A meso-scale three-dimensional dynamical model of orographic rainfall

Summary A mesoscale three-dimensional (3-D) dynamical model is presented to diagnose orographic rainfall, with particular reference to the Western Ghats (WG) in India. This model has two parts, namely, a dynamical part and a thermodynamical part. In the dynamical part the vertical velocity induced by a mesoscale elliptical orographic barrier has been computed using the perturbation technique. In the thermodynamical part rainfall intensity (RFI) has been computed using the computed vertical velocities, with the help of continuity of moisture and mass. The computed RFI has been compared with observed RFI as well as with that computed by 2-D model. The present study shows that during the southwest monsoon season (SWMS), orographic rainfall enhancement in the WG area appears to be solely due to the vertical shear of the basic flow and its variation with height. Stability appears to have very little influence on it. The spatial distribution of RFI across the barrier shows that there are four regions of maximum rainfall, one primary on the windward side behind the peak of the barrier and three secondary on the leeward side. The symmetry in the locations of these secondary rainfall maxima appears to be critically dependent on the component of basic flow parallel to the major ridge axis of the barrier.     

Effect of static stability on the pattern of three-dimensional baroclinic lee wave across a meso scale elliptical barrier

Summary In this paper, an attempt has been made to examine the effect of static stability on the pattern of three dimensional (3-D) baroclinic lee wave across a meso-scale elliptical barrier. For this purpose first a 3-D meso scale lee wave model has been developed. Then the model is applied to the Western Ghats (WG) using real time radio sonde data of Santacruz (19°7′N, 72°51′E) (here after SCZ), a station on the windward side of WG, on the days when dynamic and thermodynamic conditions of the atmosphere were favourable to generate lee waves. It is found that the pattern of 3-D baroclinic lee wave is very much sensitive to the value of the static stability parameter N². It is found that during southwest monsoon season trapped lee waves are convergent type (contours of perturbation vertical velocity w′ are crescent shaped convex down wind) and during winter they are divergent type (contours of w′ are crescent shaped concave down wind). The study shows that for a given profile of wind, the value of N² must exceed certain threshold value to obtain divergent type lee wave, otherwise convergent type lee waves are found. It is also found that in the southwest monsoon season, when atmosphere is neutrally stratified, a single divergent lee wave corresponds to a single transverse lee wave, whereas in the winter season, when atmosphere is strongly stratified, a single divergent lee wave corresponds to a number of transverse lee wave. Furthermore, in the former case long (or short) divergent lee wave corresponds to short (or long) transverse lee wave, whereas in the later case long (or short) divergent lee wave, in general, corresponds to long (or short) transverse lee wave. This revised version was published online in November 2004 with corrected captions of Figs. 1 and 2.     

Parameterisation of orographic cloud dynamics in a GCM

A new parameterisation is described that predicts the temperature perturbations due to sub-grid scale orographic gravity waves in the atmosphere of the 19 level HadAM3 version of the United Kingdom Met Office Unified Model. The explicit calculation of the wave phase allows the sign of the temperature perturbation to be predicted. The scheme is used to create orographic clouds, including cirrus, that were previously absent in model simulations. A novel approach to the validation of this parameterisation makes use of both satellite observations of a case study, and a simulation in which the Unified Model is nudged towards ERA-40 assimilated winds, temperatures and humidities. It is demonstrated that this approach offers a feasible way of introducing large scale orographic cirrus clouds into GCMs.     

