scholarly journals A Revised Conceptual Model of the Tropical Marine Boundary Layer. Part III: Bragg Scattering Layer Statistical Properties

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 3047-3062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Davison ◽  
Robert M. Rauber ◽  
Larry Di Girolamo ◽  
Margaret A. LeMone
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Transition Layer ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Bragg Scattering ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Radar Satellite ◽  
Cloud Tops

Abstract This paper examines the structure and variability of the moisture field in the tropical marine boundary layer (TMBL) as defined by Bragg scattering layers (BSLs) observed with S-band radar. Typically, four to five BSLs were present in the TMBL, including the transition layer at the top of the surface-based mixed layer. The transition-layer depth (~350 m) exhibited a weak diurnal cycle because of changes in the mixed-layer depth. BSLs and the “clear” layers between them each had a median thickness of about 350 m and a lifetime over the radar of 8.4 h, with about 25% having lifetimes longer than 20 h. More (fewer) BSLs were present when surface winds had a more southerly (northerly) component. Both BSLs and clear layers increased in depth with increasing rain rates, with the rainiest days producing layers that were about 100 m thicker than those on the driest days. The analyses imply that the relative humidity (RH) field in the TMBL exhibits layering on scales observable by radar. Satellite and wind profiler measurements show that the layered RH structure is related, at least in part, to detraining cloudy air. Based on analyses in this series of papers, a revised conceptual model of the TMBL is presented that emphasizes moisture variability and incorporates multiple moist and dry layers and a higher TMBL top. The model is supported by comparing BSL tops with satellite-derived cloud tops. This comparison suggests that the layered RH structure is related, in part, to cloud detrainment at preferred altitudes within the TMBL. The potential ramifications of this change in TMBL conceptualization on modeling of the TMBL are discussed.

scholarly journals Observations of the Transition Layer

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 780-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Shaun Johnston ◽  
Daniel L. Rudnick
Keyword(s):  
Layer Thickness ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Potential Vorticity ◽  
Transition Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Vertical Displacements

Abstract The transition layer is the poorly understood interface between the stratified, weakly turbulent interior and the strongly turbulent surface mixed layer. The transition layer displays elevated thermohaline variance compared to the interior and maxima in current shear, vertical stratification, and potential vorticity. A database of 91 916 km or 25 426 vertical profiles of temperature and salinity from SeaSoar, a towed vehicle, is used to define the transition layer thickness. Acoustic Doppler current measurements are also used, when available. Statistics of the transition layer thickness are compared for 232 straight SeaSoar sections, which range in length from 65 to 1129 km with typical horizontal resolution of ∼4 km and vertical resolution of 8 m. Transition layer thicknesses are calculated in three groups from 1) vertical displacements of the mixed layer base and of interior isopycnals into the mixed layer; 2) the depths below the mixed layer depth of peaks in shear, stratification, and potential vorticity and their widths; and 3) the depths below or above the mixed layer depth of extrema in thermohaline variance, density ratio, and isopycnal slope. From each SeaSoar section, the authors compile either a single value or a median value for each of the above measures. Each definition yields a median transition layer thickness from 8 to 24 m below the mixed layer depth. The only exception is the median depth of the maximum isopycnal slope, which is 37 m above the mixed layer base, but its mode is 15–25 m above the mixed layer base. Although the depths of the stratification, shear, and potential vorticity peaks below the mixed layer are not correlated with the mixed layer depth, the widths of the shear and potential vorticity peaks are. Transition layer thicknesses from displacements and the full width at half maximum of the shear and potential vorticity peak give transition layer thicknesses from 0.11× to 0.22× the mean depth of the mixed layer. From individual profiles, the depth of the shear peak below the stratification peak has a median value of 6 m, which shows that momentum fluxes penetrate farther than buoyancy fluxes. A typical horizontal scale of 5–10 km for the transition layer comes from the product of the isopycnal slope and a transition layer thickness suggesting the importance of submesoscale processes in forming the transition layer. Two possible parameterizations for transition layer thickness are 1) a constant of 11–24 m below the mixed layer depth as found for the shear, stratification, potential vorticity, and thermohaline variance maxima and the density ratio extrema; and 2) a linear function of mixed layer depth as found for isopycnal displacements and the widths of the shear and potential vorticity peaks.

