scholarly journals Winter Nocturnal Air Temperature Distribution for a Mesoscale Plain of a Snow-Covered Region: Field Meteorological Observations and Numerical Simulations

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 519-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomotsugu Yazaki ◽  
Hirokazu Fukushima ◽  
Tomoyoshi Hirota ◽  
Yukiyoshi Iwata ◽  
Atsushi Wajima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Temperature Distribution ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Daily Minimum Temperature ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Daily Minimum ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Winter Air Temperature ◽  
Minimum Air Temperature

AbstractWinter air temperatures strongly affect crop overwintering and cold resource usage. To clarify how winter air temperature distributions are formed in a mesoscale plain, field observations and simulations were conducted for the Tokachi region in Japan. Results elucidating the winter climate within the plain revealed that the winter mean air temperature at each site was correlated closely with the mean daily minimum air temperature. The daily minimum air temperature was not correlated with altitude, suggesting that local variation of the daily minimum temperature influences the temperature distribution. Observations at different distances from the upwind mountains revealed that nocturnal air temperatures were higher for stronger winds closer to the mountain foot. Low temperatures associated with wind speed suggest that radiative cooling strongly affects the temperature distribution. Wind and temperature conditions in the boundary layer influence the degree of drop in nocturnal air temperature and its distribution. The wind speed and direction, respectively, affect the extent and direction of the high-temperature zone from the northwest mountain foot. Simulations with a spatial resolution of 2 km reproduced the observed temperatures, but the error exceeded 5°C at sites having complex terrain under moderate or strong wind conditions. A higher-resolution model of 0.5 km showed that simulated temperatures approach the observed temperatures in association with a local wind system of down-valley drainage flow. In conclusion, the synoptic background, wind strength and direction over the plain, and microscale valleys affect boundary layer mixing and, thereby, determine the winter air temperature distribution.

scholarly journals Modeling hourly air temperature based on internationally agreed times and the daily minimum temperature

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 807-811
Author(s):  
Sidinei Z. Radons ◽  
Arno B. Heldwein ◽  
Luís H. Loose ◽  
Mateus P. Bortoluzzi ◽  
Silvane I. Brand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Variation ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Daily Minimum Temperature ◽  
Mean Deviation ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Climatic Data ◽  
Daily Minimum ◽  
Model Adjustment ◽  
Minimum Air Temperature

ABSTRACT There are several fields that require knowledge of air temperature variation throughout the day, such as disease prediction or calculation of chill-hours. However, automatic meteorological stations are not always located in the vicinity to accurately monitor this variable. In this sense, models that describe the daily temporal variation of air temperature can be used to meet this demand, and transform the climatic data series of conventional meteorological stations into an estimated hourly series. The aim of this study was to adjust and validate models for the hourly air temperature variation through data obtained at internationally agreed times (0, 12 and 18 h Universal Time Coordinated: UTC) and the daily minimum air temperature. The hourly database of the automatic station was used for model adjustment and validation. Functions were adjusted based on values measured at internationally agreed times and the daily minimum air temperature for certain daily variation patterns. The air temperature estimation was performed on an hourly basis using sinusoidal and linear models. The model that presented the lowest root mean square error (RMSE) was used for the estimation. The accuracy of the air temperature estimates varied according to the time, presenting RMSE from 0.7 to 1.6 °C, with maximum mean deviation of 0.4 °C. The results of this study showcase the necessity of knowledge of the daily air temperature variation, as well as a series of data from conventional meteorological stations, which can be estimated using hourly models.

A Study of the Urban Boundary Layer Using Different Urban Parameterizations and High-Resolution Urban Canopy Parameters with WRF

2011 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 1107-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Salamanca ◽  
Alberto Martilli ◽  
Mukul Tewari ◽  
Fei Chen
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Urban Canopy ◽  
Urban Boundary Layer ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Urban Canopy Parameterizations

AbstractIn the last two decades, mesoscale models (MMs) with urban canopy parameterizations have been widely used to study urban boundary layer processes. Different studies show that such parameterizations are sensitive to the urban canopy parameters (UCPs) that define the urban morphology. At the same time, high-resolution UCP databases are becoming available for several cities. Studies are then needed to determine, for a specific application of an MM, the optimum degree of complexity of the urban canopy parameterizations and the resolution and details necessary in the UCP datasets. In this work, and in an attempt to answer the previous issues, four urban canopy schemes, with different degrees of complexity, have been used with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate the planetary boundary layer over the city of Houston, Texas, for two days in August 2000. For the UCP two approaches have been considered: one based on three urban classes derived from the National Land Cover Data of the U.S. Geological Survey and one based on the highly detailed National Urban Database and Access Portal Tool (NUDAPT) dataset with a spatial resolution of 1 km2. Two-meter air temperature and surface wind speed have been used in the evaluation. The statistical analysis shows a tendency to overestimate the air temperatures by the simple bulk scheme and underestimate the air temperatures by the more detailed urban canopy parameterizations. Similarly, the bulk and single-layer schemes tend to overestimate the wind speed while the multilayer schemes underestimate it. The three-dimensional analysis of the meteorological fields revealed a possible impact (to be verified against measurements) of both the urban schemes and the UCP on cloud prediction. Moreover, the impact of air conditioning systems on the air temperature and their energy consumption has been evaluated with the most developed urban scheme for the two simulated days. During the night, this anthropogenic heat was responsible for an increase in the air temperature of up to 2°C in the densest urban areas, and the estimated energy consumption was of the same magnitude as energy consumption obtained with different methods when the most detailed UCP database was used. On the basis of the results for the present case study, one can conclude that if the purpose of the simulation requires only an estimate of the 2-m temperature a simple bulk scheme is sufficient but if the purpose of the simulation is an evaluation of an urban heat island mitigation strategy or the evaluation of the energy consumption due to air conditioning at city scale, it is necessary to use a complex urban canopy scheme and a detailed UCP.