秦岭地区气溶胶对地形云降水的抑制作用

以华山站为影响站, 周围的西安、渭南和华阴作为对比站, 通过影响站与对比站降水之比——地形强化因子(Ro)的变化趋势以及Ro与能见度关系的分析, 定量研究了秦岭地区气溶胶对地形云降水的抑制作用。Ro的演变分析表明: 有观测以来Ro逐年递减, 减幅为14%～20%, 即影响站与对比站相比降水量减少了14%～20%; Ro的减少趋势与能见度递减、气溶胶递增相吻合, 说明气溶胶的增加抑制了地形云降水。Ro的递减主要是减少了中小雨 (日雨量小于30 mm) 的天数, 这种影响对浅薄的生命期较短的地形云降水作用更明显, 对于华山站, 30 mm以下的降水都会受到入云气溶胶的抑制作用, 而西安站为5 mm以下, 入云气溶胶浓度越高, 就有越厚的降水云受气溶胶影响而抑制降水; 在以动力强迫抬升为主的春秋季, 气溶胶抑制华山地形云降水20%左右, 最大可达25%; 在热对流条件下, 气溶胶对地形云和对平原地区云的抑制作用基本相当。不同风速风向下Ro的变化趋势表明, Ro递减随风速增大而加快, 迎风向 (240°～30°) 大风 (≥5 m/s) 时减少降水超过30%。由Ro与能见度关系的定量分析发现, 当能见度在14 km时Ro为1.8左右, 随着能见度的降低Ro逐渐减小, 当能见度小于8 km时,R0约为1.2, 减小了30%左右; 华山对于华阴的Ro与能见度呈线性关系, 相关系数达0.81。最后, 根据研究结果归纳出气溶胶抑制秦岭地区地形云降水的初步物理模型。     

The orographic deformation and retardation of a frontal zone

Summary A three-layer version of Davies' (1984) model is used to investigate orographic impact on fronts. Uniform potential vorticity is assumed for each layer. The uppermost layer represents the flow ahead and above a frontal zone approaching a mountain. The frontal zone is represented by the second layer and the cold air behind it by the third layer of the model. The upper layer induces weak frontogenesis when the frontal zone is moving towards the mountain. However, rapid frontogenesis sets in when the zone's leading edge is climbing up the slope while part of the frontal zone is still in the plain. When, finally, the whole frontal zone is moving up the slope, the flow evolution strongly depends on the structure of the frontal zone: frontolysis as well as frontogenesis can occur.With 5 Figures     

太行山东麓一次强对流降雹过程中的地形强迫

利用WRF模式对2011年5月26日发生在太行山东麓的一次强对流降雹过程进行数值模拟,探讨了太行山及周边地形在本次强对流过程的作用。结果表明,控制华北平原的偏东暖湿气流受太行山阻挡并与切变线东南侧的西南暖湿气流汇合,在太行山东侧形成水汽高值区。太行山东坡下垫面向上热通量明显高于华北平原,午后850hPa高度山坡与平原的假相当位温梯度达到0.2 K·km~(-1),850~600 hPa假相当位温垂直梯度达4 K·km~(-1),对应上坡风的垂直速度大于1 m·s~(-1),热力环流为太行山东麓对流的发生提供了动力条件。太行山东侧暖湿气层之上为偏西干冷气流,由此形成的强热力不稳定与水汽高值区、上坡风共同造成太行山东麓强对流过程的发生。局地小尺度地形抬升与重力波共同促使太原盆地有对流单体生成,该单体移经太行山西侧迎风坡受阻挡抬升而增强,越过山顶后与维持在太行山东侧的对流单体发生合并,从而导致对流云的强烈发展。     

一次强飑线的中分析

本文对一次强飑线过程进行分析,指出高空“阶梯槽”的出现是这次飑线过程大尺度环流背景的重要特征。在此背景下,苏北和山东广大地区,有一支西南低空急流输送水汽和热量,大气层结趋于不稳定,为鼬线发展提供了不稳定能量,而高空疏散槽为不稳定能释放的一种触发机构。在飑线过境前,大气的层结在800毫巴附近的强下沉逆温,对不稳定能的储存和积累有重要意义。 这次飑线发展如此之强,除一般所说的一些条件之外,同飑线内部对流云体的合并以及与其它天气系统的碰头有密切关系;另外,中低空之间的强垂直风切变也有特殊作用。     

