A cold air outbreak near Spitsbergen in springtime — Boundary-layer modification and cloud development

A moderate cold air outbreak from the Arctic ice over the warm West-Spitsbergen current on 15 and 16 May 1988 during the field experiment ARKTIS '88 is analysed using data from four aircraft and one research vessel.The downstream development of cloud coverage appears to depend sensitively on the moisture content above the inversion. The cloud amount determines the energy balance at the sea surface. Under daytime conditions and little cloud cover, energy is added to the ocean in spite of sensible and latent heat losses.The downstream temperature increase in the boundary layer is controlled by sensible heat flux and by longwave radiation cooling. The entrainment sensible heat flux is the dominating term in the region near the ice edge. The downstream moisture increase is controlled by surface evaporation. Condensation processes play no significant role.On 16 May 1988 cloud streets near the ice edge changed to closed cloud meanders in the downstream direction. The aspect ratio increased from 3 to around 10 over a distance of 200 km. In the cloud street region, the dynamical generation of turbulent kinetic energy due to wind shear at the tilted inversion was larger than the thermal generation.Cloud droplet concentration, mean droplet radius and liquid water content increased linearly with height. The maximum liquid water content was only 0.1 g/kg near the top of a 400 m thick closed cloud and clearly below the adiabatic value. The net longwave radiation flux decreased by 50 W/m² at cloud top and increased by 13 W/m² at cloud base.     

Boundary-layer effects on cold fronts at a coastline

The present note discusses one physical mechanism which may contribute to cold air channelling, manifest as a frontal bulge on a surface-analysis chart, in the coastal region of Victoria in southeast Australia. This involves the modification of boundary-layer air in both offshore (prefrontal) and onshore (postfrontal) flow, and the effect on cross-frontal thermal contrast. The problem is discussed in terms of a north-south-oriented cold front behaving as an atmospheric gravity current, propagating along an east-west-oriented coastline, in the presence of a prefrontal offshore stream.     

Boundary-layer pollutant concentrations over complex terrain

Given the incident profiles of wind velocity and pollutant concentration, we seek to determine the 3-dimensional concentration field of a pollutant upon a region with complex terrain. The analytic solution of the wind velocity in a 3-dimensional boundary-layer model by Walmsley et al. (1980) is utilized as a forcing function in the simplified concentration perturbation equation for a pollutant. The resulting solution applies to an isolated cosine-squared hill in a neutrally stratified boundary-layer flow with a surface type which absorbs the pollutant totally. The solution shows that the concentration perturbation field is organized in accordance with the wind field. In particular, the east-west cross-section is 180° out of phase with the velocity perturbation field. The vertical profiles of the concentration perturbations for selected grid points approach the value of the upper boundary condition very rapidly.     

Boundary-layer dynamics of a developing vortex

The dynamics of the boundary layer of a developing vortex is studied. To keep the mathematical treatment simple, axisymmetric vortices in both solid and non-solid rotation are considered. The governing equations are subjected to a similarity transformation and the resulting non-linear parabolic partial differential equations are solved by a Galerkin technique for simplified initial conditions which permit non-zero tangential and vertical velocities at the lower and upper boundaries. The application of a time-dependent Taylor boundary condition at the lower extremity of the vortex causes the fluid to spin-down gradually. By doing so, the no-slip steady-state solutions are progressively approached. On the other hand the employment of the customary Taylor boundary condition made the vortex to spin down rapidly causing a large-amplitude oscillatory vertical velocity.Analyses of the linearized equations and of the numerical solutions of the non-linear problem indicate the presence in the radial and tangential fields of inertial oscillations of frequency % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaaGOmaKaaaj% aad6gakmaaleaaleaaruqqYLwySbacfaGaa8xmaaqaaiaa-jdaaaac% ciGccqGFPoWvaaa!3D19!\[2n\tfrac{1}{2}\Omega \] (: angular velocity of the flow and n: a parameter such that n=1 signifies solid rotation and % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9qq-f0-yqaqVeLsFr0-vr% 0-vr0db8meaabaqaciGacaGaaeqabaWaaeaaeaaakeaacaaIWaWefv% 3ySLgznfgDOjdaryqr1ngBPrginfgDObcv39gaiuaacqWFKjcHcaWG% Ubaaaa!461C!\[0 \leqslant n\] <1 non-solid rotation). Thus the frequency of inertial oscillations is reduced for non-rigid rotation.     

