A numerical study of cloud streets in the planetary boundary layer

A two-dimensional numerical model is used to study the influence of small non-precipitating clouds on horizontal roll vortices in the planetary boundary layer. The model explicitly represents the large-scale two-dimensional motions whilst small-scale eddies are parameterized by a buoyancy dependent mixing-length hypothesis. It is applied to conditions corresponding to an observed case of cloud street formation.     

Kinematics, cloud microphysics and spatial structures of tropical cloud clusters: A two-dimensional cloud-resolving modeling study

Kinematics, cloud microphysics and spatial structures of tropical cloud clusters are investigated using hourly outputs from a two-dimensional cloud-resolving model simulation. The model is forced by the large-scale vertical velocity, zonal wind and horizontal advections obtained from Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). A period of 1600–2300 LST 21 December 1992 is selected for this study when the zonal-mean westerly winds in the lower troposphere intensify while the zonal-mean easterly winds above weaken. Under the vertical-shear environment, there are a westward-propagating cloud cluster, a newly-formed cloud cluster, and four eastward-moving cloud clusters. Two weak eastward-moving cloud clusters merge into strong westward-moving cloud clusters. Merged clouds display notable growth in the eastern edge, indicating that merging processes enhance convection. The development of the new cloud at the western edge of the existing cloud cluster before merging may account for the westward propagation of cloud cluster group, while the advection of the maximum total hydrometeor mixing ratio by the westerly winds after merging may cause the eastward propagation of individual cloud clusters.     

Observations of industrial fog,cloud and precipitation on very cold days

Abstract

Fog, cloud, and precipitation caused by the petrochemical plants in Edmonton, Canada, were studied on some of the coldest days of four winters. Typical morning temperatures were between –15 and –40° C. The investigation includes a comprehensive heat and vapour emission inventory, field studies of the local cloud physics, and observations of plume cloud dispersal and precipitation formation. Five field trips are discussed in detail.

The emission inventory indicated that the petrochemical plants released heat and vapour at a rate comparable to that of the city of a half million people. Thermal circulations in the industrial area were substantial but they were not strong enough to prevent some restriction of visibility when temperatures fell below –25° C, and an area‐wide restriction of visibility as deep ice fog set in at temperatures below –35°C. Widespread cloudiness caused by plant plumes was found to be caused by the combined influence of low temperatures and low wind speeds. Snowfall rates were generally very light but when meteorological conditions were right, the snowfall reduced visibility locally to 100 m and made roadways slippery.     

一次高原强降水过程及其云物理结构的数值模拟

本文利用中尺度WRF数值模式,对2010年8月7—8日发生在青藏高原东部一次强降水过程进行数值模拟,利用常规观测资料、FY卫星云图和数值模拟结果对此次强降水过程的宏微观演变特征和降水机制进行分析。本次模拟选用Milbrandt-Yau(MY)微物理方案,有较为完整的双参数计算过程,较为全面地考虑了各类云物理过程,对云微物理结构的描述和处理精细而复杂。结果表明,此次强对流降水发生在副热带高压与南亚高压相连、中高纬短波槽分裂南下、并与西南暖湿气流相遇形成低涡切变线的有利天气形势下,西南暖湿气流带来大量水汽、降水区存在大量不稳定能量、以及低层辐合高层辐散的高低空配置为暴雨发生发展提供了必要条件。WRF模式较好地模拟出了此次强降水过程的降水落区、降水中心和降水量级,对青海平安和甘南上空云团合并过程、强对流云团范围也模拟较好。对云微物理结构的分析结果表明,此次对流云降水为冷云降水,暖层浅薄,冰相粒子丰富,其中霰粒对过冷水的碰冻能力最强,使得其含量远大于冰雪晶含量,其融化是雨水的主要来源。雪晶含量最少,或与其碰冻过冷水能力较弱有关。     

