A mixed spectral finite-difference model for pollutant concentrations over a hill

Given incident logarithmic profiles of wind and pollutant concentration above a rough, absorbing surface, the three-dimensional distribution of pollutant concentration over a hill of gentle slope is determined from a linearized model. The model is applied in neutrally stratified flow, without chemistry, and is integrated using spectral methods in the horizontal and a finite-difference scheme in the vertical. This approach allows for flexibility in choosing a closure scheme and a variety of surface boundary conditions. This was not possible in the analytic approach of Padro (1987) who added pollutant concentration and flux to the MS3DJH/1 model of Walmsley et al. (1980). The present model requires as input the turbulent kinetic energy, E, dissipation, , and the perturbation vertical velocity, w, from the three-dimensional boundary-layer flow model of Beljaars et al. (1987), hereinafter referred to as MSFD, The latter model also supplies wind velocity perturbations at the upper boundary, as input to upper boundary conditions on the pollutant flux perturbations.The present study describes applications of the model to idealized terrain features: isolated two- and three-dimensional hills and ridges and an infinite series of ridges. (Application to real terrain, however, presents no difficulties.) Comparisons were made with different (though uniform) surface roughnesses. Tests were performed to examine the effect of upstream terrain features in the periodic domain and to illustrate the importance of the vertical resolution of the output for interpreting results from the sinusoidal terrain case.     

Shear stress results from a mixed spectral finite-difference model: Application to the Askervein Hill project data

Beljaars et al. (1987) developed a model for neutrally stratified boundary-layer flow over roughness changes and topography. It has been discovered that a constant parameter, , was missing in the algebraic-stress closure equations of their paper. This omission also occurred in the MSFD model code but only affects the Askervein Hill shear-stress results for the E-- turbulence closure in Beljaars et al. It also changes the stress results of Karpik (1988), but not his conclusions regarding the robustness of his improved numerical scheme. The present paper demonstrates the effect of the omission of the parameter, , and tests the sensitivity of the model to variations in its value. The new results are compared with the data and model results of Zeman and Jensen (1987).     

An improved method for integrating the Mixed Spectral Finite Difference (MSFD) model equations

In their Mixed Spectral Finite Difference (MSFD) model for flow over complex terrain, Beljaars et al. (1987) solve a set of coupled, second-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for the first-order perturbations to the logarithmic velocity profile caused by nonuniform surface roughness and topography. To solve this set of ODEs, they employ a Forward Euler Shooting Method. It is demonstrated here that the shooting method is computationally unstable for this problem. An absolutely stable finite-difference method based on a block tridiagonal LU factorization of the finite-difference matrix is presented. The advantages of the present algorithm over the method used by Beljaars et al. are demonstrated both by theoretical argument and numerical experiment.     

Intermittent convection, mixed boundary conditions and the stability of the thermohaline circulation

 Intermittent convection and its consequences on the stability of the thermohaline circulation are investigated with an oceanic global circulation model (OGCM) and simple box models. A two-box model shows that intermittency is a consequence of the non-linearity of the equation of state and of the ratio of heat and freshwater fluxes at surface versus the fluxes at depth. Moreover, it only occurs in areas, where the instability of the water column is caused by temperature or by salinity. Intermittency is not necessarily suppressed by long restoring times. Because intermittent convection causes temporal variations of the ocean-atmosphere fluxes, an OGCM cannot reach an exact equilibrium. After a switch to mixed boundary conditions, changes of the convective activity occur in areas where intermittency is observed. Intermittent convection becomes either continuous or is stopped depending on the method used for calculating the freshwater fluxes. Advective and diffusive fluxes between these regions and their surroundings change in order to balance the altered convective fluxes. A comparison between the OGCM and a six-box model illustrates that this may lead to an alteration of adjacent deep convection and of the related deep water formation. Received: 4 November 1997 / Accepted: 5 November 1998     

High-resolution simulations of West African climate using regional climate model (RegCM3) with different lateral boundary conditions

