The Atmospheric Boundary Layer Over Baltic Sea Ice

A new parametrization for the surface energy balance of urban areas is presented. It is shown that this new method can represent some of the important urban phenomena, such as an urban heat island and the occurrence of a near-neutral nocturnal boundary layer with associated positive turbulent heat fluxes, unlike the traditional method for representing urban areas within operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. The basis of the new parametrization is simple and can be applied easily within an operational NWP model. Also, it has no additional computational expense compared to the traditional scheme and is hence applicable for operational forecasting requirements. The results show that the errors for London within the Met Office operational mesoscale model have been significantly reduced since the new scheme was introduced. The bias and root-mean-square (rms) errors have been approximately halved, with the rms error now similar to the model as a whole. The results also show that a seasonal cycle still exists in the model errors, but it is suggested that this may be caused by anthropogenic heat sources that are neglected in the urban scheme.The British Crowns right to retain a non-exclusive royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

Simulating Australian Urban Climate in a Mesoscale Atmospheric Numerical Model

We develop an urban canopy scheme coupled to a mesoscale atmospheric numerical model and evaluate the simulated climate of an Australian city. The urban canopy scheme is based on the Town Energy Budget approach, but is modified to efficiently represent the predominately suburban component of Australian cities in regional climate simulations. Energy conservation is improved by adding a simple model of air-conditioning to prevent the urban parametrization acting as an energy sink during the Australian summer. In-canyon vegetation for suburban areas is represented by a big-leaf model, but with a largely reduced set of prognostic variables compared to previous approaches. Although we have used a recirculation/venting based parametrization of in-canyon turbulent heat fluxes that employs two canyon wall energy budgets, we avoid using a fixed canyon orientation by averaging the canyon fluxes after integrating over 180° of possible canyon orientations. The urban canopy scheme is evaluated by simulating the climate for Melbourne, Australia after coupling it to The Air Pollution Model. The combined system was found to predict a realistic climatology of air temperatures and winds when compared with observations from Environmental Protection Authority monitoring stations. The model also produced a plausible partitioning of the urban energy budget when compared to urban flux-tower studies. Overall, the urban canyon parametrization appears to have reasonable potential for studying present and predicting changes in future Australian urban climates in regional climate simulations.     

The Influence of Thermally-Induced Mesoscale Circulations on Turbulence Statistics Over an Idealized Urban Area Under a Zero Background Wind

The influence of mesoscale circulations induced by urban-rural differential surface sensible heat flux and roughness on convective boundary-layer (CBL) flow statistics over an isolated urban area has been examined using large-eddy simulation (LES). Results are analyzed when the circulations influence the entire urban area under a zero background wind. For comparison, the CBL flow over an infinite urban area with identical urban surface characteristics under the same background meteorological conditions is generated as a control case (without circulations). The turbulent flow over the isolated urban area exhibits a mix of streaky structure and cellular pattern, while the cellular pattern dominates in the control case. The mixed-layer height varies significantly over the isolated urban area, and can be lower near the edge of the urban area than over the rural area. The vertical profiles of turbulence statistics over the isolated urban area vary horizontally and are dramatically different from the control case. The turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) sources include wind shear, convergence, and buoyancy productions, compared to only buoyancy production in the control case. The normalized vertical velocity variance is reduced compared to the control case except in the central urban area where it is little affected. The low-level flow convergence is mainly responsible for the enhanced horizontal velocity variance in the central urban area, while wind shear is responsible for the additional local maximum of the horizontal velocity variance near the middle of the CBL outside the central area. Parameterizations in the prognostic equation for TKE used in mesoscale models are evaluated against the LES results over the isolated urban area. We also discuss conditions under which the urban-induced circulations occur and when they may affect the entire urban area. Given that urban-induced circulations can influence the entire urban area within hours for an urban area of a realistic size, it is inappropriate to directly apply empirical relations of turbulence statistics derived under horizontally-homogenous flow conditions to an urban area.     

