scholarly journals Atmospheric Dynamics Triggered by an Oceanic SST Front in a Moist Quasigeostrophic Model

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 1617-1632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Deremble ◽  
Guillaume Lapeyre ◽  
Michael Ghil

Abstract To understand the atmospheric response to a midlatitude oceanic front, this paper uses a quasigeostrophic (QG) model with moist processes. A well-known, three-level QG model on the sphere has been modified to include such processes in an aquaplanet setting. Its response is analyzed in terms of the upper-level atmospheric jet for sea surface temperature (SST) fronts of different profiles and located at different latitudes. When the SST front is sufficiently strong, it tends to anchor the mean atmospheric jet, suggesting that the jet’s spatial location and pattern are mainly affected by the latitude of the SST front. Changes in the jet’s pattern are studied, focusing on surface sensible heat flux and on moisture effects through latent heat release. It is found that latent heat release due to moist processes is modified when the SST front is changed, and this is responsible for the meridional displacement of the jet. Moreover, both latent heat release and surface sensible heat flux contribute to the jet’s strengthening. These results highlight the role of SST fronts and moist processes in affecting the characteristics of the midlatitude jet stream and of its associated storm track, particularly their positions.

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Homar ◽  
C. Ramis ◽  
S. Alonso

Abstract. From 19 to 22 December 1979, a deep cyclone evolved over the Western Mediterranean. Gusty winds of more than 30 m/s, as well as a strong pressure decrease to about 990 hPa were recorded in Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). ECMWF analyses are used for a diagnosis and numerical study of the case. Sensitivity experiments using the HIRLAM model are performed to assess the role of the surface sensible heat flux, latent heat release and orography on the genesis and evolution of the cyclone. At synoptic scale, the situation is governed by the instability of an upper-level short wave. The cyclone developed within a notable baroclinic environment, which resulted from a cold advection from the northwest towards North Africa. The baroclinicity at first stages of the cyclogenesis is quantified by means of the Eady model. At latter stages, the evolution of the potential vorticity structures at high levels reveals a wide tropopause fold over the cyclone, as well as the presence of a strong anomaly associated with the low-level system. Sensitivity experiments reveal a notable cyclogenetic role of the latent heat release throughout the atmosphere in the deepening of the low, whereas no significant effect of the surface sensible heat flux is obtained for the simulation interval. On the other hand, an unusual cyclolytic role can be attributed to the northern ranges of the Mediterranean basin. Effectively, the low enlargement and deepening is constrained by a "wall effect", which is a consequence of the interaction of the cyclonic flow and those northern mountainous systems.Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (synoptic-scale meteorology, Mesoscale meteorology)


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3221-3233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Behrendt ◽  
Volker Wulfmeyer ◽  
Christoph Senff ◽  
Shravan Kumar Muppa ◽  
Florian Späth ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present the first measurement of the sensible heat flux (H) profile in the convective boundary layer (CBL) derived from the covariance of collocated vertical-pointing temperature rotational Raman lidar and Doppler wind lidar measurements. The uncertainties of the H measurements due to instrumental noise and limited sampling are also derived and discussed. Simultaneous measurements of the latent heat flux profile (L) and other turbulent variables were obtained with the combination of water-vapor differential absorption lidar (WVDIAL) and Doppler lidar. The case study uses a measurement example from the HOPE (HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment) campaign, which took place in western Germany in 2013 and presents a cloud-free well-developed quasi-stationary CBL. The mean boundary layer height zi was at 1230 m above ground level. The results show – as expected – positive values of H in the middle of the CBL. A maximum of (182±32) W m−2, with the second number for the noise uncertainty, is found at 0.5 zi. At about 0.7 zi, H changes sign to negative values above. The entrainment flux was (-62±27) W m−2. The mean sensible heat flux divergence in the observed part of the CBL above 0.3 zi was −0.28 W m−3, which corresponds to a warming of 0.83 K h−1. The L profile shows a slight positive mean flux divergence of 0.12 W m−3 and an entrainment flux of (214±36) W m−2. The combination of H and L profiles in combination with variance and other turbulent parameters is very valuable for the evaluation of large-eddy simulation (LES) results and the further improvement and validation of turbulence parameterization schemes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeyong Hu ◽  
Xiaoqiang Yan

