Influence of latitude and moisture effects on the barotropic instability of an idealized ITCZ

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Bembenek ◽  
Timothy M. Merlis ◽  
David N. Straub
Keyword(s):  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Latent Heat Release ◽  
Barotropic Instability ◽  
Shallow Water Model ◽  
Moisture Effects ◽  
Latitudinal Position ◽  
Poleward Shift ◽  
Wind Profiles

AbstractA large fraction of tropical cyclones (TCs) are generated near the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), and barotropic instability of the related wind shear has been shown to be an important generation mechanism. The latitudinal position of the ITCZ shifts seasonally and may shift poleward in response to global warming. Aquaplanet GCM simulations have shown TC-generation frequency to vary with position of the ITCZ. These results, and that moisture plays an essential role in the dynamics, motivate the present study on the growth rates of barotropic instability in ITCZ-like zonal wind profiles. Base-state zonal wind profiles are generated by applying a prescribed forcing (representing zonally-averaged latent heat release in the ITCZ) to a shallow-water model. Shifting the latitudinal position of the forcing alters these profiles, with a poleward shift leading to enhanced barotropic instability. Next, an examination of how latent release impacts the barotropic breakdown of these profiles is considered. To do this, moisture is explicitly represented using a tracer variable. Upon supersaturation, precipitation occurs and the related latent heat release is parameterized as a mass transfer out of the dynamically active layer. Whether moisture serves to enhance or reduce barotropic growth rates is found to depend on how saturation humidity is represented. In particular, taking it to be constant or a function of the layer thickness (related to temperature) leads to a reduction, whereas taking it to be a specified function of latitude leads to an enhancement. Simple arguments are given to support the idea that moisture effects should lead to a reduction in the moist shallow water model and that a poleward shift of the ITCZ should lead to an enhancement of barotropic instability.

scholarly journals Two Different Aperiodic Phases of Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation in a Double-Gyre, Two-Layer Shallow-Water Model

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1265-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomonori Matsuura ◽  
Mitsutaka Fujita
Keyword(s):  
Power Spectrum ◽  
Shallow Water ◽  
Metastable State ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Lower Layer ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Barotropic Instability ◽  
Shallow Water Model ◽  
Gyre Circulation ◽  
Double Gyre

Abstract A two-layer shallow-water model is used to investigate the transition of wind-driven double-gyre circulation from laminar flow to turbulence as the Reynolds number (Re) is systematically increased. Two distinctly different phases of turbulent double-gyre patterns and energy trajectories are exhibited before and after at Re = 95: deterministic and fully developed turbulent circulations. In the former phase, the inertial subgyres vary between an asymmetric solution and an antisymmetric solution and the double-gyre circulations reach the aperiodic solution mainly due to their barotropic instability. An integrated kinetic energy in the lower layer is slight and the generated mesoscale eddies are confined in the upper layer. The power spectrum of energies integrated over the whole domain at Re = 70 has peaks at the interannual periods (4–7 yr) and the interdecadal period (10–20 yr). The loops of the attractors take on one cycle at those periods and display the blue-sky catastrophe. At Re = 95, the double-gyre circulation reaches a metastable state and the attracters obtained from the three energies form a topological manifold. In the latter, as Re increases, the double-gyre varies from a metastable state to a chaotic state because of the barotropic instability of the eastward jet and the baroclinic instability of recirculation retrograde flow, and the eastward jet meanders significantly with interdecadal variability. The generated eddies cascade to the red side of the power spectrum as expected in the geostrophic turbulence. The main results in the simulation may indicate essential mechanisms for the appearance of multiple states of the Kuroshio and for low-frequency variations in the midlatitude ocean.

scholarly journals Hurricane Eyewall Evolution in a Forced Shallow-Water Model

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 1623-1643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric A. Hendricks ◽  
Wayne H. Schubert ◽  
Yu-Han Chen ◽  
Hung-Chi Kuo ◽  
Melinda S. Peng
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Nonlinear Evolution ◽  
Unstable Mode ◽  
Relative Vorticity ◽  
Stable Region ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Barotropic Instability ◽  
Shallow Water Model