北京夏季城市热岛现状及楔形绿地规划对缓解城市热岛的作用

通过遥感技术与地面测定相结合的方法，对北京城市热岛现状作观测研究，得到北京城市地面的温度分布特点。使用北京大学城市边界层模式从气象观点就“楔形绿地”规划对北京城市气候的影响进行研究和评价，模式通过对城市地表复杂性和多样性的特征进行细致描述，建立了一个细致模拟城市特点的城市边界层能量平衡模式，并用此能量平衡模式得到的地面温度作为下边界条件，中尺度气象模式MM5做初始场和侧边界条件，建立一个最小分辨率为500 m的城市边界层模式系统，来研究城市边界层在中尺度背景场作用下的精细结构。通过个例模拟，模式能够较准确地模拟城市边界层的风温场分布情况，可以用来对楔形绿地规划进行模拟试验。通过对规划后的气象场在特定的气象条件下进行模拟，结果显示，建造大型的楔形绿地后，绿地区域及绿地周围约1 km以内的地区温度有所降低，降低的程度由规划前后的地表类型改变的剧烈程度、风速大小及与绿地的距离决定，但是这种规划方案却会因城市的下风方向的风速减小而导致通风不畅。     

A Note on Spatial Averaging and Shear Stresses Within Urban Canopies

One-dimensional urban models embedded in mesoscale numerical models may place several grid points within the urban canopy. This requires an accurate parametrization for shear stresses (i.e. vertical momentum fluxes) including the dispersive stress and momentum sinks at these points. We used a case study with a packing density of 33% and checked rigorously the vertical variation of spatially-averaged total shear stress, which can be used in a one-dimensional column urban model. We found that the intrinsic spatial average, in which the volume or area of the solid parts are not included in the average process, yield greater time–spatial average of total stress within the canopy and a more evident abrupt change at the top of the buildings than the comprehensive spatial average, in which the volume or area of the solid parts are included in the average.     

Influence of Thermal Effects on the Wind Field Within the Urban Environment

Micrometeorological conditions in the vicinity of urban buildings strongly influence the requirements that are imposed on building heating and cooling. The goal of the present study, carried out within the Advance Tools for Rational Energy Use towards Sustainability (ATREUS) European research network, is the evaluation of the wind field around buildings with walls heated by solar radiation. Two computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes were validated against extensive wind-tunnel observations to assess the influence of thermal effects on model performance. The code selected from this validation was used to simulate the wind and temperature fields for a summer day in a specific region of the city of Lisbon. For this study, the meteorological data produced by a non-hydrostatic mesoscale atmospheric model (MM5) were used as boundary conditions for a CFD code, which was further applied to analyze the effects of local roughness elements and thermodynamic conditions on the air flow around buildings. The CFD modelling can also provide the inflow parameters for a Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, used to evaluate the building energy budgets and to predict performance of the air-conditioning system. The main finding of the present three-dimensional analyses is that thermal forcing associated with the heating of buildings can significantly modify local properties of the air flow.     

A Dynamic Urban Canopy Parameterization for Mesoscale Models Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes Microscale Simulations

Urban canopy parameterizations (UCPs) are necessary in mesoscale modelling to take into account the effects of buildings on wind and turbulent structures. This study is focused on the dynamical part of UCPs. The main objective is twofold: first, computing important UCP input parameters (turbulent length scales and the sectional drag coefficient) by means of Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations of turbulent flow; and second, comparing UCP variables with spatially-averaged properties obtained from RANS simulations for the same configurations. The results show the importance of using a suitable parameterization of the drag force for different packing densities. An urban canopy parameterization that is a compromise between simplicity and accuracy is proposed. This scheme accounts for the variation of drag coefficients with packing densities, and has a parameterization of turbulent length scales. The technique adopted ensures that, at least for the simple configurations studied, the urban canopy parameterization gives values of spatially-averaged variables similar to those computed from a more complex simulation, such as RANS that resolves explicitly the flow around buildings.     

Simulating urban flow and dispersion in Beijing by coupling a CFD model with the WRF model

The airflow and dispersion of a pollutant in a complex urban area of Beijing, China, were numerically examined by coupling a Computational Fluid Dynamics （CFD） model with a mesoscale weather model. The models used were Open Source Field Operation and Manipulation （OpenFOAM） software package and Weather Research and Forecasting （WRF） model. OpenFOAM was firstly validated against wind-tunnel experiment data. Then, the WRF model was integrated for 42 h starting from 0800 LST 08 September 2009, and the coupled model was used to compute the flow fields at 1000 LST and 1400 LST 09 September 2009. During the WRF-simulated period, a high pressure system was dominant over the Beijing area. The WRF-simulated local circulations were characterized by mountain valley winds, which matched well with observations. Results from the coupled model simulation demonstrated that the airflows around actual buildings were quite different from the ambient wind on the boundary provided by the WRF model, and the pollutant dispersion pattern was complicated under the influence of buildings. A higher concentration level of the pollutant near the surface was found in both the step-down and step-up notches, but the reason for this higher level in each configurations was different： in the former, it was caused by weaker vertical flow, while in the latter it was caused by a downward-shifted vortex. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the coupled WRF-OpenFOAM model is an important tool that can be used for studying and predicting urban flow and dispersions in densely built-up areas.     