<p>Based on multi-level AWS data during 2001 to 2015 and eddy covariance data during 2011 to 2014 at Nagqu Station of Plateau Climate and Environment, the turbulent fluxes were calculated by a surface energy balance combination (CM) and eddy covariance ( EC) method. A long-term heat fluxes and surface heat source were obtained with comparison and correction of EC and CM fluxes. The surface energy closure ratio is close to 1 in spring, summer and autumn. But it reaches to 1.34 in winter due to low net radiation observation value on snow surface. The sensible heat flux shows a ascend trend while latent heat flux shows a descend trend during 2002 to 2015. The surface heat source shows a descend trend. The analysis of the surface heat source indicates that it has a significant relationship with net radiation flux, surface temperature, soil moisture and wind speed. Particularly, the surface heat source has a significant response to net radiation flux throughout the year. There are obvious influences of surface temperature and soil moisture on the surface heat source in spring, autumn and winter. And the influence of wind speeds on surface heat source is strong only in spring. The annual variation of sensible heat flux and latent heat flux are obvious. Sensible heat flux reaches the maximum value of the year in April and the minimum value in July. however, latent heat flux shows the maximum value in July and the minimum value in January. </p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (258) ◽  
pp. 543-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Nicholson ◽  
Ivana Stiperski

AbstractWe present the first direct comparison of turbulence conditions measured simultaneously over exposed ice and a 0.08 m thick supraglacial debris cover on Suldenferner, a small glacier in the Italian Alps. Surface roughness, sensible heat fluxes (~20–50 W m−2), latent heat fluxes (~2–10 W m−2), topology and scale of turbulence are similar over both glacier surface types during katabatic and synoptically disturbed conditions. Exceptions are sunny days when buoyant convection becomes significant over debris-covered ice (sensible heat flux ~ −100 W m−2; latent heat flux ~ −30 W m−2) and prevailing katabatic conditions are rapidly broken down even over this thin debris cover. The similarity in turbulent properties implies that both surface types can be treated the same in terms of boundary layer similarity theory. The differences in turbulence between the two surface types on this glacier are dominated by the radiative and thermal contrasts, thus during sunny days debris cover alters both the local surface turbulent energy fluxes and the glacier component of valley circulation. These variations under different flow conditions should be accounted for when distributing temperature fields for modeling applications over partially debris-covered glaciers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Jorge de Oliveira Ponte de Souza ◽  
Juliana Chagas Rodrigues ◽  
Adriano Marlisom Leão de Sousa ◽  
Everaldo Barreiros de Souza

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the diurnal energy balance during the reproductive stage of two growing seasons of a mango orchard in the northeast of Pará, Brazil. Therefore, a micrometeorological tower was installed and instrumented, in the center of the experimental area, to monitor meteorological variables, besides the phenological evaluation of the mango orchard, which was carried out during growing seasons of 2010-2011 (October 2010 to January 2011) and of 2011-2012 (September 2011 to January 2012). The energy balance was obtained by the bowen ration technique, and the available energy partitioned into heat flux to the ground, sensible heat and latent heat. The amount of rainfall was crucial to the partition of the net radiation in the energy balance components. It provided the variation in the consumption of available energy between 69% and 78% as latent heat flux, and between 23% and 32% as sensible heat flux. The heat flux to the ground was small, representing less than 1% of the net radiation, showing that the mango orchard exhibits good soil cover preventing large variations in soil heating.


2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (Special Issue 2) ◽  
pp. S49-S58 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brom ◽  
J. Procházka ◽  
A. Rejšková

The dissipation of solar energy and consequently the formation of the hydrological cycle are largely dependent on the structural and optical characteristics of the land surface. In our study, we selected seven units with different types of vegetation in the Mlýnský and Horský catchments (South-Eastern part of the Šumava Mountains, Czech Republic) for the assessment of the differences in their functioning expressed through the surface temperature, humidity, and energy dissipation. For our analyses, we used Landsat 5 TM satellite data from June 25<SUP>th</SUP>, 2008. The results showed that the microclimatic characteristics and energy fluxes varied in different units according to their vegetation characteristics. A cluster analysis of the mean values was used to divide the vegetation units into groups according to their functional characteristics. The mown meadows were characterised by the highest surface temperature and sensible heat flux and the lowest humidity and latent heat flux. On the contrary, the lowest surface temperature and sensible heat flux and the highest humidity and latent heat flux were found in the forest. Our results showed that the climatic and energetic features of the land surface are related to the type of vegetation. We state that the spatial distribution of different vegetation units and the amount of biomass are crucial variables influencing the functioning of the landscape.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Slättberg ◽  
Deliang Chen