Abstract A forced shallow-water model is used to understand the role of diabatic and frictional effects in the generation, maintenance, and breakdown of the hurricane eyewall potential vorticity (PV) ring. Diabatic heating is parameterized as an annular mass sink of variable width and magnitude, and the nonlinear evolution of tropical storm–like vortices is examined under this forcing. Diabatic heating produces a strengthening and thinning PV ring in time due to the combined effects of the mass sink and radial PV advection by the induced divergent circulation. If the forcing makes the ring thin enough, then it can become dynamically unstable and break down into polygonal asymmetries or mesovortices. The onset of barotropic instability is marked by simultaneous drops in both the maximum instantaneous velocity and minimum pressure, consistent with unforced studies. However, in a sensitivity test where the heating is proportional to the relative vorticity, universal intensification occurs during barotropic instability, consistent with a recent observational study. Friction is shown to help stabilize the PV ring by reducing the eyewall PV and the unstable-mode barotropic growth rate. The radial location and structure of the heating is shown to be of critical importance for intensity variability. While it is well known that it is critical to heat in the inertially stable region inside the radius of maximum winds to spin up the hurricane vortex, these results demonstrate the additional importance of having the net heating as close as possible to the center of the storm, partially explaining why tropical cyclones with very small eyes can rapidly intensify to high peak intensities.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Utility of Static and Adaptive Mesh Refinement for Idealized Tropical Cyclone Problems in a Spectral Element Shallow-Water Model

2016 ◽  
Vol 144 (10) ◽  
pp. 3697-3724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric A. Hendricks ◽  
Michal A. Kopera ◽  
Francis X. Giraldo ◽  
Melinda S. Peng ◽  
James D. Doyle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Shallow Water ◽  
Adaptive Mesh Refinement ◽  
Mesh Refinement ◽  
Adaptive Mesh ◽  
Spectral Element ◽  
Thin Strip ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Barotropic Instability ◽  
Shallow Water Model

The utility of static and adaptive mesh refinement (SMR and AMR, respectively) are examined for idealized tropical cyclone (TC) simulations in a two-dimensional spectral element f-plane shallow-water model. The SMR simulations have varying sizes of the statically refined meshes (geometry based) while the AMR simulations use a potential vorticity (PV) threshold to adaptively refine the mesh to the evolving TC. Numerical simulations are conducted for four cases: (i) TC-like vortex advecting in a uniform flow, (ii) binary vortex interaction, (iii) barotropic instability of a PV ring, and (iv) barotropic instability of a thin strip of PV. For each case, a uniform grid high-resolution “truth” simulation is compared to two different SMR simulations and three different AMR simulations for accuracy and efficiency. The multiple SMR and AMR simulations have variations in the number of fully refined elements in the vicinity of the TC. For these idealized cases, it is found that the SMR and AMR simulations are able to resolve the vortex dynamical processes (e.g., barotropic instability, Rossby wave breaking, and filamentation) as well as the truth simulations, with no significant loss in accuracy in the refined region in the vortex vicinity and with significant speedups (factors of 4–15, depending on the total number of refined elements). The overall accuracy is enhanced by a greater area of fully refined mesh in both the SMR and AMR simulations.

scholarly journals Moist versus Dry Barotropic Instability in a Shallow-Water Model of the Atmosphere with Moist Convection

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1234-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Lambaerts ◽  
Guillaume Lapeyre ◽  
Vladimir Zeitlin
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Convective Instability ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Finite Volume Scheme ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Barotropic Instability ◽  
Shallow Water Model ◽  
Geostrophic Adjustment ◽  
Convective Instabilities ◽  
Rotating Shallow Water

Abstract Dynamical influence of moist convection upon development of the barotropic instability is studied in the rotating shallow-water model. First, an exhaustive linear “dry” stability analysis of the Bickley jet is performed, and the most unstable mode identified in this way is used to initialize simulations to compare the development and the saturation of the instability in dry and moist configurations. High-resolution numerical simulations with a well-balanced finite-volume scheme reveal substantial qualitative and quantitative differences in the evolution of dry and moist-convective instabilities. The moist effects affect both balanced and unbalanced components of the flow. The most important differences between dry and moist evolution are 1) the enhanced efficiency of the moist-convective instability, which manifests itself by the increase of the growth rate at the onset of precipitation, and by a stronger deviation of the end state from the initial one, measured with a number of different norms; 2) a pronounced cyclone–anticyclone asymmetry during the nonlinear evolution of the moist-convective instability, which leads to an additional, with respect to the dry case, geostrophic adjustment, and the modification of the end state; and 3) an enhanced ageostrophic activity in the precipitation zones but also in the nonprecipitating areas because of the secondary geostrophic adjustment.