scholarly journals Effects of Large Eddies on the Structure of the Marine Boundary Layer under Strong Wind Conditions

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (24) ◽  
pp. 3049-3064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Ginis ◽  
Alexander P. Khain ◽  
Elena Morozovsky
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Latent Heat Release ◽  
Air Humidity ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Large Eddies

Abstract A model of the atmospheric boundary layer (BL) is presented that explicitly calculates a two-way interaction of the background flow and convective motions. The model is utilized for investigation of the formation of large eddies (roll vortices) and their effects on the structure of the marine boundary layer under conditions resembling those of tropical cyclones. It is shown that two main factors controlling the formation of large eddies are the magnitude of the background wind speed and air humidity, determining the cloud formation and latent heat release. When the wind speed is high enough, a strong vertical wind shear develops in the lower part of the BL, which triggers turbulent mixing and the formation of a mixed layer. As a result, the vertical profiles of velocity, potential temperature, and mixing ratio in the background flow are modified to allow for the development of large eddies via dynamic instability. Latent heat release in clouds was found to be the major energy source of large eddies. The cloud formation depends on the magnitude of air humidity. The most important manifestation of the effects of large eddies is a significant increase of the near-surface wind speed and evaporation from the sea surface. For strong wind conditions, the increase of the near-surface speed can exceed 10 m s−1 and evaporation from the sea surface can double. These results demonstrate an important role large eddies play in the formation of BL structure in high wind speeds. Inclusion of these effects in the BL parameterizations of tropical cyclone models may potentially lead to substantial improvements in the prediction of storm intensity.

scholarly journals Surface turbulent fluxes over pack ice inferred from TOVS observations

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 393-399
Author(s):  
R.W. Lindsay ◽  
J. A. Francis ◽  
P. O. G. Persson ◽  
D. A. Roterock ◽  
A.J. Schweiger
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Turbulent Fluxes ◽  
Layer Model ◽  
Radiative Fluxes ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Boundary Layer Model ◽  
Meteorological Observations

A one-dimensional, atmospheric boundary-layer model is coupled to a thermodynamic ice model to estimate the surface turbulent fluxes over thick sea ice. The principal forcing parameters in this time-dependent model are the air temperature, humidity, and wind speed at a specified level (either at 2 m or at 850 mb) and the down-welling surface radiative fluxes, The free parameters are the air temperature, humidity, and wind-speed profiles below the specified level, the surface skin temperature and ice-temperature profile, and the surface turbulent fluxes. The goal is to determine how well we can estimate the turbulent surface heat and momentum fluxes using forcing parameters from atmospheric temperatures and radiative fluxes retrieved Irom the TlROS-N Operational Vertical Sounder TOVS) data.Meteorological observations from the Lead Experiment (LeadEx, April 1992) ice camp are used to validate turbulent fluxes computed with the surface observations, and the results are used to compare with estimates based on radiosonde observations or with estimates based on TOVS data. We and that the TOVS-based estimates of the stress are significantly more accurate than those found with a constant geostrophic drag coefficient, with a rool mean square error about half as large. This improvement is due to stratification effects included in the boundary-layer model. The errors in the sensible heat flux estimates, however, are large compared Io the small mean values observed during the field experiment.

scholarly journals The Large-eddy Observatory Voitsumra Experiment 2019 (LOVE19) with high-resolution, spatially-distributed observations of air temperature, wind speed, and wind direction from fiber-optic distributed sensing, towers, and ground-based remote sensing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Lapo ◽  
Anita Freundorfer ◽  
Antonia Fritz ◽  
Johann Schneider ◽  
Johannes Olesch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Wind Direction ◽  
Fiber Optic ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Distributed Sensing ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Large Eddy

Abstract. The weak-wind Stable Boundary Layer (wwSBL) is poorly described by theory and breaks basic assumptions necessary for observations of turbulence. Understanding the wwSBL requires distributed observations capable of separating between submeso and turbulent scales. To this end, we present the Large Eddy Observatory, Voitsumra Experiment 2019 (LOVE19) which featured 1350 m of fiber optic distributed sensing (FODS) of air temperature and wind speed, as well as an experimental wind direction method, at scales as fine as 1 s and 0.127 m in addition to a suite of point observations of turbulence and ground-based remote sensing. Additionally, flights with a fiber optic cable attached to a tethered balloon provide an unprecedented detailed view of the boundary layer structure with a resolution of 0.254 m and 10 s between 1–200 m height. Two examples are provided demonstrating the unique capabilities of the LOVE19 data for examining boundary layer processes: 1) FODS observations between 1m and ~200 m height during a period of gravity waves propagating across the entire boundary layer and 2) tracking a near-surface, transient submeso structure that causes an intermittent burst of turbulence. All data can be accessed at Zenodo through the DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4312976 (Lapo et al., 2020a).

