme has been developed to represent the computed autocorrelation functions by a Yule statistical model, and to estimate the correlation period T ₀ of the turbulent medium. Height profiles of outer scale L ₀ of turbulence may be given in terms of T ₀ and mean wind speed u. Further, the similarity theory of Monin-Obukhov has been used to compute height profiles of temperature structure parameter C _T ². At Maitri, values of L ₀ and C _T ² are higher between 03–22 h local time than between 22–03 h. Values of L ₀ and C _T ² are smaller over the ice shelf terrain of the Dakshin Gangotri station, compared to those over the rocky terrain of the Maitri station.     

Characteristic heat transfer coefficients near the ground at night during strong winds

Based on theoretical radiative cooling values and observed temperature changes with time near the surface during the night, the bulk heat transfer coefficient C _H is estimated from standard meteorological observations obtained from stations representative of open rural, small town and large urban areas, for nights with clear skies and relatively strong winds. It is shown that C _H is smaller than the drag coefficient C _M, and that C _H/C _M over urban areas is smaller than that over open countryside.     

Modelling evaporation from wetland tundra

Evapotranspiration is a major component of both the energy and water balances of wetland tundra environments during the thaw season. Reliable estimates of evapotranspiration are required in the analysis of climatological and hydrological processes occurring within a wetland and in interfacing the surface climate with atmospheric processes. Where direct measurements are unavailable, models designed to accurately predict evapotranspiration for a particular wetland are used.This paper evaluates the performance, sensitivity and limitations of three physically-based, one-dimensional models in the simulation of evaporation from a wetland sedge tundra in the Hudson Bay Lowland near Churchill, Manitoba. The surface of the study site consists of near-saturated peat soil with a sparse sedge canopy and a constantly varying coverage of standing water. Measured evaporation used the Bowen ratio energy balance approach, to which the model results were compared. The comparisons were conducted with hourly and daily simulations.The three models are the Penman-Monteith model, the Shuttleworth-Wallace sparse canopy model and a modified Penman-Monteith model which is weighted for surface area of the evaporation sources.Results from the study suggest that the weighted Penman-Monteith model has the highest potential for use as a predictive tool. In all three cases, the importance of accurately measuring the surface area of each evaporation source is recognized. The difficulty in determining a representative surface resistance for each source and the associated problems in modelling without it are discussed.

List of Symbols

Models BREB Bowen ratio energy balance - P-M Penman-Monteith combination - S-W Shuttleworth-Wallace combination - W-P-M Weighted Penman-Monteith combination Other AE Available energy-all surfaces - AE _c Available energy-canopy (S-W, W-P-M) - AE _s Available energy-bare soil (S-W, W-P-M) - AE _w Available energy-open water (W-P-M) - C _p Specific heat of air - D Vapor pressure deficit - DAI Dead area index - FAI Foliage area index - LAI Leaf area index - Q ^* Net radiation - Q _e Latent heat flux-total - Q _ec Latent heat flux-canopy (S-W, W-P-M) - Q _es Latent heat flux-bare soil (S-W, W-P-M) - Q _ew Latent heat flux-open water (W-P-M) - Q _g ground heat flux - Q _h Sensible heat flux - S Proportion of area in bare soil - W Proportion of surface in open water - r _a Aerodynamic resistance (P-M, W-P-M) - r _c Canopy resistance - r _s Generalized optimized surface resistance - r _st Stomatal resistance - r _c ^a Bulk boundary layer resistance (S-W) - r _s ^a Aerodynamic resistance below mean canopy level (S-W) - r _s ^s Soil surface resistance (S-W, W-P-M) Greek Bowen ratio - Psychrometer constant - Air density - Slope of saturation vapour pressure vs temperature curve