scholarly journals Cliff–Ramp Patterns and Kelvin–Helmholtz Billows in Stably Stratified Shear Flow in the Upper Troposphere: Analysis of Aircraft Measurements

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (7) ◽  
pp. 2521-2539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald E. Wroblewski ◽  
Owen R. Coté ◽  
Jorg M. Hacker ◽  
Ron J. Dobosy
Keyword(s):  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Structure Constant ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Temperature Structure ◽  
Aircraft Measurements ◽  
Electromagnetic Propagation ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Aspect Ratios ◽  
Scale Turbulence ◽  
Hemisphere Winter

Abstract Cliff–ramp patterns (CR) are a common feature of scalar turbulence, characterized by a sharp temperature increase (cliff) followed by a more gradual temperature decrease (ramp). Aircraft measurements obtained from NOAA best aircraft turbulence probes (BAT) were used to characterize and compare CR patterns observed under stably stratified conditions in the upper troposphere, a region for which there are few such studies. Experimental data were analyzed for three locations, one over Wales and two over southern Australia, the latter in correspondence with the Southern Hemisphere winter subtropical jet stream. Comparison of observed CR patterns with published direct numerical simulations (DNS) revealed that they were likely signatures of Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) billows, with the ramps associated with the well-mixed billows and the cliffs marking the highly stretched braids. Strong correlation between potential temperature and horizontal velocity supported the KH link, though expected correlations with vertical velocity were not observed. The temperature fronts associated with the cliffs were oriented in a direction approximately normal to the mean wind direction. Locally high values of temperature structure constant near these fronts were associated with steep temperature gradients across the fronts; this may be misleading in the context of electromagnetic propagation, suggesting a false positive indication of high levels of small-scale turbulence that would not correspond to scintillation effects. Billow aspect ratios, braid angles, and length scales were estimated from the data and comparisons with published DNS provided a means for assessing the stage of evolution of the KH billows and the initial Richardson number of the layer.

scholarly journals Modulation of Small-Scale Turbulence by Ducted Gravity Waves in the Nocturnal Boundary Layer

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 1414-1427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. P. Meillier ◽  
R. G. Frehlich ◽  
R. M. Jones ◽  
B. B. Balsley
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Richardson Number ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Nocturnal Boundary Layer ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Temperature Structure ◽  
Turbulence Measurements ◽  
Gradient Richardson Number ◽  
Scale Turbulence

Abstract Constant altitude measurements of temperature and velocity in the residual layer of the nocturnal boundary layer, collected by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Tethered Lifting System (TLS), exhibit fluctuations identified by previous work (Fritts et al.) as the signature of ducted gravity waves. The concurrent high-resolution TLS turbulence measurements (temperature structure constant C2T and turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate ɛ) reveal the presence of patches of enhanced turbulence activity that are roughly synchronized with the troughs of the temperature and velocity fluctuations. To investigate the potentially dominant role ducted gravity waves might play on the modulation of atmospheric stability and therefore, on turbulence, time series of the wave-modulated gradient Richardson number (Ri) and of the vertical gradient of potential temperature ∂θ/∂z(t) are computed numerically and compared to the TLS small-scale turbulence measurements. The results of this study agree with the predictions of previous theoretical studies (i.e., wave-generated fluctuations of temperature and velocity modulate the gradient Richardson number), resulting in periodic enhancements of turbulence at Ri minima. The patches of turbulence observed in the TLS dataset are subsequently identified as convective instabilities generated locally within the unstable phase of the wave.

scholarly journals Aircraft measurements of gravity waves in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere during the START08 field experiment

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 7667-7684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuqing Zhang ◽  
Junhong Wei ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
K. P. Bowman ◽  
L. L. Pan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Shear Instability ◽  
Aircraft Measurements ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. This study analyzes in situ airborne measurements from the 2008 Stratosphere–Troposphere Analyses of Regional Transport (START08) experiment to characterize gravity waves in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (ExUTLS). The focus is on the second research flight (RF02), which took place on 21–22 April 2008. This was the first airborne mission dedicated to probing gravity waves associated with strong upper-tropospheric jet–front systems. Based on spectral and wavelet analyses of the in situ observations, along with a diagnosis of the polarization relationships, clear signals of mesoscale variations with wavelengths ~ 50–500 km are found in almost every segment of the 8 h flight, which took place mostly in the lower stratosphere. The aircraft sampled a wide range of background conditions including the region near the jet core, the jet exit and over the Rocky Mountains with clear evidence of vertically propagating gravity waves of along-track wavelength between 100 and 120 km. The power spectra of the horizontal velocity components and potential temperature for the scale approximately between ~ 8 and ~ 256 km display an approximate −5/3 power law in agreement with past studies on aircraft measurements, while the fluctuations roll over to a −3 power law for the scale approximately between ~ 0.5 and ~ 8 km (except when this part of the spectrum is activated, as recorded clearly by one of the flight segments). However, at least part of the high-frequency signals with sampled periods of ~ 20–~ 60 s and wavelengths of ~ 5–~ 15 km might be due to intrinsic observational errors in the aircraft measurements, even though the possibilities that these fluctuations may be due to other physical phenomena (e.g., nonlinear dynamics, shear instability and/or turbulence) cannot be completely ruled out.

scholarly journals Turbulence parameter estimations from high-resolution balloon temperature measurements of the MUTSI-2000 campaign