Boundary-layer turbulence spectra in stable conditions

Simultaneous measurements of horizontal and vertical wind speeds and temperature fluctuations at heights up to 91 m in the stable atmospheric boundary layer are described. The power and cospectral shapes show a low-frequency peak (near the Brunt-Väisälä frequency) separated by a spectral gap from a peak at high frequency due to turbulence. Spectral shapes in the turbulence subrange at 8 m are in good agreement with the universal curves previously presented by Kaimal (1973). Further information is given on the variation of the scaling parameter, f ₀, with stability; and the applicability of the normalising procedure to the spectra from the higher levels is discussed.     

Boundary-layer trade-wind profile and stress on a tropical windward coast

Under persistent onshore trade-wind conditions, the wind profile was measured in the surface layer on a mud flat of the tidal stream of Estero de Data, Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador. It was found that the logarithmic wind relation fitted the observations very well and that the inferred shear velocity was a linear function of wind speed in the range of wind velocity studied.     

Forthcoming Meetings on Planetary Boundary-layer Theory, Modelling and Applications

In this short communication we highlight the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) “Atmospheric Boundary Layers: Modelling and Applications for Environmental Security”, to be held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, 18–22 April 2006 (http:// pbl-nato-arw.dmi.dk) and the “Summer School on Air-Sea Interaction” to be held in Helsinki, Finland, 28 August–1 September 2006 (http://www.scasi.fi). These two events are connected to the ongoing Ev Marie Curie Chair Project “Planetary boundary layers – Theory, modelling and role in earth systems” (PBL – TMRES, Contract MEXC-CT-2003-509742, www.atm.helsinki.fi/PBL/).     

Boundary-layer flow structures associated with particle reentrainment

Measurements of near-surface longitudinal and vertical wind velocity components associated with particle reentrainment from a flat surface have been examined in a wind tunnel. Sparsely covered particle beds were used to assure that observed reentrainment events resulted primarily from the action of fluid forces. Characteristic velocity patterns were found to be associated with a majority of particle reentrainment events examined. These characteristics have been categorized and examined as ensemble averages. The flow pattern most frequently observed during particle reentrainment was termed Ejection-Sweep (E-S) and is very similar to organized fluid motions previously observed in laboratory flows and in the atmospheric boundary layer. A simple two-tiered E-S pattern recognition scheme is described which strives to identify particle reentrainment events objectively based on flow characteristics alone. The first step is to identify potential E-S patterns using criteria which identify a characteristic longitudinal acceleration, and the second step is to use threshold values of pattern characteristics to accept or reject these first-tier patterns. Pattern recognition results are presented in terms of the ability to identify reentrainment events versus false identifications, and show an exponential growth in false identifications with an increasing number of reentrainment events identified.     

Boundary-layer heat and moisture budgets from fife

Aircraft stacks were flown upwind and downwind of the First ISLSCP Field Experiment (FIFE) site in Kansas to measure the heat and moisture budgets of the boundary layer under fairly clear skies for four daytime periods. In this paper, we evaluate the terms in the conservation equation. The vertical flux divergence and advection do not account for the difference between surface and low-level aircraft flux estimates. Budget estimates of the surface fluxes using the aircraft data agree well with surface flux measurements, but extrapolation of the aircraft fluxes gives surface fluxes that are too low. With the 5 km cutoff filter used, the aircraft underestimate for sensible heat flux is about 40%, and for the latent heat flux about 30%. Part of the underestimation is attributable to long-wavelength contributions (longer than the 5 km filter), but more investigation is needed.     