Local Winds In A Valley City

Local winds were studied around a valley city, by using a high resolution two-dimensional mesoscale model forced by surface temperatures from a measurement campaign around Lanzhou City, China, during stagnant conditions. In the simulations nighttime winds are purely katabatic downslope winds without urban effects, despite the fact that the city is 6–7°C warmer than its surroundings all night. In contrast, daytime near-surface winds result from upslope flow resisted by an opposing simultaneous urban heat-island circulation (UHIC). Hence winds remain weak and variable around a city in a narrow valley during daytime. These conditions may lead to severe air quality problems day and night.The local circulations are sensitive to the widths of the valley and/or city,and also latitude, as is demonstrated by model experiments. Interestingly, in a flat and calm environment an extratropical daytime UHIC cell may turn into a weak `anti-UHIC' by the morning, due to frictional decoupling after sunset and subsequent inertial oscillation during the night, analogously tothe land breeze and nocturnal low-level jet formation.     

Numerical studies on urban heat island associated with urbanization in yangtze delta region

The impact of modifications of the surface characteristics on local climate is simulated with a numerical mesoscale model in the Yangtze delta region, east of China. The simulated reference case with the current surface properties shows that there is urban heat island in Shanghai city which is located in the center of this region. The mod-ifications of surface characteristics due to the urbanization around Shanghai will lead to the change of local air circu-lation and redistribution of surface temperature. Simulation for this case shows that the urbanization around Shanghai has little effect on Shanghai, but will extend the area of heat island. Another case is assumed that the area of grassland is kept as 50% while the urban areas are extended. Compared with the case of pure urbanization, the max-imum reduction of surface air temperature is 2.0oC in the daytime and 2.3oC at night.     

Modification of nocturnal drainage flow due to urban surface heat flux

Dense observations and numerical experiments were carried out to estimate the modification of mesoscale circulation, particularly cold drainage wind. It was confirmed that nocturnal drainage flow can develop on clear calm summer day and change due to orographical forcing and the heterogeneity of heat flux induced by the discontinuity of land-use. The temperature of nocturnal drainage flow at Sungji Valley, Busan Korea, tended to increase as it passed over the urban surface due to anthropogenic heat. The increase in temperature reached 2.9 K at night. The roughness associated with the exchange of momentum flux alone and the pass of nocturnal drainage flow is important for modifying the characteristics of flow Numerical simulations carried out under various surface conditions showed good agreement with the observations. Urban heat fluxes from the surface during the day are fundamental causes of the changes in the urban mesoscale circulation. In addition, the impact of a discontinuity of surface heat flux on mesoscale flow modification tends to be greater at night than during the day because the direction of urban surface heat fluxes at night is different from that in rural areas. In addition, the criterion to estimate the increase in temperature nocturnal drainage flow was also proposed, and provided results that generally agreed with the numerical results.     

On Dry Deposition Modelling of Atmospheric Pollutants on Vegetation at the Microscale: Application to the Impact of Street Vegetation on Air Quality

A Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes model is used to investigate the impact of urban canopy vegetation on air quality, with particular emphasis on the comparison between the positive effect induced by deposition versus the negative effect due to a reduction of ventilation. With this aim, a series of simulations over a simplified urban geometry with different vegetation designs are carried out. The problem is tackled at two scales. From the mesoscale point of view, the relevant variable is the total deposition flux of pollutant as a function of the pollutant concentration above the canopy (e.g. the “mesoscale” deposition velocity). This is assessed within the Monin–Obukov similarity theory framework, and a modification of the classical formulation is proposed based on the numerical results. At the microscale, the distribution of concentration within the urban canopy is investigated for the different configurations. The main conclusion is that the height of the vegetation and the magnitude of the microscale deposition velocity are key parameters that determine which of the two effects (deposition or reduction of ventilation) prevails.     