scholarly journals Controlled meteorological (CMET) balloon profiling of the Arctic atmospheric boundary layer around Spitsbergen compared to a mesoscale model

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (19) ◽  
pp. 27539-27573 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Roberts ◽  
M. Dütsch ◽  
L. R. Hole ◽  
P. B. Voss
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Mesoscale Model ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Free Atmosphere ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Free Region

Abstract. Observations from CMET (Controlled Meteorological) balloons are analyzed in combination with mesoscale model simulations to provide insights into tropospheric meteorological conditions (temperature, humidity, wind-speed) around Svalbard, European High Arctic. Five Controlled Meteorological (CMET) balloons were launched from Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard over 5–12 May 2011, and measured vertical atmospheric profiles above Spitsbergen Island and over coastal areas to both the east and west. One notable CMET flight achieved a suite of 18 continuous soundings that probed the Arctic marine boundary layer over a period of more than 10 h. The CMET profiles are compared to simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model using nested grids and three different boundary layer schemes. Variability between the three model schemes was typically smaller than the discrepancies between the model runs and the observations. Over Spitsbergen, the CMET flights identified temperature inversions and low-level jets (LLJ) that were not captured by the model. Nevertheless, the model largely reproduced time-series obtained from the Ny-Ålesund meteorological station, with exception of surface winds during the LLJ. Over sea-ice east of Svalbard the model underestimated potential temperature and overestimated wind-speed compared to the CMET observations. This is most likely due to the full sea-ice coverage assumed by the model, and consequent underestimation of ocean–atmosphere exchange in the presence of leads or fractional coverage. The suite of continuous CMET soundings over a sea-ice free region to the northwest of Svalbard are analysed spatially and temporally, and compared to the model. The observed along-flight daytime increase in relative humidity is interpreted in terms of the diurnal cycle, and in the context of marine and terrestrial air-mass influences. Analysis of the balloon trajectory during the CMET soundings identifies strong wind-shear, with a low-level channeled flow. The study highlights the challenges of modelling the Arctic atmosphere, especially in coastal zones with varying topography, sea-ice and surface conditions. In this context, CMET balloons provide a valuable technology for profiling the free atmosphere and boundary layer in remote regions where few other observations are available for model validation.

Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt

1987 ◽  
Vol 33 (113) ◽  
pp. 24-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kuhn
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Short Wave ◽  
Wave Radiation ◽  
Free Atmosphere ◽  
Alpine Glacier ◽  
Long Wave ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Long Wave Radiation

AbstractThe energy budget of a snow or ice surface is determined by atmospheric variables like solar and atmospheric long-wave radiation, air temperature, and humidity; the transfer of energy from the free atmosphere to the surface depends on the stability of the atmospheric boundary layer, where vertical profiles of wind speed and temperature determine stability, and on surface conditions like surface temperature (and thus surface humidity), roughness, and albedo.This paper investigates the conditions exactly at the onset or the end of melting using air temperature, humidity, and as the radiation term the sum of global and reflected short-wave plus downward long-wave radiation. For the turbulent exchange in the boundary layer, examples are computed with a transfer coefficient of 18.5 W m−2K−1which corresponds to the average over the ablation period on an Alpine glacier. Ways to estimate the transfer coefficient for various degrees of stability are indicated in the Appendix.It appears from such calculations that snow may melt at air temperatures as low as –10°C and may stay frozen at +10°C.

Impact of wind speeds on turbulent transport of carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes at a tropical location in Ile - Ife, southwest Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodora Bello ◽  
Adewale Ajao ◽  
Oluwagbemiga Jegede
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Stable Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Transport ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Stable Boundary ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Low Wind Speed ◽  
Tropical Area

<p>The study investigates impact of wind speeds on the turbulent transport of CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes for a land-surface atmosphere interface in a low-wind tropical area between May 28<sup>th</sup> and June 14<sup>th</sup>, 2010; and May 24<sup>th</sup> and June 15<sup>th</sup>, 2015. Eddy covariance technique was used to acquire turbulent mass fluxes of CO<sub>2</sub> and wind speed at the study site located inside the main campus of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife, Nigeria. The results showed high levels of CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes at nighttime attributed to stable boundary layer conditions and low wind speed. Large transport and distribution of CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes were observed in the early mornings due to strong wind speeds recorded at the study location. In addition, negative CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes were observed during the daytime attributed to prominent convective and photosynthetic activities. The study concludes there was an inverse relationship between turbulent transport of CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes and wind speed for daytime period while nighttime CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes showed no significant correlation.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: CO<sub>2 </sub>fluxes, Wind speed, Turbulent transport, Low-wind tropical area, Stable boundary layer</p>

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