Boundary-layer flow and turbulence near porous obstacles

We derive a set of governing equations for flow through porous obstacles by employing a two-step averaging processes. The Navier-Stokes equations under the Boussinesq approximation that describe the air space of the porous obstacle are subjected to high-wavenumber a veraging, which leads to a set of high-frequency (wake) turbulence equations. We then use conventional Reynolds-averaging methods to obtain statistically steady mean and turbulence equations that include interactions between wake and shear turbulence. Our method provides a theoretical basis for the cascade of turbulent kinetic energy. We use this approach to analyze the constants and parameters of simpleK-theory and higher-order closure models. We also discuss qualitatively the theory of the turbulence energy generation process and the significance of interactions between different turbulent mechanisms.     

Study on a Boundary-layer Numerical Model with Inclusion of Heterogeneous Multi-layer Vegetational

1.IntroductionItiswellknownthattheecosystemcangreatlyinfluencebothlocalclimateandgeneralcirculation.Onthenumericalstudyoftheturbulenceinandaboveforestcanopies,alotofsignificantstudieshavebeendone.Inallthesestudies,modelsaregenerallydividedintotwotypes:oneis'K--theory'type(Waggoner,1975;Gross,1987;Gross,1988,Jietal.,1989;Schilling,I991;Dickinsonetal.,1993;Wang,1996),theotherappliesthehigher--orderclosuremethod(Wilsonetal.,1977,Yamada,1982;Yinetal.,1989)ortheLagrangianmethod(Rampach,1987;R…     

大气边界层热量输送的非局地多尺度湍流理论及试验研究

该文在大气边界层多尺度湍流理论和湍流穿越理论的基础上,建立了大气边界层感热通量的非局地多尺度湍流计算方法,并选用1998年5～8月份第二次青藏高原大气科学试验（TIPEX）的大气边界层综合观测基地昌都站观测资料,分别用感热通量的非局地多尺度湍流计算方法和经典相似理论计算感热通量。对计算结果的对比分析表明,用感热通量的非局地多尺度湍流计算方法能计算出感热通量的逆梯度输送,也能计算出青藏高原近中性层结条件下明显的感热通量。此外,多尺度湍流理论还有待进一步发展完善,提高感热通量的计算精度。     

太湖区域三维湖陆风场数值模拟

本文考虑太湖周围实际地形，建立了一个适合太湖区域复杂地形，满足静力平衡条件的三维非定常大气边界层数值模式，计算表明:模式运行十分稳定，与实际观测资料吻合较好。     

Boundary-layer wind structure in a landfalling tropical cyclone

In this study, a slab boundary layer model with a constant depth is used to analyze the boundary-layer wind structure in a landfalling tropical cyclone. Asymmetry is found in both the tangential and radial components of horizontal wind in the tropical cyclone boundary layer at landfall. For a steady tropical cyclone on a straight coastline at landfall, the magnitude of the radial component is greater in the offshoreflow side and the tangential component is greater over the sea, slightly offshore, therefore the greater total wind speed occurs in the offshore-flow side over the sea. The budget analysis suggests that： （1） a greater surface friction over land produces a greater inflow and the nonlinear effect advects the maximum inflow downstream, and （2） a smaller surface friction over the sea makes the decrease of the tangential wind component less than that over land. Moreover, the boundary layer wind structures in a tropical cyclone are related to the locations of the tropical cyclone relative to the coastline due to the different surface frictions. During tropical cyclone landfall, the impact of rough terrain on the cyclone increases, so the magnitude of the radial component of wind speed increases in the offshore-flow side and the tangential component outside the radius of maximum wind speed decreases gradually.     

Boundary-layer evolution and nocturnal inversion dispersal—Part I

The evolution of boundary layers capped by nocturnal inversions has been studied with an instrumented aircraft. A large sample of the original data obtained on two of the four observation days is presented. Profiles of temperature, humidity and sensible and latent heat flux are compared with the results of numerical models. The sensitivity of simple models for the prediction of nocturnal inversion dispersal is discussed in relation to certain measured input parameters.     

