A mechanism of Alpine lee cyclogenesis as revealed by a quasigeostrophic variational filter

Summary Mechanisms associated with Alpine lee cyclogenesis during the early phase of their generation are investigated using a variational quasigeostrophic filter technique. It was possible to extract the quasigeostrophic signal from the available analyzed real data set.The results presented here are for the 11–12 March 1982, an example of so-called orographically induced lee cyclogenesis. Non-quasigeostrophic fields, calculated as a difference between observations and the quasigeostrophic fields, show significant magnitudes indicating the possible importance of non-quasigeostrophic processes. A dipole structure in the residual geopotential field was observed, similar to the results of numerical model experiments. Also, a strong upper-level non-quasigeostrophic divergence was found in the Alpine region 24 hours prior to lee cyclogenesis, lasting for 6–12 hours. On the other hand, quasigeostrophic results indicate only a local effect of mountain slopes, suggesting possibly a dominant role of the low-level blocking. A hypothetical scenario of Alpine lee cyclogenesis is proposed, based on results obtained here.With 14 Figures     

Vibration of beams on partial elastic foundations

The natural response of a beam or pile having only a portion of its span supported by an elastic foundation is investigated for the two cases when both ends are either simply supported or free. The derivation of the shape functions and the computed natural frequencies are compared with the extreme cases where the element is either completely supported by, or fully detached from, the elastic foundation.     

Vibration of beams on non-homogeneous elastic foundations

The natural response of a beam or pile supported by an elastic foundation is investigated for the case when the coefficient of subgrade reaction varies linearly along the span of the member.     

Numerical analysis of the influence of jets,fronts, and mountains on alpine lee cyclogenesis: More cases from the ALPEX SOP

Summary In a recently published work it was shown that Alpine cyclone development depends on a short wave trough upstream of the Alps, the presence of an upper-level jet streak in this trough, and a low-level front interacting with the mountain barrier. Specifically, by modifying the strength of the upper baroclinic zone (potential vorticity) or by decreasing the strength of the low-level baroclinic zone impinging on the Alps in an initial field, the intensity of the resulting numerically predicted cyclogenesis could be modulated. The major finding of the work was that the ALPEX cyclones reacted differently to upper-level and lower-level modification, providing a basis for broadly classifying storms: that is, dependence on upper-level processes and on low-level processes.The present work extends this study by considering additional cyclones that occurred during the ALPEX Special Observing Period (SOP), and describes the influence of upper-level and lower-level processes on each. An index (I) discussed in the previous paper is examined in terms of its relative value from case to case, and in terms of its value in a time-dependent sense during the lifetime of the storm. The results show that the most powerful lee cyclones depended more on the strength of the upper-level jet or potential vorticity than on the strength of the low-level front of baroclinic zone. In most cases the time evolution ofI showed the influence of the upper-level jet to be important during the early phase of development. The front is increasingly important in midlife as intensification takes place, and the jet is increasingly important during late life. These conclusions were reached during the earlier study but are supported by the additional SOP cyclone cases.Cyclone steering flow and the impinging of the storm on the Alps had a great impact on defining its character: storms with NW-N trajectories were heavily dependent on low level frontal strength and WSW-WNW trajectories were dominated by effects of the upper level jet.With 16 Figures     

Water Resources Management Issues in the Danube River Basin District—Examples from Serbia

Water Resources - This paper aims to present water resources management problems in Serbia and recommend possible solutions. Key issues involve water quality and water quantity. Water quality is...     

Uncertainty analysis using the WRF maximum likelihood ensemble filter system and comparison with dropwindsonde observations in Typhoon Sinlaku (2008)

In this study, the maximum likelihood ensemble filter (MLEF) is applied to a tropical cyclone case to identify the uncertainty areas in the context of targeting observations, using the WRF model. Typhoon Sinlaku (2008), from which dropwindsonde data are collected through THORPEX Pacific Asian Regional Campaign (TPARC), is selected for the case study. For the uncertainty analysis, a measurement called the deep layer mean (DLM) wind variance is employed. With assimilation of conventional rawinsonde data, the MLEF-WRF system demonstrated stable data assimilation performance over multiple data assimilation cycles and produced high uncertainties mostly in data-void areas, for the given tropical cyclone case. Dropwindsonde deployment through T-PARC turned out to occur inside or near the weak uncertainty areas that are identified through the MLEF-WRF system. The uncertainty analysis using the MLEF method can provide a guide for identifying more effective targeting observation areas.