scholarly journals A Computationally Efficient Shallow Water Model for Mixed Cohesive and Non-Cohesive Sediment Transport in the Yangtze Estuary

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1435
Author(s):  
Peng Hu ◽  
Junyu Tao ◽  
Aofei Ji ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Zhiguo He
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Transport ◽  
Yangtze Estuary ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Cohesive Sediments ◽  
Shallow Water Model ◽  
Computationally Efficient ◽  
Time Step ◽  
The Yangtze Estuary ◽  
Erosion Coefficient ◽  
Cohesive Sediment Transport

In this paper, a computationally efficient shallow water model is developed for sediment transport in the Yangtze estuary by considering mixed cohesive and non-cohesive sediment transport. It is firstly shown that the model is capable of reproducing tidal-hydrodynamics in the estuarine region. Secondly, it is demonstrated that the observed temporal variation of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) for mixed cohesive and non-cohesive sediments can be well-captured by the model with calibrated parameters (i.e., critical shear stresses for erosion/deposition, erosion coefficient). Numerical comparative studies indicate that: (1) consideration of multiple sediment fraction (both cohesive and non-cohesive sediments) is important for accurate modeling of SSC in the Yangtze Estuary; (2) the critical shear stress and the erosion coefficient is shown to be site-dependent, for which intensive calibration may be required; and (3) the Deepwater Navigation Channel (DNC) project may lead to enhanced current velocity and thus reduced sediment deposition in the North Passage of the Yangtze Estuary. Finally, the implementation of the hybrid local time step/global maximum time step (LTS/GMaTS) (using LTS to update the hydro-sediment module but using GMaTS to update the morphodynamic module) can lead to a reduction of as high as 90% in the computational cost for the Yangtze Estuary. This advantage, along with its well-demonstrated quantitative accuracy, indicates that the present model should find wide applications in estuarine regions.

The instability of vertically curved fronts in a two-layer shallow water model

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 124117
Author(s):  
M. W. Harris ◽  
F. J. Poulin ◽  
K. G. Lamb
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Shallow Water Model

scholarly journals Modelling Weirs in Two-Dimensional Shallow Water Models

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 2152
Author(s):  
Gonzalo García-Alén ◽  
Olalla García-Fonte ◽  
Luis Cea ◽  
Luís Pena ◽  
Jerónimo Puertas
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Shallow Water ◽  
Shallow Water Equations ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Shallow Water Model ◽  
Experimental Dataset ◽  
River Hydraulics ◽  
Shallow Water Models ◽  
Water Models

2D models based on the shallow water equations are widely used in river hydraulics. However, these models can present deficiencies in those cases in which their intrinsic hypotheses are not fulfilled. One of these cases is in the presence of weirs. In this work we present an experimental dataset including 194 experiments in nine different weirs. The experimental data are compared to the numerical results obtained with a 2D shallow water model in order to quantify the discrepancies that exist due to the non-fulfillment of the hydrostatic pressure hypotheses. The experimental dataset presented can be used for the validation of other modelling approaches.

scholarly journals Development of a Practical Model for Predicting Soil Salinity in a Salt Marsh in the Arakawa River Estuary

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2054
Author(s):  
Naoki Kuroda ◽  
Katsuhide Yokoyama ◽  
Tadaharu Ishikawa
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Shallow Water ◽  
Soil Salinity ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Flow Simulation ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Shallow Water Model ◽  
Practical Model

Our group has studied the spatiotemporal variation of soil and water salinity in an artificial salt marsh along the Arakawa River estuary and developed a practical model for predicting soil salinity. The salinity of the salt marsh and the water level of a nearby channel were measured once a month for 13 consecutive months. The vertical profile of the soil salinity in the salt marsh was measured once monthly over the same period. A numerical flow simulation adopting the shallow water model faithfully reproduced the salinity variation in the salt marsh. Further, we developed a soil salinity model to estimate the soil salinity in a salt marsh in Arakawa River. The vertical distribution of the soil salinity in the salt marsh was uniform and changed at almost the same time. The hydraulic conductivity of the soil, moreover, was high. The uniform distribution of salinity and high hydraulic conductivity could be explained by the vertical and horizontal transport of salinity through channels burrowed in the soil by organisms. By combining the shallow water model and the soil salinity model, the soil salinity of the salt marsh was well reproduced. The above results suggest that a stable brackish ecotone can be created in an artificial salt marsh using our numerical model as a design tool.

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