Effects of stability on the profiles of vertical velocity and its variance in katabatic flow

The atmospheric katabatic flow in the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains has been monitored by a network of towers and sodars for several years as part of the Atmospheric Studies in COmplex Terrain (ASCOT) program. We used three years of data from the network to explore the dependence on surface cooling and channeling by winds above the canyon of (1) profiles of the mean and variance of the vertical (perpendicular to the geopotential) component of motion and (2) the mean component of the wind perpendicular to the local terrain of Coal Creek Canyon. Previously we found that the magnitude of the near-surface temperature difference decreases with increasing surface cooling in light winds, apparently because of increasing turbulence caused when increasing drainage winds interact with surface topography. The variance of vertical velocity exhibits three types of vertical profiles, corresponding to different cooling rates and external wind speeds. The mean variance was found to depend strongly on a locally derived Richardson number.     

On the use of sodars to study stably stratified flow influenced by terrain

The use of sodars in the study of stably stratified flows influenced by terrain is reviewed. We start with the equations of motion governing flow over inclined slopes and describe the relation between acoustic backscatter and local Richardson number. We then discuss sodar observations taken over the east Antarctic ice sheet and in a variety of complex terrain studies. These diverse observations reveal the influence of waves at periods from minutes to hours, the effects of ambient winds aiding and opposing drainage flows, complex phenomena in basin topography, and the breakup of the valley inversions with the onset of solar insolation.     

Corrections for Wind-Speed Errors from Sodar and Lidar in Complex Terrain

The quality of lidar and sodar wind estimates is generally judged through comparisons with mast-mounted instruments, and the resulting regressions. Evaluation of the relative merits of lidars versus sodars is complicated by the fact that lidars are generally placed close to a mast whereas sodars are generally placed some distance from a mast so that acoustic reflections off the mast are reduced. This leads to the two technologies, lidar and sodar, not being compared in similar situations. Differences arising from the two geometries can be expected to be larger in complex terrain, where the wind regime can vary significantly spatially. The current work explores these differences in moderately complex terrain. Lidar–mast comparisons are performed with the lidar close to an 80 m mast, and sodar–mast comparisons performed with the sodar 300 m from the mast. Systematic variations in estimated wind speed are found to occur with height, consistent with predictions from a simple flow model. When the lidar was moved to the sodar location, further from the mast, there were significant changes in the estimated wind speeds and a reduction in correlation with the mast-based wind speeds, as expected. However, the correlation between collocated lidar and sodar winds was high. This finding emphasizes that any comparison of two remote sensing instruments needs to be through similar experiments, and that differences in accuracy often reported for the lidar and sodar technologies are likely to be contaminated due to poor comparison configurations. A method was devised to simulate the sodar being collocated with the mast, by using the lidar–sodar measurements and the lidar–mast measurements. It was found that there was then no statistically detectable difference between lidar–mast regressions and sodar–mast regressions for the particular lidar and sodar tested. Both remote sensing instruments were also found to be good estimators of Weibull parameters, as compared with those derived from mast data. The conclusion is that the sodar measured the winds above the sodar with a similar accuracy to the lidar measuring winds above the lidar.     

Application of sodars in the study and monitoring of the environment

Summary Application of acoustic sounders (sodars) to study the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) began in the early 1970s. During the last two decades the scope of sodars applications enlarged considerably. The proceedings of eleven symposia of the International Society for Remote Acoustic Sensing of the Atmosphere and Oceans (ISARS) are a unique collection of papers, where all directions of the sodar use since 1981 are presented. In this paper, a review of sodar applications to atmospheric research is presented based on materials published in these proceedings in the following fields: conditions of microwave and light propagation; regional climatology of the ABL; air pollution meteorology and weather forecast; mesoscale phenomena under stable and unstable stratification; micrometeorology; peculiarities of the ABL in remote and complex terrain.     

Precipitation in the Canadian Atlantic storms program: Measurements of the acoustic signature

Abstract

The Canadian Atlantic Storms Program (CASP) provided an opportunity for comparing two quite different remote‐sensing approaches to the detection of precipitation: radar backscatter and ambient ocean sound. Several of the gales passing the observation area during CASP produced substantial precipitation with the periods of radar backscatter showing close coincidence with simultaneous acoustic signals. The ambient sound record most readily yields an indication of precipitation from shifts in spectral slope. An important result of the experiment is the demonstration that an identifiable precipitation signal occurs even in strong wind conditions. The surface bubble layer formed during strong winds only partially attenuates the higher frequency acoustic components generated by precipitation. During rain‐free periods the attenuation can be interpreted in terms of the bubble size distribution.     