Properties and stability of a meso-scale line-form disturbance

By using the 3D dynamic equations for small- and meso-scale disturbances, an investigation is performed on the heterotropic instability (including symmetric instability and traversal-type instability) of a zonal line-like disturbance moving at any angle with respect to basic flow, arriving at the following results: (1) with linear shear available, the heterotropic instability of the disturbance will occur only when flow shearing happens in the direction of the line-like disturbance movement or in the direction perpendicular to the disturbance movement, with the heterotropic instability showing the instability of the internal inertial gravity wave; (2) in the presence of second-order non-linear shear, the disturbance of the heterotropic instability includes internal inertial gravity and vortex Rossby waves. For the zonal line-form disturbance under study, the vortex Rossby wave has its source in the second-order shear of meridional basic wind speed in the flow and propagates unidirectionally with respect to the meridional basic flow. As a mesoscale heterotropic instable disturbance, the vortex Rossby wave has its origin from the second shear of the flow in the direction perpendicular to the line-form disturbance and is independent of the condition in the direction parallel to the flow; (3) for general zonal line-like disturbances, if the second-order shear happens in the meridional wind speed, i.e., the second shear of the flow in the direction perpendicular to the line-form disturbance, then the heterotropic instability of the disturbance is likely to be the instability of a mixed Rossby–internal inertial gravity wave; (4) the symmetric instability is actually the instability of the internal inertial gravity wave. The second-order shear in the flow represents an instable factor for a symmetric-type disturbance; (5) the instability of a traversal-type disturbance is the instability of the internal inertial gravity wave when the basic flow is constant or only linearly sheared. With a second or nonlinear vertical shear of the basic flow taken into account, the instability of a traversal-type disturbance may be the instability of a mixed vortex Rossby – gravity wave.     

A three-dimensional atmospheric trajectory model: Application to a case study of alpine lee cyclogenesis

Summary In this paper the problem of computing large-scale trajectories of atmospheric parcels is examined in the framework of a numerical limited-area model used for weather prediction. The parcel of air is considered to be a completely passive tracer, having no interaction with the environment, even when going through an area of deep atmospheric convection. The usual method of computing the trajectory after the integration, using model-produced wind fields every six hours, is compared with the method of computing the trajectory in an almost continuous fashion, during the integration of the model itself, providing in this way an estimate of the time-truncation errors associated to the first, more usual, method. This second method is found to be quite superior and can, in selected instances, lead to largely different results, as documented. Examples of beams of trajectories going through a strongly diffluent flow-field, as well as through an area of strong convection are shown and found to be very realistic, within the limitations imposed by model resolution. In addition, the sensitivity of trajectories to the definition of the vertical coordinate is explored and found to be large.     

Secondary flows in the lee of porous shelterbelts

The results of wind-tunnel experiments indicate that the flow close to the surface behind shelterbelts is quite sensitive to the orientation of the barrier to the mean flow direction, and that orientation is more important for short than long windbreaks. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of field experiments to validate mathematical models of shelter effects.     

正压地形扰动的数值试验

本文用正压模式对一种水平差分格式在有复杂地形下的计算稳定性及动力性能作了多种检验,模拟了在不同结构的基流上扰动的传播,得到了较为理想的结果.     

两方程湍流模型对内背风波数值模拟的影响

为了深入理解非静力近似下的波-湍相互作用问题,本研究在σ坐标的海洋环境研究和预报模型(MERF)中引入常用的Mellor-Yamada两方程湍混合参数化方案(MY2.5),评估垂向湍混合对小尺度背风波传播过程的影响.瞬时状态场的模拟结果表明,无论是否为非静力近似条件,上述湍参数化方案的引入都会减弱背风波传播的模拟效果.从时间平均场的试验结果来看,垂向湍混合过程会显著减小非静力近似和静力近似之间的差异.此外,能量收支分析的诊断结果表明,MY2.5方案会显著抑制陆坡地形下的背风波传播过程,进而将更多的潮能转化到不可逆的湍混合过程中.     

Observations of a lee wave and rotor episode in central California

Acoustic sounders and in-situ meteorological sensors were used to record the boundary-layer flow structure along the eastern slopes of the Altamont Hills in central California during a wind energy field program. Oscillating speeds in this area suggest the development of quasi-stationary lee waves and rotors under certain atmospheric conditions. Data averaging of 15 minutes or less is needed to study these phenomena.     

分层气流条件下地形降水的二维理想数值试验

利用WRF v3.5中尺度数值模式,在条件不稳定层结下,针对分层气流(基本气流风速和大气湿浮力频率呈二层均匀分布)过山时,地形对降水的影响进行了多组二维理想数值试验,以研究不同高度、尺度山脉和不同方向基本气流对降水形态和分布的影响。模拟结果表明,地形重力波触发对流是地形降水的主要机制之一,地形波的特征(波长、振幅)和传播均受到地形和基本气流的影响,其中,强基本气流流经高而陡峭的山脉时,更容易在其背风坡捕捉到重力波,地形降水呈现多种模态,反之亦然;当改变基本气流与山脉交角时,主要通过影响地形强迫抬升速度、基流对波动稳定性发展来进一步影响地形降水的强度和分布。