To downscale climate change scenarios, long-term regional climatologies employing global model forcing are needed for West Africa. As a first step, this work examines present-day integrations (1981–2000) with a regional climate model (RCM) over West Africa nested in both reanalysis data and output from a coupled atmospheric–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). Precipitation and temperature from both simulations are compared to the Climate Research Unit observations. Their spatial distributions are shown to be realistic. Annual cycles are considerably correlated. Simulations are also evaluated with respect to the driving large-scale fields. RCM offers some improvements compared to the AOGCM driving field. Evaluation of seasonal precipitation biases reveals that RCM dry biases are highest on June–August around mountains. They are associated to cold biases in temperature which, in turn, are connected to wet biases in precipitation outside orographic zones. Biases brought through AOGCM forcing are relatively low. Despite these errors, the simulations produce encouraging results and show the ability of the AOGCM to drive the RCM for future projections.     

A note on the upper boundary conditions for turbulence models in the neutral atmosphere

In the modelling of turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer, some knowledge is generally required of the turbulence quantities themselves, as well as their effect on the mean flow. For such applications, it is therefore necessary that the details of the modelling are consistent with the boundary conditions assumed. This note gives an indication of the way in which the turbulence quantities will decay near the outer edge of the boundary layer in order that all the appropriate equations and conditions should be satisfied.Formerly, Cranfield Institute of Technology.     

GM(1, 1)模型的建模条件

GM(1,1)模型是灰色系统理论的核心预测模型,对GM(1,1)模型的建模条件进行研究是提高模拟精度的基础.采用理论证明和数值算例相结合的方法对GM(1,1)模型的建模条件进行研究,拓展了经典灰色预测模型的级比判定条件.结果表明:当原始序列的累加序列值都相等时,发展系数不存在;提高原始序列光滑度不是提高模拟精度的充分条件.     

Experimental study of the atmospheric marine boundary layer from in-situ aircraft measurements (TOSCANE-T Campaign): Variability of boundary conditions and eddy flux parameterization

The need for a thorough knowledge of boundary conditions over the vast oceanic surfaces makes remote sensing appear as the most suitable tool for future development. Remote sensing techniques require calibration data and consequently in-situ experiments to yield those data. Over the sea, aircraft seem to be the most convenient means of conducting validation experiments because they allow exploration of a large range of scales (from local measurements to measurements of pixel scale). This paper reports on some in-situ atmospheric aircraft measurements that were conducted as part of the TOSCANE-T experiment organized by the European Space Agency to calibrate the scatterometer for launch on ERS-1 in the early 1990's for global ocean wind measurement.The data analysed are the thermodynamic and turbulent variables measured by an instrumented aircraft, the Hurel Dubois, flying at a constant level of 50 m over the sea surface. Special attention was drawn to the variability of the boundary conditions within areas of 25 × 30 km. In fact, the two-dimensional fields of fluxes and thermodynamic parameters were inhomogeneous with some rather strong wind distortion.The eddy fluxes were parameterized with the aid of bulk aerodynamic formulations at a basic scale of 30 km samples, which corresponds to the aircraft flux computation legs. The bulk aerodynamic coefficients for momentum and heat were found to remain independent of windspeed (for wind velocities less than 12 m/s). Fluxes and thermodynamic parameters were also investigated at two other scales: the integration scale was either reduced to small areas of which size always remains larger than several characteristic lengths of turbulent transfer, or extended to a large area of 25 × 30km. The results of the bulk aerodynamic relationships appeared to be scale invariant, which would therefore justify the application of average values, within the range of scales under study.     