我国西部高原大气边界层中的对流活动

利用 1 998年第 2次青藏高原野外试验中的多普勒声雷达探测、低空探测观测以及卫星观测资料对高原大气边界层内的对流现象进行分析研究。声雷达探测到了高原边界层内有强烈的对流活动。这种对流泡中心的垂直速度可超过 1m/s,并存在尺度为 1个多小时的周期性 ,表现为中小尺度的有组织的湍流活动。高原边界层强对流得以发展和维持的物理机制是 :强辐射加热、复杂的地形地貌形成的下垫面不均一性造成边界层斜压性、边界层内的平流活动等 ,这些现象都有利于对流的发展。在这些条件的作用下 ,边界层内可以产生一系列有组织的强湍流大涡旋活动 ,这些大涡旋形成的热泡在向上发展的过程中有的能够发生合并 ,变得更大也更为猛烈 ,达到凝结高度以上可形成对流云 ,并发生充分的对流混合。成云过程凝结潜热释放更有利于对流运动进一步发展 ,使对流云逐步发展成更大的对流云团 ,从而产生卫星云图中显示的云团发展过程。     

云迹风反演中高密度示踪云选取技术的研究

云迹风反演中的一项很重要的工作是选取随风移动、变化缓慢的云,即示踪云。文中设计了一种示踪云选取算法,以改善云迹风的质量和密度分布。该算法的特色是反演风的位置并不固定在反演网格的中心位置,而是通过梯度分析的方法使反演风的位置得到优化,再经过积雨云检测和灰度分布均匀程度检验,剔除不适合用来反演的目标物。对用该方法选取的示踪云进行云迹风反演,然后对反演出的云迹风进行环流分析,并与探空风进行比较。结果表明,反演出的云迹风质量好,密度很高,清晰地反映出天气系统的风场结构。     

The diurnal variation of wind direction at Calgary

The winds at Calgary airport show a diurnal variation. Night winds tend to be northwest, with afternoon winds from the Southeast. Other data show that this variation is not associated with local topography, but seems to be an effect of the Rocky Mountains to the west.     

冷空气强风在大型城市中的精细结构和形成机制

地面强风可直接造成人员伤亡和经济损失,严重影响出行安全、工农业生产等社会秩序。强风的发生与天气系统和复杂下垫面的共同作用密切相关,在城市区域尤为明显。受数值模拟技术和计算资源的限制,对实际天气条件下大范围城区的强风现象进行建筑物分辨率的大规模数值模拟研究仍是一个挑战。本研究利用中尺度气象模式嵌套流体计算动力模式的超高分辨率局地气象预报系统,对强冷空气过程造成广州市区的一次强风事件进行数值模拟,深入探讨强风的精细结构和形成机制。结果表明,伴随着强冷空气入侵,广州市区的平均风速和风场高频扰动均明显增强,且在城市冠层顶尤为明显,呈现区域不均匀的三维结构,数值模拟与地面观测相一致。较大范围的强风速和阵风主要出现在建筑物较为低矮的老城区上空,并持续影响下游河道等开阔区域。在高层建筑密集的新城区,虽然整体风速明显减弱,但能在平行风向的街道狭管和下游区域形成局地强风。特别是,超高层建筑群引起显著的垂直环流,导致强风扰动向下传播,造成最大风速达8 m s?1的地面局地强风,阵风指数接近2。上游建筑群引起的风场扰动呈现大尺度湍流结构,能沿着平均气流传播影响数公里之远的下游地区。当风场扰动经过广州塔等单体超高层建筑时,可在其两侧绕流区再次加强,形成局地强风。局地强风和阵风还出现在垂直于风向排列的沿江高层建筑群的侧边,与建筑屏风的阻挡效应和缺口溢出有关。研究结果促进认识城市强风的时空特征和物理机制,有助于提升城市气象的精细化预报水平。     