scholarly journals Hurricane Boundary Layer Height Relative to Storm Motion from GPS Dropsonde Composites

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yifang Ren ◽  
Jun A. Zhang ◽  
Stephen R. Guimond ◽  
Xiang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Layer Height ◽  
Boundary Layer Height ◽  
Tangential Wind ◽  
Hurricane Boundary Layer ◽  
The Right

This study investigates the asymmetric distribution of hurricane boundary layer height scales in a storm-motion-relative framework using global positioning system (GPS) dropsonde observations. Data from a total of 1916 dropsondes collected within four times the radius of maximum wind speed of 37 named hurricanes over the Atlantic basin from 1998 to 2015 are analyzed in the composite framework. Motion-relative quadrant mean composite analyses show that both the kinematic and thermodynamic boundary layer height scales tend to increase with increasing radius in all four motion-relative quadrants. It is also found that the thermodynamic mixed layer depth and height of maximum tangential wind speed are within the inflow layer in all motion-relative quadrants. The inflow layer depth and height of the maximum tangential wind are both found to be deeper in the two front quadrants, and they are largest in the right-front quadrant. The difference in the thermodynamic mixed layer depth between the front and back quadrants is smaller than that in the kinematic boundary layer height. The thermodynamic mixed layer is shallowest in the right-rear quadrant, which may be due to the cold wake phenomena. The boundary layer height derived using the critical Richardson number ( R i c ) method shows a similar front-back asymmetry as the kinematic boundary layer height.

scholarly journals Buoyancy-Forced Downwelling in Boundary Currents

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 2704-2721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Spall
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wave Propagation ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Kelvin Wave ◽  
Surface Cooling ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Boundary Currents

Abstract The issue of downwelling resulting from surface buoyancy loss in boundary currents is addressed using a high-resolution, nonhydrostatic numerical model. It is shown that the net downwelling is determined by the change in the mixed layer density along the boundary. For configurations in which the density on the boundary increases in the direction of Kelvin wave propagation, there is a net downwelling within the domain. For cases in which the density decreases in the direction of Kelvin wave propagation, cooling results in a net upwelling within the domain. Symmetric instability within the mixed layer drives an overturning cell in the interior, but it does not contribute to the net vertical motion. The net downwelling is determined by the geostrophic flow toward the boundary and is carried downward in a very narrow boundary layer of width E1/3, where E is the Ekman number. For the calculations here, this boundary layer is O(100 m) wide. A simple model of the mixed layer temperature that balances horizontal advection with surface cooling is used to predict the net downwelling and its dependence on external parameters. This model shows that the net sinking rate within the domain depends not only on the amount of heat loss at the surface but also on the Coriolis parameter, the mixed layer depth (or underlying stratification), and the horizontal velocity. These results indicate that if one is to correctly represent the buoyancy-forced downwelling in general circulation models, then it is crucial to accurately represent the velocity and mixed layer depth very close to the boundary. These results also imply that processes that lead to weak mixing within a few kilometers of the boundary, such as ice formation or freshwater runoff, can severely limit the downwelling forced by surface cooling, even if there is strong heat loss and convection farther offshore.

scholarly journals Wind-Driven Mixing below the Oceanic Mixed Layer

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 1556-1575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan L. M. Grant ◽  
Stephen E. Belcher
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Momentum Flux ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Turbulent Momentum ◽  
Bulk Model ◽  
Shear Production