Origin of regional climate differences: role of boundary conditions and model formulation in two GCMs

Model differences in projections of extratropical regional climate change due to increasing greenhouse gases are investigated using two atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs): ECHAM4 (Max Planck Institute, version 4) and CCM3 (National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model version 3). Sea-surface temperature (SST) fields calculated from observations and coupled versions of the two models are used to force each AGCM in experiments based on time-slice methodology. Results from the forced AGCMs are then compared to coupled model results from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 2 (CMIP2) database. The time-slice methodology is verified by showing that the response of each model to doubled CO₂ and SST forcing from the CMIP2 experiments is consistent with the results of the coupled GCMs. The differences in the responses of the models are attributed to (1) the different tropical SST warmings in the coupled simulations and (2) the different atmospheric model responses to the same tropical SST warmings. Both are found to have important contributions to differences in implied Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter extratropical regional 500 mb height and tropical precipitation climate changes. Forced teleconnection patterns from tropical SST differences are primarily responsible for sensitivity differences in the extratropical North Pacific, but have relatively little impact on the North Atlantic. There are also significant differences in the extratropical response of the models to the same tropical SST anomalies due to differences in numerical and physical parameterizations. Differences due to parameterizations dominate in the North Atlantic. Differences in the control climates of the two coupled models from the current climate, in particular for the coupled model containing CCM3, are also demonstrated to be important in leading to differences in extratropical regional sensitivity.     

Development of a non-linear mixed spectral finite difference model for turbulent boundary-layer flow over topography

Further development of the non-linear mixed spectral finite difference (NLMSFD) model of turbulent boundary-layer flow over topography is documented. This includes modifications and refinements to the solution procedure, the incorporation of second-order turbulence closures to the model and the three-dimensional extension of the model. Based on these higher order closures, linear limitations, boundary-layer approximation and non-linear effects are discussed. The impact of different turbulence closures on the prediction of the NLMSFD model is also demonstrated. Furthermore, sample results for 3D idealized topography (sinusoidal) are presented. The parameterization of drag over small-scale topography is also addressed.     

Ocean Model Open Boundary Conditions with Volume,Heat and Salinity Conservation Constraints简

Open boundary conditions （OBCs） for a regional ocean model that can be integrated stably over a long timeframe, as well as satisfy the volume, heat and salinity conservation constraints, were developed. First, the idea that the inward and outward flux information can be treated separately in the OBCs was adopted. Second, in order to maintain the property that the volume, heat and salinity remains conserved in the simulation domain, conservation constraints were added to the OBCs, and an inverse method utilized to solve the constraint equations. Ideal experiments were designed to investigate the conservation property, and the OBCs were found to work efficiently to maintain the volume, heat and salinity conservation. It was found that simulations were comparable to observations when the OBCs were applied to a regional ocean model.     

Evaluation of Haney-Type Surface ThermalBoundary Conditions Using a CoupledAtmosphere and Ocean Model

A coupled atmosphere-ocean model developed at the Institute for Space Studies at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Russell et al., 1995) was used to verify the validity of Haney-type surface thermal boundary condition, which linearly connects net downward surface heat flux Q to air / sea temperature difference △T by a relaxation coefficient k. The model was initiated from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) atmospheric observations for 1 December 1977, and from the National Ocean Data Center (NODC) global climatological mean December temperature and salinity fields at 1° ×1° resolution. The time step is 7.5 minutes. We integrated the model for 450 days and obtained a complete model-generated global data set of daily mean downward net surface flux Q, surface air temperature TA,and sea surface temperature To. Then, we calculated the cross-correlation coefficients (CCC) between Q and △T. The ensemble mean CCC fields show (a) no correlation between Q and △T in the equatorial regions, and (b) evident correlation (CCC≥ 0.7) between Q and △T in the middle and high latitudes.Additionally, we did the variance analysis and found that when k= 120 W m-2K-1, the two standard deviations, σQ and σk△T, are quite close in the middle and high latitudes. These results agree quite well with a previous research (Chu et al., 1998) on analyzing the NCEP re-analyzed surface data, except that a smaller value of k (80 W m-2K-1) was found in the previous study.     