Coupling effect diagnoses of quasi-stationary mesoscale vortex in Guangxi rainstorm process of China

The mesoscale weather system which affected the Guangxi flash-flood-producing rainstorm of China in June 2008 is a quasi-stationary mesoscale vortex. Its genesis and development is closely related to the coupling effects of weather systems in different scales and different latitudes. On the one hand, the coupling of synoptic scale high- and low-level jets provides the environmental conditions for development of vortices and vertical circulations in the mesoscale vortex; On the other hand, the coupling of waves in mid-latitude westerlies and perturbations in low-latitude warm-moist flow under the influence of complex terrain makes the mesoscale vortex circulations strengthened. With the piecewise potential vorticity (PV) inversion method, PV anomalies in different regions are analyzed; also the vortex-vortex interactions and vortex-background flow interactions are diagnosed. Thus, the reasons why the mesoscale is quasi-stationary at first, while developing and deepening later are indicated. Under the condition of coupling effects, the vertical motions accompanied with the mesoscale vortex can be diagnosed with the PV-ω inversion system based on the analysis of quasi-balanced flow.     

MM5模式中城市冠层参数化方案的设计及其数值试验

文中在综合国外一些较先进的中尺度模式城市作用参数化方案的基础上 ,从城市下垫面结构对城市边界层大气作用的物理机制及实际应用两方面出发 ,对城市下垫面结构和人为活动等因素对边界层结构的影响及中尺度模式中城市化作用的合理体现等问题进行了较全面的考虑 ,改进和设计出能够较全面、细致地描述城市结构对大气边界层动力、热力结构的影响 ,且适合中尺度模式结构特点的城市冠层参数化方案 (UCP) ,并实现了其与MM5模式的耦合。进行了耦合后的UCP方案及采用原城市作用方案的MM5模式对BECAPEX试验期间北京地区气象条件多重嵌套细尺度进行了模拟试验 ,并与观测结果对比 ,结果表明 :相比于MM 5模式中原有表示城市作用的参数化方案来讲 ,设计的UCP方案在很大程度上提高了MM 5模式对城市边界层热力和动力结构的模拟能力。     

Mesoscale flow over complex terrain — A field study in the Lake Kinneret area

A two week observation program was carried out in the summer of 1981 in the Lake Kinneret (Northern Israel) area. The main purpose was to study the mesoscale flow patterns in and around the lake valley and compare them with the results of mesoscale model simulations in the same area. The main effort of the program was directed to the determination of three dimensional trajectories from various points around the valley. For that purpose a new method for the deployment of relatively long term no-lift balloons was used. In addition, surface observations as well as upper air wind observations using pibals were taken at four fixed locations along a straight line across the lake valley. Based on previous studies using surface observations and model results it appeared that the flow regime was determined by the combination of three main mechanisms: the Mediterranean sea breeze, the lake breeze and the mountain-valley wind. This combination results in a daily cycle divided into three distinct flow regimes. The results of the present experiment confirm this basic classification as well as the general structure of the flow for each of the three regimes. The experiment also confirmed the assumption that the large scale synoptic flow has only a minor influence in the valley, and contributes only to the general direction of the winds. In spite of the overall agreement several deficiencies of the model simulations came to light as a result of the experiment. These have to do with the horizontal and vertical resolutions employed in the models, with the fact that all of them were two dimensional (even though several of the models are capable of three dimensional simulations), and with the fact that most of them use the hydrostatic approximation. Due to the lack of appropriate equipment no vertical soundings were performed in order to determine the thermal and humidity stratification. These will have to be completed in subsequent experiments in order to provide the missing data.     

Modification of a Parametrization of Shallow Convection in the Grey Zone Using a Mesoscale Model

In current operational numerical weather prediction models, the effect of shallow convection is parametrized. The grey zone of shallow convection is found between the horizontal resolutions of mesoscale numerical models (2–3 km) and large-eddy simulations (10–100 m or finer). At these horizontal scales the shallow convection is to some extent explicitly resolved by the model. The shallow-convection parametrization is still needed, but has to be regulated according to the model horizontal resolution. Here the behaviour of the non-hydrostatic mesoscale numerical weather prediction model Application of Research to Operations at Mesoscale is examined in the grey zone and a new scale-adaptive surface closure of its shallow-convection parametrization, dependent on horizontal resolution, is defined based on large-eddy simulation. The new closure is tested on a series of numerical experiments and validated on a 15-day-long real case period. Its impact on the development of deep convection is examined in detail. The idealized simulations show promising results, as the mean profiles of the subgrid and resolved turbulence change in the desired way. Based on the real case tests our modification has a low impact on model performance, but is part of a set of upgrades of the current parametrization that is aimed to treat the shallow convection grey zone.     