环北京地区积层混合云微物理结构飞机联合探测研究

利用北京、山西和河北三省市飞机在环北京地区探测的积层混合云微物理结构特征资料,结合卫星等宏观观测资料,分析了环北京地区积层混合云系空间云微物理结构特征。结果显示,冷锋云系前部,云内部微物理参数空间分布不均匀,2700m以上较大,垂直方向云粒子浓度和直径呈正相关关系,浓度极值间差7个量级,大滴粒子浓度差7个量级,降水粒子浓度差6个量级,水平方向云粒子浓度和直径分布不均匀,呈反相关关系。冷锋云系中部,云微物理参数垂直分布不均匀,在2500～3600m和4000m以上高度层出现云粒子峰值,且云粒子浓度和直径呈反相关关系,云滴粒子浓度极值间差6个量级,大滴粒子浓度差7个量级,降水粒子浓度差5个量级,水平方向云粒子分布不均匀,云粒子浓度和直径呈反相关关系。冷锋云系前部,云粒子谱在4800m高度谱型为单峰谱,4200m高度谱型多峰分布,3600m高度谱型为双峰谱。云降水粒子谱三高度层谱型差异不大,4800m高度谱型为单调递减谱,峰值在小粒子端（≤100μm）,4200m和3600m高度谱型相似,为双峰谱,峰值分别在≤小于100μm和230μm处。降水粒子谱三高度层谱型相似,都为单峰谱,峰值相差不大。冷锋云系中部,云粒子谱在三高度层谱型差异较大,4800m高度谱型为单峰谱,峰值在小滴端,4200m高度谱型为单峰谱,峰值在15μm处,3600m高度谱型为双峰谱,峰值分别在7μm和30μm处。云降水粒子谱三高度层谱型差异不大,4800m高度谱型为单调递减谱,峰值在小粒子端（≤100μm）,4200m和3600m高度谱型相似,为双峰谱,峰值分别在≤100μm和200μm处。降水粒子谱三高度层谱型相似,都为单峰谱,峰值相差不大。     

一次东北冷涡云降水垂直结构特征分析

利用辽宁阜新国家站(121.7458°E,42.0672°N)的毫米波云雷达(8 mm)和微雨雷达(12.5 mm)对2020年8月12—13日东北冷涡影响下的一次降水过程进行了观测,分析了云降水的垂直结构特征并探讨了降水机制.结果表明:本次过程中,云水平方向发展不均匀,以层状云和层积混合云为主,云内有时还嵌有对流泡....     

Observations of longitudinal roll vortices during arctic cold air outbreaks over open water

An evolving convective Arctic planetary boundary layer (PBL) containing longitudinal roll vortices (rolls) was observed with aircraft data during the 1983 Marginal Ice Zone Experiment and the 1984 Arctic Cyclone Experiment.The PBL is observed to grow rapidly as the very cold and dry air flows off the ice over the relatively warm water. There is very large sensible heat flux, a result of the large surface-air temperature differences. Coherent structures were identified in these PBL's by use of power, coherence squared and phase spectra of the data. A systematic method of separating the rolls from organized thermal plumes was devised, based on theoretical characteristics for roll circulations and the resulting modified mean wind profile. The rapid mixing by the rolls aids in the establishment of equilibrium and an observed adiabatic modified mean Ekman layer. Rolls that form in a thermally neutral atmosphere over ice have different characteristics than those that appear in the unstable stratification over water. The rolls become increasingly more convective in character with distance from the ice edge. They have aspect ratios (wavelength/PBL height) that decrease with distance from the ice edge in agreement with linear theory. This is in contrast to the cloud street wavelength to inversion height ratio which is observed to increase downwind from the ice edge.     

Observations of mesoscale cellular convection from the marine stratocumulus phase of “fire”

A common mode of convection within the atmospheric boundary layer, mesoscale cellular convection (MCC), assumes the form of an organized array of three-dimensional polygonal cells. This study employs aircraft data, collected off the coast of California during the marine stratocumulus phase of the First ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) Regional Experiment (FIRE), to investigate the closed cell variety of MCC. Forty-five transects of closed marine mesoscale convective cells are utilized in this study. Data from these transects are used to calculate first-order and scale-dependent second-order kinematic, thermodynamic, and radiation statistics. From these statistics, a conceptual model of closed MCC is constructed detailing the horizontal and vertical structure of the cells in coupled as well as decoupled boundary-layer environments.Mesoscale convective cells not only have a profound influence on the radiation budget of their environment, but also play a key role in governing the exchange of heat, moisture, and momentum between the atmosphere and the surface. During FIRE, the MCC-scale structures were found to be buoyantly-driven above cloud base and driven by perturbation pressure forces below. Microscale eddies generally worked in tandem with these MCC-scale structures to transport heat and moisture vertically throughout the cells. Microscale eddies were responsible for most of this transport within the surface layer, while MCC-scale structures performed most of the transport at mid-levels within the cells.     

Vertical cloud structures of the boreal summer intraseasonal variability based on CloudSat observations and ERA-interim reanalysis

