Heat exchange between the atmosphere and the non-uniform underlying surface under nonstationary radiative heating: a model and measurements

Summary The influence of variations in time of the forcing radiation on the thermal evolution of the soil/atmosphere surface layer system and the possibility to derive thermal characteristics from an analysis of the simultaneous series of the forcing and the response is represented. The described method permits to estimate soil density and heat eddy diffusivity in air. The method is tested using experimental data of the radiative fluxes, the fluctuations of the surface temperature and the temperatures of air at several levels.     

Coherent Structures in the Atmospheric Surface Layer under Stable and Unstable Conditions

Simultaneous measurements of the instantaneous values of absolute temperatureat seven heights within the lower 36 m of the atmospheric boundary layer underdifferent stability conditions were carried out, accompanied by measurements ofthe wind velocity components at two levels and of solar radiation flux at the surface.The data obtained allow one to investigate individual convective cells known ascoherent structures (CS). Outside the CS, i.e., during quiet periods, an instanttemperature profile is in close agreement with the dry-adiabatic lapse rate, butwithin CS the temperature changes much faster with height, and the shape ofthe profile varies significantly.A method was developed to transform temperature records from sensors atseveral heights into an other form, namely, into temporal variations of theheights of isothermal surfaces. Since coherent structures were found to advectwith the mean wind velocity, these temporal height variations may be transformedinto the spatial ones, i.e., into the xoz-plane section of the temperature field.In such a pictorial presentation coherent structures look like asymmetric columnsof heat, penetrating the whole atmospheric surface layer.Coherent structures also exist in the stable stratified surface layer, but they have aninverse asymmetry and occupy only the lower several metres. Wavelike activitydominates in the upper part of the stable surface layer.The characteristic time of surface-layer adjustment to the rapid changes of solarradiation (due to cloud shadows or cloud gaps) was found to be on the order ofone minute. Such a time interval is required for coherent structure to reach the topof surface layer.     

Size distribution of the number of lithospheric plates

To describe the cumulative distribution of the number of lithospheric plates over areas S, the dependence N(≥S) ～ S ^?0.33 was proposed by Bird [2003]. Based on dimension considerations, the dependence N(≥S) ～ (?/S)^1/3, where ? is the generation rate of kinetic energy of convection in the mantle estimated at 10^?11 m²/s³, is proposed. The analogy of plate formation with developed hydrodynamic turbulence and other processes involving an energy input into the system and its dissipation is considered. Simple experiments on random partitioning of a surface into polygons gave their cumulative distributions over areas resembling those observed for lithospheric plates. This has led to the conclusion that the plate distribution pattern is characteristic of the random partitioning of surfaces.     

Random Processes with Stationary Increments and Composite Spectra

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - A technique for deriving and interpreting fractal geophysical processes with power-law spectra of a different nature is described. Examples include the...     

Polar lows and tropical hurricanes: Their energy and sizes and a quantitative criterion for their generation

Similarity and dimension considerations applied to convection in a rotating fluid allows one to estimate the sizes and horizontal velocities of generated vortices. To do this, it is necessary to know the buoyancy flux in the fluid and the angular velocity of fluid rotation [1, 2]. The author’s preliminary efforts [3] have shown that the sizes, wind speeds, and total kinetic energy can thus be estimated correctly for tropical cyclones (TCs), as well as for polar lows (PLs) (which are often called explosive mesocyclones because they take just a few hours to develop). In this study, the sensible and latent heat fluxes for U = 33 m/s and the related buoyancy fluxes are estimated on the basis of climatology, bulk formulas, and the velocity scale of convection in a rotating fluid. In the tropics, at hurricane wind speeds U ≥ 33 m/s and climatological air humidity r = 80%, the total heat flux at the water surface temperature T _s ≥ 26°C becomes equal to or greater than 700 W/m². Due to the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, the latent heat flux to the atmosphere (the main part of the flux in the tropics) decreases substantially at lower values of T _s. Thus, an energy flux from the ocean to the atmosphere of 700 W/m² or greater should be regarded as the first necessary condition for TC genesis instead of the temperature T _s. Low static stability, which must be at least half its climatological value as estimated here, is another necessary condition [4]. In polar regions, total fluxes roughly twice those in the tropics are needed for the formation of explosive mesocyclones, PLs, which is explained by the much smaller role of latent heat, greater geostrophicity, and stronger static stability of the atmosphere there. Enthalpy fluxes and wind speeds are interrelated: the larger the flux is, the stronger the convection, the higher the concentration of angular momentum in an ascending convective air column, and the greater the azimuthal velocity in the vortex are, which in turn enhances the transfer of energy from the ocean. Considering the problem with the use of simple analytic relations makes it possible, for the first time, to find a numerical criterion for their generation. It is hoped that this material may be useful for educational purposes as well.     