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH WIND DISTRIBUTION IN CHINA'S COASTAL REGION AND THEIR CAUSES

This work investigates the distribution of high winds above Beaufort scale 6 in the offshore zones of China using high-resolution satellite measurements.A numerical experiment is carried out in order to find out the effects of Taiwan Island on the formation of strong winds.The analysis indicates that the distribution of high wind occurrence is similar to that of the average wind velocity in winter.High winds tend to be anchored in special topographical regions,such as the Taiwan Strait,the Bashi Channel and the southeast coast of Vietnam.High winds occur much more frequently over the warmer than the colder flank of Kuroshio front as it meanders from Taiwan to Japan.The frequency of high winds decreases drastically in spring.The Taiwan Strait maintains the largest high wind occurrence.Besides,high winds remain frequent in the Bashi Channel,the southeast tip of Taiwan Island and the warmer flank of Kuroshio front.In summer,high winds generally occur infrequently except over a broad region off the southeast coast of Vietnam near 10°N and the frequency there decreases from southwest to northeast.High winds around Taiwan Island present near axisymmetric distribution with larger frequency along southeast-northwest direction and smaller frequency along southwest-northeast direction.The dominant direction of high winds exhibits a counterclockwise circulation surrounding the island.The frequency of high winds increases rapidly in autumn and almost repeats the distribution that appears in winter.The simulation results suggest that the effects of Taiwan Island topography on high winds vary with seasons.In winter,topography is the major cause of high winds in the surrounding oceanic zones.High winds in both Taiwan Strait and the southeast corner of the island disappear and the frequency decreases gradually from south to north when the terrain is removed.However,in summer,high wind frequency derived from two simulations with and without terrain is almost identical.We attribute this phenomenon to the factors which are responsible for the formation of high winds.     

Wintertime winds in and around the Ulaanbaatar metropolitan area in the presence of a temperature inversion

Temperature inversions are frequently observed in mountainous urban areas and can cause severe air pollution problems especially in wintertime. This study investigates wintertime winds in and around the Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, metropolitan area in the presence of a temperature inversion using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with the Seoul National University Urban Canopy Model (SNUUCM). Ulaanbaatar is located in complex terrain and in a nearly east-west-oriented valley. A wintertime scenario with clear skies, weak synoptic winds, and a temperature inversion under the influence of a Siberian high-pressure system is selected. Local winds are weak in the presence of the temperature inversion. In the daytime, weak mountain upslope winds develop, up-valley winds appear to be stronger in the urban area than in the surrounding areas, and channeling winds are produced in the main valley. The bottom of the temperature inversion layer rises up in the urban area, and winds below the bottom of the temperature inversion layer strengthen. In the nighttime, mountain downslope winds and down-valley winds develop. Urban effects in the presence of the temperature inversion are examined by comparing the results of simulations with and without the city. It is shown that in the daytime the urban area acts to elevate the bottom of the temperature inversion layer and weaken the strength of the temperature inversion layer. Winds east of the city weaken in the afternoon and down-valley winds develop later in the simulation with the city.     

Nocturnal boundary-layer height: Observations by acoustic sounders and predictions in terms of surface-layer parameters

Acoustic sounder measurements of the stable boundary-layer height taken during the EPRI Plume Model Validation and Development Project experiment are examined. Comparison of simultaneous measurements by two sodars located 15 km apart shows good agreement. Several widely used diagnostic formulas for estimation of the boundary-layer height, based on wind speed and surface-layer parameters, such as friction velocity and Monin-Obukhov length, are tested against the sodar data. Of these, best performance is found using a simple linear relationship with friction velocity or, alternatively, wind speed at 10 m height. No evidence is found to support the more often used Zilitinkevich (1972) formula. Tests using selected data from the Cabauw site in the Netherlands confirm the results found on the basis of EPRI data.     

Estimation of Winds at Different Isobaric Levels Based on the Observed Winds at 850 hPa Level Using Double Fourier Series

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Ground-based remote sensing of the atmospheric boundary layer: 25 years of progress

The role of ground-based remote sensors in boundary-layer research is reviewed, emphasizing the contributions of radars, sodars, and lidars. The review begins with a brief comparison of the state of remote sensors in boundary-layer research 25 years ago with its present-day status. Next, a summary of the current capabilities of remote sensors for boundary-layer studies demonstrates that for boundary-layer depth and for profiles of many mean quantities, remote sensors offer some of the most accurate measurements available. Similar accuracies are in general not found for most turbulence parameters. Important contributions of remote sensors to our understanding of the structure and dynamics of various boundary-layer phenomena or processes are then discussed, including the sea breeze, convergence boundaries, dispersion, and boundary-layer cloud systems. The review concludes with a discussion of the likely future role of remote sensors in boundary-layer research.     

中间层顶区域大气平均风场年和半年振荡的全球结构

利用2003~2011年TIDI(TIMED Doppler Interferometer)风场观测数据研究了中间层顶区域80~105 km纬向平均风场年振荡和半年振荡振幅和相位的全球分布结构,并给出了它们的年际变化。在热带地区,纬向风半年振荡最显著。振幅峰值中心位于南半球10°S~20°S范围,出现与平流层半年振荡类似的相对于赤道不对称的分布,并且振幅峰值与以前在该区域的研究结果存在较大差别。在中高纬度地区,纬向风和经向风被年振荡所控制。纬向风在高度100 km以下中高纬度都存在振幅大值中心;经向风年振荡只出现在两半球中纬度高度95 km以下,并且南北半球振幅峰值中心分布不一致。分析结果还显示年振荡和半年振荡振幅存在显著地年际变化,相位的年际变化则较小,但北半球热带地区经向风年振荡振幅和相位表现出2年周期的变化。     