The seasonal variation of the upper layers of the South China Sea (SCS) circulation and the Indonesian through flow (ITF): An ocean model study

The upper layer, wind-driven circulation of the South China Sea (SCS), its through-flow (SCSTF) and the Indonesian through flow (ITF) are simulated using a high resolution model, FVCOM (finite volume coastal ocean model) in a regional domain comprising the Maritime Continent. The regional model is embedded in the MIT global ocean general circulation model (ogcm) which provides surface forcing and boundary conditions of all the oceanographic variables at the lateral open boundaries in the Pacific and Indian oceans. A five decade long simulation is available from the MITgcm and we choose to investigate and compare the climatologies of two decades, 1960–1969 and 1990–1999.The seasonal variability of the wind-driven circulation produced by the monsoon system is realistically simulated. In the SCS the dominant driving force is the monsoon wind and the surface circulation reverses accordingly, with a net cyclonic tendency in winter and anticyclonic in summer. The SCS circulation in the 90s is weaker than in the 60s because of the weaker monsoon system in the 90s. In the upper 50 m the interaction between the SCSTF and ITF is very important. The southward ITF can be blocked by the SCSTF at the Makassar Strait during winter. In summer, part of the ITF feeds the SCSTF flowing into the SCS through the Karimata Strait. Differently from the SCS, the ITF is primarily controlled by the sea level difference between the western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean. The ITF flow, consistently southwestward below the surface layer, is stronger in the 90s.The volume transports for winter, summer and yearly are estimated from the simulation through all the interocean straits. On the annual average, there is a ∼5.6 Sv of western Pacific water entering the SCS through the Luzon Strait and ∼1.4 Sv exiting through the Karimata Strait into the Java Sea. Also, ∼2 Sv of SCS water enters the Sulu Sea through the Mindoro Strait, while ∼2.9 Sv flow southwards through the Sibutu Strait merging into the ITF. The ITF inflow occurs through the Makassar Strait (up to ∼62%) and the Lifamatola Strait (∼38%). The annual average volume transport of the ITF inflow from the simulation is ∼15 Sv in the 60s and ∼16.6 Sv in the 90s, very close to the long term observations. The ITF outflow through the Lombok, Ombai and Timor straits is ∼16.8 Sv in the 60s and 18.9 Sv in the 90s, with the outflow greater by 1.7 Sv and 2.3 Sv respectively. The transport estimates of the simulation at all the straits are in rather good agreement with the observational estimates.We analyze the thermal structure of the domain in the 60s and 90s and assess the simulated temperature patterns against the SODA reanalysis product, with special focus on the shallow region of the SCS. The SODA dataset clearly shows that the yearly averaged temperatures of the 90s are overall warmer than those of the 60s in the surface, intermediate and some of the deep layers and the decadal differences (90s − 60s) indicate that the overall warming of the SCS interior is a local effect. In the simulation the warm trend from the 60s to the 90s in well reproduced in the surface layer. In particular, the simulated temperature profiles at two shallow sites at midway in the SCSTF agree rather well with the SODA profiles. However, the warming trend in the intermediate (deep) layers is not reproduced in the simulation. We find that this deficiency is mostly due to a deficiency in the initial temperature fields provide by the MITgcm.     

The role of lateral boundary conditions in simulations of mineral aerosols by a regional climate model of Southwest Asia

The importance of specifying realistic lateral boundary conditions in the regional modeling of mineral aerosols has not been examined previously. This study examines the impact of assigning values for mineral aerosol (dust) concentrations at the lateral boundaries of Regional Climate Model version 3 (RegCM3) and its aerosol model over Southwest Asia. Currently, the dust emission module of RegCM3 operates over the interior of the domain, allowing dust to be transported to the boundaries, but neglecting any dust emitted at these points or from outside the domain. To account for possible dust occurring at, or entering from the boundaries, mixing ratios of dust concentrations from a larger domain RegCM3 simulation are specified at the boundaries of a smaller domain over Southwest Asia. The lateral boundary conditions are monthly averaged concentration values (μg of dust per kg of dry air) resolved in the vertical for all four dust bin sizes within RegCM3’s aerosol model. RegCM3 simulations with the aerosol/dust model including lateral boundary conditions for dust are performed for a five year period and compared to model simulations without prescribed dust concentrations at the boundaries. Results indicate that specifying boundary conditions has a significant impact on dust loading across the entire domain over Southwest Asia. More specifically, a nearly 30% increase in aerosol optical depth occurs during the summer months from specifying realistic dust boundary conditions, bringing model results closer to observations such as MISR. In addition, smaller dust particles at the boundaries have a more important impact than large particles in affecting the dust loading within the interior of this domain. Moreover, increases in aerosol optical depth and dust concentrations within the interior domain are not entirely caused by inflow from the boundaries; results indicate that an increase in the gradient of concentration at the boundaries causes an increase of diffusion from the boundaries. Lastly, experiments performed using a climatology of dust concentrations yield similar results to those using actual monthly values. Therefore, using a climatology of dust mixing ratios is sufficient in implementing lateral boundary conditions for mineral aerosols. In short, this work concludes that realistic specification of lateral boundary conditions for mineral aerosols can be important in modeling the dust loading over arid regional climates such as Southwest Asia.     