Along-Coast Features of Bora-Related Turbulence

The along-coast, offshore turbulence structure of the Bora flow that occurred on 7 November 1999 during the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP) Intensive Observation Period 15 is examined. In this analysis we employ the aircraft and dropsonde data obtained over the Adriatic Sea, where the turbulence structure is determined by estimating turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and its dissipation rate along the flight legs. The turbulence characteristics of Bora in the lee of the Dinaric Alps is greatly influenced by the mesoscale Bora flow structure over the Adriatic Sea, which in the cross-wind direction features an interchange of jets and wakes related to mountain gaps and peaks. In order to establish the origin of turbulence, the Weather Research and Forecasting—Advanced Research WRF (WRF-ARW) numerical model is used and its results are compared to the measurements. All five TKE-prediction parametrization schemes available in the model show reasonable agreement with the measured values. Since these parametrization schemes do not have horizontal advection included, they suggest that the along-flight structure of the Bora turbulence is principally generated by the local vertical wind shear. Further evidence is needed to support this hypothesis.     

The Urban Heat Island Intensity of Paris: A Case Study Based on a Simple Urban Surface Parametrization

We explore the ability of a simple urban surface parametrization, embedded in a mesoscale meteorological model, to correctly reproduce observed values of the urban heat island (UHI) intensity, which is defined as the urban-rural surface air temperature difference. To do so, a simple urban scheme was incorporated into the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS). Subsequently, a simulation was performed with the coupled model over the wider area of Paris, for a 12-day period in June 2006 that was characterised by conditions prone to UHI development. Simulated 2-m air temperature was compared with observed values for urban and rural stations, yielding mean errors of 1.4 and 1.5 K, respectively. More importantly, it was found that the model also displayed an overall good capability of reproducing the observed temperature differences. In particular, the magnitude (up to 6 K) and timing of the diurnal cycle of the UHI intensity was simulated well, the model exhibiting a mean error of 1.15 K. As a result, our conclusion is that the ARPS model, extended with simple urban surface physics, is able to capture observed urban-rural air temperature differences well, at least for the domain and period studied.     

A three-dimensional numerical sensitivity study of mesoscale circulations induced by circular lakes

Summary A three-dimensional mesoscale planetary boundary layer model with theE- turbulence closure is used to simulate airflow over a lake of circular shape. A series of model sensitivity studies are performed to examine the effects of lake-land temperature difference, ambient wind magnitude and direction, lake size, surface roughness, the Coriolis force and baroclinic ambient wind conditions on mesoscale lake circulations.The lake-land temperature difference is essentially the basic energy source driving the mesoscale circulations over the lake on synoptically undisturbed days. A lake-breeze convergence zone is predicted by the model due to the differential heating between the land and the water. It is found that spatial and temporal variations of this convergence zone and associated convection are strongly controlled by the direction and the magnitude of the ambient wind. Under southeasterly and southwesterly ambient winds, the lake-breeze convergence zone and the associated convection occur primarily along up wind and lateral sides of the lake with reference to the general direction of the ambient flow. In contrast to the southeasterly and southwesterly ambient winds, the lake-breeze convergence zone and the convection are predicted all around the coastline of the lake under calm wind.The model also predicts a cloudless region over the lake in all the case studies due to divergent nature of the lake-breeze circulation. The lake size is found to have a significant effect in intensifying convection. Surface roughness over the land surface is found to be important in determining the intensity of the convection. The combined effect of the Coriolis force and the differential surface roughness between land and water appear to be the responsible mechanism for producing the asymmetric shape of the lake-breeze convergence zone around the symmetric circular lake. Finally, it was found that an initial baroclinic flow has different mesoscale lake-breeze circulation patterns as compared to an initial barotropic flow.With 16 Figures     

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.