The boreal summer intraseasonal variability (BSISV), which is characterized by pronounced meridional propagation from the equatorial zone to the Indian Continent, exerts significant modulation of the active/break phases of the south Asian monsoon. This form of variability provides a primary source of subseasonal predictive skill of the Asian summer monsoon. Unfortunately, current general circulation models display large deficiencies in representing this variability. The new cloud observations made available by the CloudSat mission provide an unprecedented opportunity to advance our characterization of the BSISV. In this study, the vertical structures of cloud water content and cloud types associated with the BSISV over the Indian Ocean and subcontinent are analyzed based on CloudSat observations from 2006 to 2008. These cloud structures are also compared to their counterparts as derived from ERA-interim reanalysis. A marked vertical tilting structure in cloud water is illustrated during the northward propagation of the BSISV based on both datasets. Increased cloud liquid water content (LWC) tends to appear to the north of the rainfall maximum, while ice water content (IWC) in the upper troposphere slightly lags the convection. This northward shift of increased LWC, which is in accord with local enhanced moisture as previously documented, may play an important role in the northward propagation of the BSISV. The transition in cloud structures associated with BSISV convection is further demonstrated based on CloudSat, with shallow cumuli at the leading edge, followed by the deep convective clouds, and then upper anvil clouds. Some differences in cloud water structures between CloudSat and ERA-interim are also noted, particularly in the amplitudes of IWC and LWC fields.     

Observations of planview flux patterns within convective structures of the marine atmospheric surface layer

Air/sea flux variability on horizontal scales from 50 m to several km results, in part, from the presence of coherent convective structures within the atmospheric boundary layer. The horizontal distribution of fluxes within these convective updrafts and downdrafts is, therefore, central to studies of air/sea interaction and remote sensing of sea surface wind and wave fields. This study derives these flux patterns from observations of the Marine Atmospheric Surface Layer (MASL).Research aircraft flights through the MASL provide an optimal means for sampling large numbers of the above-mentioned coherent structures. The NCAR Electra flew numerous legs through the MASL at a height of 50 m during the 1987 stratocumulus phase of Project FIRE (First ISSCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program) Regional Experiment).In situ measurements from these legs serve as the dataset for this paper. The data are processed in such a way as to retain only the turbulence fluctuations. Conditional sampling, based on the vertical velocity field, results in the isolation of convective updrafts and downdrafts. Compositing of the data for these two classes of convective drafts results in horizontal planviews of the vertical fluxes of buoyancy, absolute humidity, along-meanwind component of momentum, and vertical velocity. To ensure dynamical similarity, these horizontal planviews are oriented in a coordinate system aligned with the mean wind.     

人工观测与自动仪器观测的对比分析

文章利用察右中旗2010年人工观测与自动仪器观测的对比分析,分析两种观测技术获取的气象数据所存在的差异,确保结果的科学性,为自动站业务化运行和气候资料的连续性提供一定参考依据。     

Comparison Between Computer Simulation of Transport and Diffusion of Cloud Seeding Material Within Stratiform Cloud and the NOAA-14 Satellite Cloud Track

A precipitation enhancement operation using an aircraft was conducted from 1415 to 1549 LST 14 March 2000 in Shaanxi Province. The NOAA-14 satellite data received at 1535 LST soon after the cloud seeding shows that a vivid cloud track appears on the satellite image. The length, average width and maximum width of the cloud track are 301 kin, 8.3 and 11 kin, respectively. Using a three-dimensional numerical model of transport and diffusion of seeding material within stratiform clouds, the spatial concentration distribution characteristics of seeding material at different times, especially at the satellite receiving time,are simulated. The model results at the satellite receiving time axe compared with the features of the cloud track. The transported position of the cloud seeding material coincides with the position of the track. The width, shape and extent of diffusion of the cloud seeding material are similar to that of the cloud track.The spatial variation of width is consistent with that of the track. The simulated length of each segment of the seeding line accords with the length of every segment of the track. Each segment of the cloud track corresponds to the transport and diffusion of each segment of the seeding line. These results suggest that the cloud track is the direct physical reflection of cloud seeding at the cloud top. The comparison demonstrates that the numerical model of transport and diffusion can simulate the main characteristics of transport and diffusion of seeding material, and the simulated results are sound and trustworthy. The area, volume, width, depth, and lateral diffusive rate corresponding to concentrations 1, 4, and 10 L^-1 are simulated in order to understand the variations of influencing range.     

河套低压降水性层状云的云雨特征

1963—1978年,使用飞机,对河套低压的降水性层状云作了21架次的云雾物理探测,结合天气分析与统计计算发现: 1.系统各部位层状云云状不一,对应云层的宏观特征及降水强度也有差别。 2.系统的平均冰质点浓度在 10~(-2)个/升—10~2个/升之间,其各部位浓度、浓度的垂直分布及晶形出现频数都不一样。液态含水量在 0—0.77克/米~3之间,平均为 0.122克/米~3,各部位液态含水量虽有差别,但都是正温层较大,负温层较小,到-10℃层以上已很少见液态水存在。 3.系统层状云的降水强度和系统部位、云厚、正温层厚度、云底温度以及平均液态水含量相关较好,而和云顶温度、冰云厚度及冰质点平均浓度相关不好,可用—多元迴归方程来拟合     