Abstract This study describes the turbulent processes in the upper ocean boundary layer forced by a constant surface stress in the absence of the Coriolis force using large-eddy simulation. The boundary layer that develops has a two-layer structure, a well-mixed layer above a stratified shear layer. The depth of the mixed layer is approximately constant, whereas the depth of the shear layer increases with time. The turbulent momentum flux varies approximately linearly from the surface to the base of the shear layer. There is a maximum in the production of turbulence through shear at the base of the mixed layer. The magnitude of the shear production increases with time. The increase is mainly a result of the increase in the turbulent momentum flux at the base of the mixed layer due to the increase in the depth of the boundary layer. The length scale for the shear turbulence is the boundary layer depth. A simple scaling is proposed for the magnitude of the shear production that depends on the surface forcing and the average mixed layer current. The scaling can be interpreted in terms of the divergence of a mean kinetic energy flux. A simple bulk model of the boundary layer is developed to obtain equations describing the variation of the mixed layer and boundary layer depths with time. The model shows that the rate at which the boundary layer deepens does not depend on the stratification of the thermocline. The bulk model shows that the variation in the mixed layer depth is small as long as the surface buoyancy flux is small.

Marine Boundary Layer Cloud Observations in the Azores

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (21) ◽  
pp. 7381-7398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmine Rémillard ◽  
Pavlos Kollias ◽  
Edward Luke ◽  
Robert Wood
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Transition Layer ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Single Layer ◽  
Cloud Base ◽  
Cloud Type ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Stratocumulus Clouds ◽  
Boundary Layer Cloud ◽  
Cloud Tops

The recent deployment of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) Mobile Facility at Graciosa Island, Azores, in the context of the Clouds, Aerosol and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer (CAP-MBL) field campaign added the most extensive (19 months) and comprehensive dataset of marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds to date. Cloud occurrence is high (60%–80%), with a summertime minimum. Liquid precipitation is frequently present (30%–40%), mainly in the form of virga. Boundary layer clouds are the most frequently observed cloud type (40%–50%) with a maximum of occurrence during the summer and fall months under the presence of anticyclonic conditions. Cumulus clouds are the most frequently occurring MBL cloud type (20%) with cumulus under stratocumulus layers (10%–30%) and single-layer stratocumulus (0%–10%) following in frequency of occurrence. A stable transition layer in the subcloud layer is commonly observed (92% of the soundings). Cumulus cloud bases and stratocumulus cloud tops correlate very well with the top of the transition layer and the inversion base, respectively. Drizzling stratocumulus layers are thicker (350–400 m) and have higher liquid water path (75–150 g m−2) than their nondrizzling counterparts (100–250 m and 30–75 g m−2, respectively). The variance of the vertical air motion is maximum near the cloud base and is higher at night. The updraft mass flux is around 0.17 kg m−2 s−1 with 40%–60% explained by coherent updraft structures. Despite a high frequency of stratocumulus clouds in the Azores, the MBL is almost never well mixed and is often cumulus coupled.

scholarly journals Langmuir Turbulence and Surface Heating in the Ocean Surface Boundary Layer

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 2897-2911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brodie C. Pearson ◽  
Alan L. M. Grant ◽  
Jeff A. Polton ◽  
Stephen E. Belcher
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Surface Heat Flux ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Surface Boundary ◽  
Langmuir Turbulence ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Surface Boundary Layer

AbstractThis study uses large-eddy simulation to investigate the structure of the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) in the presence of Langmuir turbulence and stabilizing surface heat fluxes. The OSBL consists of a weakly stratified layer, despite a surface heat flux, above a stratified thermocline. The weakly stratified (mixed) layer is maintained by a combination of a turbulent heat flux produced by the wave-driven Stokes drift and downgradient turbulent diffusion. The scaling of turbulence statistics, such as dissipation and vertical velocity variance, is only affected by the surface heat flux through changes in the mixed layer depth. Diagnostic models are proposed for the equilibrium boundary layer and mixed layer depths in the presence of surface heating. The models are a function of the initial mixed layer depth before heating is imposed and the Langmuir stability length. In the presence of radiative heating, the models are extended to account for the depth profile of the heating.