一次飑线内MVs和后向入流对地面大风形成影响的模拟研究

通过实况资料以及WRF模式对广西地区的一次飑线过程进行数值模拟,根据模拟结果对飑线内中尺度涡旋MVs(Mesoscale Vortices,MVs)和后向入流与地面大风的成因关系进行了分析。通过涡度收支和涡线分析得出,弓状回波中存在东西涡旋对,其生成主要是散度项造成,中间相对弱的反气旋涡旋是涡线拱起产生的水平涡度向垂直涡度转换引起。通过计算正负涡旋对引起的旋转风从而量化了涡旋对对地面大风的贡献。结果发现,本次过程中涡旋对引起的旋转风在地面大风中占有较大比重,约40%～50%。当去除涡旋对引起的旋转风时,地面大风的强度减弱,位置偏移。由三维流线可以看出后向入流的下沉是产生地面大风的另一个影响因子。通过对浮力加速度和动力加速度进行诊断发现,后向入流的下沉主要是由于负的浮力加速度引起,水平方向的密度不均匀是负浮力加速度产生的主要因子,但在风速突然加强时,动力加速度也有明显的影响。     

垂直积分液态水含量在地面大风预报中的应用

利用天津塘沽的CINRAD-SA型新一代多普勒雷达体扫描垂直积分液态水含量(VIL)产品资料,结合地面大风灾情报告和实况资料,对地面灾害性大风出现前VIL值的演变、发展情况进行了统计分析。结果表明:VIL值达到30kg/m2是地面灾害性大风出现的阈值,VIL值达到或超过40kg/m2则可以看作是大风的一个预警指标;VIL值达到最大后的快速减小意味着将出现地面灾害性大风,VIL值快速减小后的突然跃增则是地面灾害性大风开始的标志。应用评分系统命中率、误警率、临界成功指数检验了上述预警指标,结果表明VIL产品预警地面灾害性大风是可用的,而且随时间调整阈值大小,可以大大提高地面灾害性大风预警的命中率和临界成功指数;地面灾害大风出现前预报员有12～18min的时间用于发布短时、临界大风天气预报和大风预警。     

浙江北部近海边界层风廓线特征分析

利用2010年12月至2014年5月宁波近海凉帽山370m高塔气象梯度风观测和浙江北部沿海自动气象站测风资料,对浙江北部近海风速垂直廓线进行分析,结果发现:受地形影响,偏南、偏北风时塔基风速一般比上一层风速大。不同天气系统影响下近地边界层风廓线不同,南风型320m以下风速基本遵从对数律。热带气旋影响型和北风型时风廓线可分为3段,常通量层内基本满足对数律,该层向上一段高度热带气旋影响型风速变化不大,北风型反而减小,再往上风速又继续增大。北风型风廓线的这种3段结构表现比热带气旋影响型更为清楚,约80~109m风速出现相对极大值,200~250m间存在风速极小值。满足对数律的近地边界层内小风比大风具有更好的拟合优度。浙江北部沿海自动气象站测风资料不同风型统计分析与高塔风廓线表现基本一致。     

Intra-seasonal variability in Oceansat-2 scatterometer sea-surface winds over the Indian summer monsoon region

In September 2009, the Indian Space Research Organisation launched a Ku-band microwave scatterometer (OSCAT) onboard the polar orbiting satellite ‘Oceansat-2’. In this article, the capabilities of the newly available OSCAT sea-surface winds are demonstrated by studying the monsoon intra-seasonal variabilities during the 2010 summer monsoon season. A preliminary validation of OSCAT surface winds with European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) analysis surface winds carried out during June to August 2010 suggests that the quality of the OSCAT winds are able to meet the mission specifications. The observed mean monthly features of the Indian summer monsoon in July and August 2010 from OSCAT match well with those of ECMWF reanalysis winds. The OSCAT winds capture the known characteristics of the Indian summer monsoon, such as the northward propagation of a low level jet, and its preferred locations during active and break monsoon conditions, reasonably well. The Morlet wavelet transform is used for time series analysis. The OSCAT measured sea-surface winds were found to possess two dominant modes of variability during the 2010 monsoon season: one with a periodicity between 32 and 64?days, and another with a periodicity between 8 and 16?days. Rainfall activity over the Indian summer monsoon region is closely associated with the phases of the two above-mentioned dominant intra-seasonal variabilities. This study demonstrates that the OSCAT winds can be used very well and with confidence for meteorological studies.