乌鲁木齐冬季冷锋云带和锋下层积云的微物理结构及其降雪特征

本文根据1983年11月7日云物理专业考查飞机对乌鲁木齐冬季一次冷锋降水前期的云与降水微结构观测,进行了分析与研究,结果表明:在冷锋降雪初始阶段,云具有多层结构,锋上存在一条宽约5km的云带,估计云带中的上升气流大于0.8m·s~(-1),具有窄对流云带的某些特征。冰晶初始形成于温度为-17℃的锋上云带顶部。在锋上与锋下存在两个过冷水区,据此判断在冷锋降雪前期具有人工增雪条件。     

A one-dimensional Explicit Time-dependent cloud Model (ETM): Description and validation with a three-dimensional cloud resolving model

An algorithm for a one-dimensional Explicit Time-dependent cloud Model (ETM) that takes into account non-hydrostatic pressure, entrainment, cloud microphysics, lateral and vertical eddy mixing processes is developed and tested against a state-of-the-art cloud resolving three dimensional mesoscale model—the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS). The numerical schemes and sub-grid scale processes are rather similar in both ETM and ARPS, although the dimensionality is different.Results show that the ETM is able to simulate the complete lifecycle for a cloud cell, featuring comparable zones of maximum vertical velocity, and overshooting layers on the cloud top. Heat and moisture fluxes within the cloud column of the ETM occur at the same level as ARPS, giving confidence towards adequate formulations in ETM. However, mass flux fields are not in good agreement; there is significant difference in intensity and the altitude where maxima occur. Sensitivity of the ARPS cloud to the amplitude and depth of the initial thermal bubble was examined; the resulting cloud showed sensitivity to both parameters. The maximum vertical velocity decreases with greater amplitude and occurs earlier. This was used as a tuning parameter to ensure similarity in the lifecycle of ETM and ARPS clouds.     

Observations of the evolution of the aerosol, cloud and boundary‐layer characteristics during the 1st ACE‐2 Lagrangian experiment

During the 1st Lagrangian experiment of the North Atlantic Regional Aerosol Characterisation Experiment (ACE‐2), a parcel of air was tagged by releasing a smart, constant level balloon into it from the Research Vessel Vodyanitskiy . The Meteorological Research Flight's C‐130 aircraft then followed this parcel over a period of 30 h characterising the marine boundary layer (MBL), the cloud and the physical and chemical aerosol evolution. The air mass had originated over the northern North Atlantic and thus was clean and had low aerosol concentrations. At the beginning of the experiment the MBL was over 1500 m deep and made up of a surface mixed layer (SML) underlying a layer containing cloud beneath a subsidence inversion. Subsidence in the free troposphere caused the depth of the MBL to almost halve during the experiment and, after 26 h, the MBL became well mixed throughout its whole depth. Salt particle mass in the MBL increased as the surface wind speed increased from 8 m s⁻¹ to 16 m s⁻¹ and the accumulation mode (0.1μm to 3.0 μm) aerosol concentrations quadrupled from 50 cm⁻³ to 200 cm⁻³. However, at the same time the total condensation nuclei (>3 nm) decreased from over 1000 cm⁻³ to 750 cm⁻³. The changes in the accumulation mode aerosol concentrations had a significant effect on the observed cloud microphysics. Observational evidence suggests that the important processes in controlling the Aitken mode concentration which, dominated the total CN concentration, included, scavenging of interstitial aerosol by cloud droplets, enhanced coagulation of Aitken mode aerosol and accumulation mode aerosol due to the increased sea salt aerosol surface area, and dilution of the MBL by free tropospheric air.     

Seasonal and Diurnal Ozone Variations: Observations and Modeling

Ozone mixing ratios observed by the Bordeaux microwave radiometer between 1995 and 2002 in an altitude range 25–75 km show diurnal variations in the mesosphere and seasonal variations in terms of annual and semi-annual oscillations (SAO) in the stratosphere and in the mesosphere. The observations with 10–15 km altitude resolution are presented and compared to photochemical and transport model results.Diurnal ozone variations are analyzed by averaging the years 1995–1997 for four representative months and six altitude levels. The photochemical models show a good agreement with the observations for altitudes higher than 50 km. Seasonal ozone variations mainly appear as an annual cycle in the middle and upper stratosphere and a semi-annual cycle in the mesosphere with amplitude and phase depending on altitude. Higher resolution (2 km) HALOE (halogen occultation experiment) ozone observations show a phase reversal of the SAO between 44 and 64 km. In HALOE data, a tendancy for an opposite water vapour cycle can be identified in the altitude range 40–60 km.Generally, the relative variations at all altitudes are well explained by the transport model (up to 54 km) and the photochemical models. Only a newly developed photochemical model (1-D) with improved time-dependent treatment of water vapour profiles and solar flux manages to reproduce fairly well the absolute values.