&lt;p&gt;The Planetary Boundary Layer Height (PBLH) is important for the exchange of energy, water, and momentum between the surface and the free atmosphere, making it a significant factor in studies of surface climate and atmospheric circulation. Over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) - a vast elevated heat source exerting significant influence on the Asian monsoon systems - the climate is changing rapidly. Among the many climate variables expected to change as global temperatures rise is the PBLH which, in addition to temperature profile, mechanical turbulence production, vertical velocity, and horizontal advection, is highly dependent on the surface sensible heat&amp;#160; fluxes. Our understanding of PBLH over the TP is very limited, although scattered estimates has indicated that it sometimes reach unusual heights &amp;#8211; up to the vicinity of the tropopause. Long-term assessment of PBLH covering the whole TP is hampered by the fact that observations are scarce in time and space. This study takes advantage of a recently available high-resolution reanalysis (ERA5) for 1979-2018 to create a multi-decadal climatology of PBLH over the TP, and assess the seasonality, interannual variation and long-term trend of PBLH in relation to other climate variables such as tropopause height and surface sensible heat flux as well as large-scale atmospheric circulation.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The results show that the most prominent feature of the PBLH trend is a large region of decline in the central TP during the monsoon season. Notably, this is a region where the temperature increase is smaller than in the rest of the region, and the precipitation shows a statistically significant increasing trend. Increased cloudiness may therefore have decreased the surface heating and thus the sensible heat flux and PBLH. Assessing the spatially averaged trends for the first and second halves of the period separately reveals that the monsoon season PBLH does in fact increase during the first half of the period. In the dry season in contrast, the spatially averaged PBLH decreases by almost 30 meter per decade during the first half of the period and increases slightly in the second. Although none of the spatially averaged PBLH trends are statistically significant at the 95% level, it can be noted that the shift from decreasing to increasing PBLH for the dry season is in accordance with a recent study of spring sensible heat flux over the TP. The aforementioned study found that although the sensible heat flux has been declining because of wind speed decreases, it has recently started to recover in response to an increased difference between the ground surface temperature and the air temperature. Given that the PBLH is highly dependent on the surface sensible heat flux, this decline and recovery may very well have produced the PBLH trends for the dry season. In the monsoon season, with cloudy conditions and less solar radiation reaching the ground, other factors are likely of greater importance for the PBLH.&lt;/p&gt;


2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (14) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison L. Steiner ◽  
Dori Mermelstein ◽  
Susan J. Cheng ◽  
Tracy E. Twine ◽  
Andrew Oliphant

Abstract Atmospheric aerosols scatter and potentially absorb incoming solar radiation, thereby reducing the total amount of radiation reaching the surface and increasing the fraction that is diffuse. The partitioning of incoming energy at the surface into sensible heat flux and latent heat flux is postulated to change with increasing aerosol concentrations, as an increase in diffuse light can reach greater portions of vegetated canopies. This can increase photosynthesis and transpiration rates in the lower canopy and potentially decrease the ratio of sensible to latent heat for the entire canopy. Here, half-hourly and hourly surface fluxes from six Flux Network (FLUXNET) sites in the coterminous United States are evaluated over the past decade (2000–08) in conjunction with satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) to determine if atmospheric aerosols systematically influence sensible and latent heat fluxes. Satellite-derived AOD is used to classify days as high or low AOD and establish the relationship between aerosol concentrations and the surface energy fluxes. High AOD reduces midday net radiation by 6%–65% coupled with a 9%–30% decrease in sensible and latent heat fluxes, although not all sites exhibit statistically significant changes. The partitioning between sensible and latent heat varies between ecosystems, with two sites showing a greater decrease in latent heat than sensible heat (Duke Forest and Walker Branch), two sites showing equivalent reductions (Harvard Forest and Bondville), and one site showing a greater decrease in sensible heat than latent heat (Morgan–Monroe). These results suggest that aerosols trigger an ecosystem-dependent response to surface flux partitioning, yet the environmental drivers for this response require further exploration.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document