A non-linear extension of the mixed spectral finite difference model for neutrally stratified turbulent flow over topography

A non-linear extension of the mixed spectral finite difference model for neutrally stratified surface-layer flow over complex terrain is developed. The non-linear terms are treated as additional source terms in the present model. The solution is calculated iteratively in spectral space, while the source terms are evaluated in physical space (at each iteration step) with the help of a Fast Fourier Transform algorithm.Results for simple 2D sinusoidal topography are shown to compare well with full non-linear finite difference results. The method, compared to conventional finite difference methods, has the advantage of rapid convergence and substantial savings in computer time.     

Regional climate simulations over South America: sensitivity to model physics and to the treatment of lateral boundary conditions using the MM5 model

In this study the capability of the MM5 model in simulating the main mode of intraseasonal variability during the warm season over South America is evaluated through a series of sensitivity experiments. Several 3-month simulations nested into ERA40 reanalysis were carried out using different cumulus schemes and planetary boundary layer schemes in an attempt to define the optimal combination of physical parameterizations for simulating alternating wet and dry conditions over La Plata Basin (LPB) and the South Atlantic Convergence Zone regions, respectively. The results were compared with different observational datasets and model evaluation was performed taking into account the spatial distribution of monthly precipitation and daily statistics of precipitation over the target regions. Though every experiment was able to capture the contrasting behavior of the precipitation during the simulated period, precipitation was largely underestimated particularly over the LPB region, mainly due to a misrepresentation in the moisture flux convergence. Experiments using grid nudging of the winds above the planetary boundary layer showed a better performance compared with those in which no constrains were imposed to the regional circulation within the model domain. Overall, no single experiment was found to perform the best over the entire domain and during the two contrasting months. The experiment that outperforms depends on the area of interest, being the simulation using the Grell (Kain–Fritsch) cumulus scheme in combination with the MRF planetary boundary layer scheme more adequate for subtropical (tropical) latitudes. The ensemble of the sensitivity experiments showed a better performance compared with any individual experiment.     

Diabatic wind speed profiles in coastal regions: Comparison of an internal boundary layer (IBL) model with observations

A model is presented to transform wind speed observations at a single height over sea or near the coast to any possible location and height in a topographic flat coastal region (up to distances of about 5 km from the coast and up to heights of 100 m). Only moderate and strong winds from the sea are considered, which are particularly important for wind energy applications. The model, called diabatic coast model, which is based on the well known internal boundary layer (IBL) concept and Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, describes the effects of the roughness transition from sea to land as well as the effect of stability on the shape of the profiles and the IBL growth. The predicted IBL heights are compared with published data.In the second part of this paper, the model is compared with measurements taken at the Maasvlakte location near the Dutch coast. It is shown that a neutral formulation of the IBL height is sufficient to model the overall mean wind speed with height, but that stability corrections are needed to describe the diurnal variations in wind speed properly. Finally, an application is given, where a single routine wind speed observation at the coast, combined with air-water temperature differences is used to predict the wind speed at 500m from the coast at heights of 10 and 53 m. The results are in good agreement with the measurements.