Development of a Subcloud Layer over the Sea during a Cold Air Invasion

Evaporation and vertical moisture and heat transfer from the underlying surface are the basis of cloud formation. The situation when the coming relatively cold stably stratified air moves over a warm ocean is a typical problem in the development of a turbulent convective layer. The problem of cloud formation is also of scientific and practical interest. This paper considers the problems of the formation of a turbulent convective layer over a warmer ocean and the vertical distribution of relative humidity. The results of the theoretical model are compared with the data of observations of the development of the turbulent convective layer at low latitudes (in the Indian Ocean) and at higher latitudes (in autumn over Lake Michigan). Approximate equations describe well the dynamics of temperature and humidity of the layer as a function of the difference between the temperatures of the approaching and near-surface air layers. The theoretical results are compared with the data on measurements of the condensation heights obtained at the Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport. Some discrepancy between them is due to the unsteadiness measurement and the approximations adopted in the theoretical model.     

Cloud Formation over the Ocean upon Cold Air Intrusion

The problem of stationary vertical distribution of saturated moist air thermodynamic parameters that takes place, for example, in an eyewall cloud of a tropical cyclone is considered. Based on these distributions, the cloud-growth dynamics problem is also considered. The heat and moisture fluxes from the ocean surface are determined by the wind and temperature difference and subcloud layer condition and last after the beginning of cloud formation. They change the condition of both the cloud and the subcloud layer. The coexistence and interaction of the two different regions require additional conditions. We assume continuity of the temperature and humidity profiles at the lower cloud boundary. The problem of cloud formation over the warmer ocean with account for water-phase transformations is considered in the present study. The cloud boundaries (the upper and the lower) in the process are determined and the temperature and moisture profiles within the cloud are also investigated. The lower boundary dipping is determined while taking the subcloud moisture into account. An approximate analytical model of these processes is formulated, and the corresponding equations are solved numerically. Approximate equations govern the vertical cloud structure well.     

Variations of temperature and hydrologic regimes of the region of Ladoga Lake catchment basin in the 20th and 21st centuries according to data of modern climate models

In the region of the Ladoga Lake catchment basin, we perform data analysis on a set of different modern climate models with different Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios in the 20th and 21st centuries; this set includes global models such as ECHAM4/OPYC3 (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Germany), HadCM3 (Hadley Centre Coupled Model, England), and RCAO (Rossby Centre Regional Atmosphere-Ocean) models. Two variants of the boundary conditions for these climate models (Rossby Center of Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, SMHI) are used. We present the results of a diagnosis of the model-predicted near-surface temperature (T), precipitation (P), evaporation (E), and water budget (P-E) in the Ladoga Lake catchment based on their comparison with empirical data in twentieth century. We obtain scenario estimates of the variations of temperature and hydrologic regimes of Ladoga Lake catchment when IPCC IS92a, A2, and B2 scenarios are fulfilled, describing the prognostic growth of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosol to the atmosphere, and discuss the recommendations for their use.