What Is the Main Cause of Diurnal Variation and Nocturnal Peak of Summer Precipitation in Sichuan Basin, China? The Key Role of Boundary Layer Low‐Level Jet Inertial Oscillations

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (5) ◽  
pp. 2643-2664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuehan Zhang ◽  
Ming Xue ◽  
Kefeng Zhu ◽  
Bowen Zhou
2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 1807-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Pu ◽  
Robert E. Dickinson

Abstract Diurnal variations of the Great Plains low-level jet (GPLLJ) and vertical motions have been related to the development of summer precipitation individually, but their underlying connection and consequences for the nocturnal and afternoon precipitation peaks are less discussed. This paper examines how together they help explain the spatial pattern of the frequency of summer convective precipitation over the Great Plains. A one-layer linearized boundary layer model is used to reproduce the diurnal cycle of the GPLLJ. Its periodic rising and sinking motions compare favorably with those of the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) climatology. Its development of rising motion is also consistent with the enhanced occurrence of nocturnal convective precipitation over the central and eastern Great Plains (90°–100°W) and afternoon maximum over the western Great Plains (100°–105°W). The diurnal phasing of the vertical motions can be captured by the model only if the diurnal oscillation of the jet is forced by both near surface geopotential gradients and friction with observed diurnal variability. The diurnal variation of the vertical velocity (or boundary layer convergence and divergence) is explained by local vorticity balance; that is, following the diurnal oscillation of the jet, the zonal gradient of the meridional wind oscillates and, thus, relative vorticity and its tendency. The slowing down of the jet after midnight decreases the anticyclonic (cyclonic) vorticity and consequently gives a positive (negative) vorticity tendency to the east (west) of the jet core; anomalous rising (sinking) motions occur to balance these positive (negative) vorticity tendencies. The pattern reverses when the jet is relatively weak.


2005 ◽  
Vol 135 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Mathieu ◽  
I.B. Strachan ◽  
M.Y. Leclerc ◽  
A. Karipot ◽  
E. Pattey

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1109-1120 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Jahn ◽  
William A. Gallus

Abstract The Great Plains low-level jet (LLJ) is influential in the initiation and evolution of nocturnal convection through the northward advection of heat and moisture, as well as convergence in the region of the LLJ nose. However, accurate numerical model forecasts of LLJs remain a challenge, related to the performance of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme in the stable boundary layer. Evaluated here using a series of LLJ cases from the Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN) program are modifications to a commonly used local PBL scheme, Mellor–Yamada–Nakanishi–Niino (MYNN), available in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. WRF forecast mean absolute error (MAE) and bias are calculated relative to PECAN rawinsonde observations. The first MYNN modification invokes a new set of constants for the scheme closure equations that, in the vicinity of the LLJ, decreases forecast MAEs of wind speed, potential temperature, and specific humidity more than 19%. For comparison, the Yonsei University (YSU) scheme results in wind speed MAEs 22% lower but specific humidity MAEs 17% greater than in the original MYNN scheme. The second MYNN modification, which incorporates the effects of potential kinetic energy and uses a nonzero mixing length in stable conditions as dependent on bulk shear, reduces wind speed MAEs 66% for levels below the LLJ, but increases MAEs at higher levels. Finally, Rapid Refresh analyses, which are often used for forecast verification, are evaluated here and found to exhibit a relatively large average wind speed bias of 3 m s−1 in the region below the LLJ, but with relatively small potential temperature and specific humidity biases.


Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fangli Zhang ◽  
Guoping Li ◽  
Jun Yue

A sudden rainstorm that occurred in the northeast Sichuan Basin of China in early May 2017 was associated with a southwest low-level jet (SWLJ) and a mountainous low-level jet (MLLJ). This study investigates the impact of the double low-level jets (LLJs) on rainfall diurnal variation by using the data from ERA5 reanalysis, and explores the characteristics of water vapor transport, including the main paths and sources of moisture, by using the HYSPLIT-driven data of the ERA—interim, GDAS (Global Data Assimilation System), and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. The analysis shows that the sudden rainstorm in the mountain terrain was located at the left side of the large-scale SWLJ at 700 hPa, and at the exit region of the meso-scale MLLJ at 850 hPa. The double LLJs provide favorable moisture conditions, and the enhancement (weakening) of the LLJs is ahead of the start (end) of the rainstorm. The capacity of the LLJ at 850 hPa with respect to moisture convergence is superior to that at 700 hPa, especially when the MLLJ and the southerly LLJ at 850 hPa appear at the same time. The HYSPLIT backward trajectory model based on Lagrangian methods has favorable applicability in the event of sudden rainstorms in mountainous terrain, and there is no special path of moisture transport in this precipitation event. The main moisture sources of this process are the East China Sea–South China Sea, the Arabian Sea–Indian Peninsula, the Bay of Bengal, and the Middle East, accounting for 38%, 34%, 17% and 11% of the total moisture transport, respectively. Among them, the moisture transport in the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea–East China Sea is mainly located in the lower troposphere, which is below 900 hPa, while the moisture transport in the Arabian Sea–Indian Peninsula and the Middle East is mainly in the middle and upper layers of the troposphere. The moisture changes of the transport trajectories are affected by the topography, especially the high mountains around the Sichuan Basin.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 2125-2137 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. R. Kalapureddy ◽  
D. N. Rao ◽  
A. R. Jain ◽  
Y. Ohno

Abstract. Three-year high-resolution wind observations of the wind profiler have been utilized to characterize the diurnal and seasonal features of the monsoon Low-Level Jet (LLJ) over a tropical station, Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E), with a focus on the diurnal variability of low-level winds. The Boreal summer monsoon winds show a conspicuously strong westerly LLJ with average wind speed exceeding 20 m s−1. The L-band wind profiler measurements have shown an advantage of better height and time resolutions over the conventional radiosonde method for diurnal wind measurements. An interesting diurnal oscillation of LLJ core has been observed. It is varying in the height range of 1.8±0.6 km with the maximum and minimum intensity noticed during the early morning and afternoon hours, respectively. The jet core (wind maxima) height is observed to coincide with the inversion height. Strong wind shears are normally located beneath the LLJ core. The sole wind profiler observations are capable of identifying the monsoon phases, such as onset, break and active spells, etc. The mutual influence between the LLJ and the boundary layer has been discussed. One notices that the observed LLJ diurnal structures depend on the local convective activity, wind shears and turbulence activity associated with boundary layer winds. The day-to-day change in the LLJ structure depends on the latitudinal position of the LLJ core.


2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1770-1784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas O. ReVelle ◽  
E. Douglas Nilsson

Abstract The application of a simple analytic boundary layer model developed by Thorpe and Guymer did not produce good agreement with observational data for oceanic low-level jet observations even though this model has worked well for the predictions of low-level jets over continental surfaces. This failure to properly predict the boundary layer wind maxima was very puzzling because more detailed numerical boundary layer models have properly predicted these low-level oceanic wind maxima. To understand the reasons for its failure to explain the ocean observations, the authors modified the frictional terms in the horizontal linear momentum equations of Thorpe and Guymer, using a standard eddy viscosity closure technique instead of the Rayleigh friction parameterization originally used. This improvement in the modeling of the dissipation terms, which has resulted in the use of an enhanced Rayleigh friction parameterization in the horizontal momentum equations, modified the boundary layer winds such that the continental predictions remained nearly identical to those predicted previously using the Thorpe and Guymer model while the oceanic predictions have now become more representative of the measured wind speed from recent Arctic expeditions.


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