scholarly journals Ekman layers in the Southern Ocean: spectral models and observations, vertical viscosity and boundary layer depth

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 277-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Elipot ◽  
S. T. Gille
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Condition ◽  
Transfer Function ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Second Best

Abstract. Spectral characteristics of the oceanic boundary-layer response to wind stress forcing are assessed by comparing surface drifter observations from the Southern Ocean to a suite of idealized models that parameterize the vertical flux of horizontal momentum using a first-order turbulence closure scheme. The models vary in their representation of vertical viscosity and boundary conditions. Each is used to derive a theoretical transfer function for the spectral linear response of the ocean to wind stress. The transfer functions are evaluated using observational data. The ageostrophic component of near-surface velocity is computed by subtracting altimeter-derived geostrophic velocities from observed drifter velocities (nominally drogued to represent motions at 15-m depth.) Then the transfer function is computed to link these ageostrophic velocities to observed wind stresses. The traditional Ekman model, with infinite depth and constant vertical viscosity is among the worst of the models considered in this study. The model that most successfully describes the variability in the drifter data has a shallow layer of depth O(30–50 m), in which the viscosity is constant and O(100–1000 m2 s−1), with a no-slip bottom boundary condition. The second best model has a vertical viscosity with a surface value O(200 m2 s−1), which increases linearly with depth at a rate O(0.1–1 cm s−1) and a no-slip boundary condition at the base of the boundary layer of depth O(103m). The best model shows little latitudinal or seasonal variability, and there is no obvious link to wind stress or climatological mixed-layer depth. In contrast, in the second best model, the linear coefficient and the boundary layer depth seem to covary with wind stress. The depth of the boundary layer for this model is found to be unphysically large at some latitudes and seasons, possibly a consequence of the inability of Ekman models to remove energy from the system by other means than shear-induced dissipation. However, the Ekman depth scale appears to scale like the climatological mixed-layer depth.

scholarly journals Ekman layers in the Southern Ocean: spectral models and observations, vertical viscosity and boundary layer depth

Ocean Science ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Elipot ◽  
S. T. Gille
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Condition ◽  
Transfer Function ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Second Best

Abstract. Spectral characteristics of the oceanic boundary-layer response to wind stress forcing are assessed by comparing surface drifter observations from the Southern Ocean to a suite of idealized models that parameterize the vertical flux of horizontal momentum using a first-order turbulence closure scheme. The models vary in their representation of vertical viscosity and boundary conditions. Each is used to derive a theoretical transfer function for the spectral linear response of the ocean to wind stress. The transfer functions are evaluated using observational data. The ageostrophic component of near-surface velocity is computed by subtracting altimeter-derived geostrophic velocities from observed drifter velocities (nominally drogued to represent motions at 15-m depth). Then the transfer function is computed to link these ageostrophic velocities to observed wind stresses. The traditional Ekman model, with infinite depth and constant vertical viscosity is among the worst of the models considered in this study. The model that most successfully describes the variability in the drifter data has a shallow layer of depth O(30–50 m), in which the viscosity is constant and O(100–1000 m2 s−1), with a no-slip bottom boundary condition. The second best model has a vertical viscosity with a surface value O(200 m2 s−1), which increases linearly with depth at a rate O(0.1–1 cm s−1) and a no-slip boundary condition at the base of the boundary layer of depth O(103 m). The best model shows little latitudinal or seasonal variability, and there is no obvious link to wind stress or climatological mixed-layer depth. In contrast, in the second best model, the linear coefficient and the boundary layer depth seem to covary with wind stress. The depth of the boundary layer for this model is found to be unphysically large at some latitudes and seasons, possibly a consequence of the inability of Ekman models to remove energy from the system by other means than shear-induced dissipation. However, the Ekman depth scale appears to scale like the climatological mixed-layer depth.

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