Boundary-layer effects on mountain waves: a new look at some historical studies

Early studies of mountain waves reported various results that have rarely been investigated since. These include: large-amplitude mountain waves above an unstable boundary layer much higher than the mountains; a repeated downwind drift and upwind jump of mountain waves; and larger vertical wind magnitude near sunrise and/or sunset. These are investigated using over 3,000 radiosondes and meso-strato-troposphere (MST) radar. Superadiabatic temperature gradients are found beneath mountain waves, explainable by convection which appears to raise the mountain-wave launching height. Movement of mountain-wave patterns is studied by a new method using height–time vertical wind data. A swaying motion of mountain waves, with period of a few minutes, appears to be equally upwind and downwind, rather than asymmetric at the heights measurable. Also, vertical wind shows no change in mean, variance or extreme values near sunrise and sunset, despite the expected diurnal changes of boundary-layer structure. An explanation for differences between MST radar and other measurements and models of mountain waves is suggested in terms of more than one variety of mountain wave. Type 1 has stable air near the ground; type 2 is above a convective/turbulent boundary layer of significant height as compared to the mountains.     

Boundary-layer parameterizations for applied dispersion modeling over urban areas

Many applied dispersion models require the knowledge of boundary-layer parameters such as sensible heat flux,Q _H , friction velocity,u _*, and turbulent energy components, _w and _v . Formulas are suggested for calculating these parameters over a wide variety of types of ground surfaces, based on simple observations of wind speed near the ground and fractional cloud cover, and specification of constants such as roughness length, albedo, and soil moisture availability. Observations ofu _*,Q _H , _w , and _v during field experiments in St. Louis and Indianapolis are used to test the formulas for urban sites. Relative errors of about ±20% in the predictions are seen to occur whenu _*,Q _H , _w , and _v are large. However, when these quantities are small (e.g.,u _* < 0.2 m/s), the errors in the predictions are as large as the mean value of the quantity itself.In addition, it is concluded from studies of available field data and theories that the magnitude of _w is not well-known at elevations above about 100m during the late afternoon and night. Some simple parameterizations for _w . are suggested that are consistent with the observed steady decrease in ground-level concentration in the afternoon and the sudden increase in concentration that can occur a few hours after sunset due to wind shears associated with a low-level jet, for continuous plumes emitted from moderate to tall stacks.     

Boundary-layer evolution and nocturnal inversion dispersal—Part II

Observations from an instrumented aircraft are used to study the small-scale structure of turbulence and convection in well-mixed boundary layers and the erosion processes in the nocturnally-formed inversions above them. The ways in which turbulence statistics for temperature, humidity and vertical velocity scale with height in the mixed layer are compared with the results of a three-dimensional model by Deardorff (1974a, b), and agreement is found in many aspects. Conditional sampling enables the statistics of thermals and their environment to be considered separately and, in particular, shows that the mode of the vertical velocity in thermals markedly decreases with height in the upper half of the mixed layer. Thermals may be recognized equally readily by either their excess of temperature or humidity. Transfers of heat and moisture through the nocturnal inversions influence the structure of the upper region of the mixed layer and there is strong evidence that these transfer processes are turbulent and not organized on scales similar to convective thermals.     

Boundary-layer dynamics of the extremely arid northern part of Chile

A boundary-layer field experiment in the extremely arid northern part of Chile was carried out in July, 1970. Captive radiosonde data, pibal soundings and surface observations in a three-point zonal cross-section at 23 deg lat. S are analyzed. Evidence of a thermal response in the boundary-layer circulation and daytime subsidence enhancement is presented. Surface windspeeds seem to increase in the general upslope direction while wind components along the contour lines are apparent in the central strip, in accordance with earlier results for Pampa de la Joya, Peru.