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 2401-2413 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. M. Gavrilov ◽  
H. Luce ◽  
M. Crochet ◽  
F. Dalaudier ◽  
S. Fukao
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Structure Constant ◽  
Turbulent Energy ◽  
Temperature Measurements ◽  
Temperature Structure ◽  
Vertical Profiles ◽  
Mu Radar ◽  
Vertical Displacements ◽  
Wind Profiles

Abstract. Turbulence parameters in the tropo-stratosphere are analyzed using high-resolution balloon temperature measurements collected during the MUTSI (MU radar, Temperature sheets and Interferometry) campaign which took place near the Middle and Upper atmosphere (MU) radar (Japan, 35° N, 136° E) in May 2000. Vertical profiles of the specific dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, ε, and turbulent diffusivity, K, are estimated from the Thorpe lengthscale, LT. The last is obtained by using two methods. The first one consists of measuring directly LT by reordering the potential temperature profiles. The second method is based on estimates of the temperature structure constant, CT2. A relationship between LT and CT2 can be found by assuming either adiabatic vertical displacements or a model based on turbulent energy balance consideration. Analysis shows that the adiabatic assumption gives indirect estimates of LT more consistent with direct measurements. We also found that vertical profiles of analyzed turbulence characteristics show substantial intermittency, leading to substantial scatter of the local, median and average values. General trends correspond to a decrease in ε and K from the boundary layer up to altitudes 20–25 km. Layers of increased turbulence are systematically observed in the tropo-stratosphere, which may be produced by instabilities of temperature and wind profiles. These maxima may substantially increase local values of turbulence diffusivity. Keywords. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (Turbulence)

Enhanced Mixing of 2D Lobed Nozzles

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huo-Xing Liu ◽  
Shou-Sheng Wu
Keyword(s):  
Axial Velocity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Rapid Decay ◽  
Potential Core ◽  
Aspect Ratios ◽  
Viscous Shear ◽  
Velocity Decay ◽  
Scale Turbulence

The jet axial velocity decay and velocity distributions of two 2D Lobed Nozzles (2DLN), and three baseline nozzles, one circular and two rectangular with different aspect ratios (AR), were measured and compared at low velocity (M0 <0.35) and ambient temperature conditions. The five nozzles have the same exit area. Test results show: 1) The jet axial velocity decay of the 2DLN may be characterized by three distinct regions; i.e., “potential core region”, where the jet axial velocity almost remains constant; “rapid decay region”, where streamwise and normal vortices play major roles for enhanced mixing; and, “smooth-down decay region”, where the mixing process is dominated by viscous shear layer spreading and small-scale turbulence. 2) The jet potential core length of the two 2DLN tested is only half to one-third that of the baseline rectangular nozzle (AR=4.37), and about one-fourth to one-sixth compared with the baseline circular nozzle. The length, in which the jet mixed with surrounding air is nearly uniform, is one to two times that of the 2DLN equivalent exit diameter, and depends on lobe design.

scholarly journals Can one detect small-scale turbulence from standard meteorological radiosondes?

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 795-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Wilson ◽  
F. Dalaudier ◽  
H. Luce
Keyword(s):  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Vertical Resolution ◽  
Free Atmosphere ◽  
Instrumental Noise ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
Scale Turbulence ◽  
Temperature Inversions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Similar Decrease

Abstract. It has been recently proposed by Clayson and Kantha (2008) to evaluate the climatology of atmospheric turbulence through the detection of overturns in the free atmosphere by applying a Thorpe analysis on relatively low vertical resolution (LR) profiles collected from standard radiosoundings. Since then, several studies based on this idea have been published. However, the impact of instrumental noise on the detection of turbulent layers was completely ignored in these works. The present study aims to evaluate the feasibility of overturns detection from radiosoundings. For this purpose, we analyzed data of two field campaigns during which high-resolution (HR) soundings (10–20 cm) were performed simultaneously with standard LR soundings. We used the raw data of standard meteorological radiosondes, the vertical resolution ranging from 5 to 9 m. A Thorpe analysis was applied to both LR and HR potential temperature profiles. A denoising procedure was first applied in order to reduce the probability of occurrence of artificial overturns, i.e. potential temperature inversions due to instrumental noise only. We then compared the empirical probability density functions (pdf) of the sizes of the selected overturns from LR and HR profiles. From HR profiles measured in the troposphere, the sizes of the detected overturns range from 4 to ~1000 m. The shape of the size pdf of overturns is found to sharply decrease with increasing scales. From LR profiles, the smallest size of detected overturns is ~32 m, a similar decrease in the shape of the pdf of sizes being observed. These results suggest that overturns, resulting either from small-scale turbulence or from instabilities, can indeed be detected from meteorological radiosonde measurements in the troposphere and in the stratosphere as well. However they are rather rare as they belong to the tail of the size distribution of overturns: they only represent the 7 % largest events in the troposphere, and 4 % in the stratosphere.

Fine Structure, Instabilities, and Turbulence in the Lower Atmosphere: High-Resolution In Situ Slant-Path Measurements with the DataHawk UAV and Comparisons with Numerical Modeling

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben B. Balsley ◽  
Dale A. Lawrence ◽  
David C. Fritts ◽  
Ling Wang ◽  
Kam Wan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Lower Atmosphere ◽  
Horizontal Wind ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Temperature Structure ◽  
Temperature Structure Parameter

AbstractA new platform for high-resolution in situ measurements in the lower troposphere is described and its capabilities are demonstrated. The platform is the small GPS-controlled DataHawk unmanned aerial system (UAS), and measurements were performed under stratified atmospheric conditions at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, on 11 October 2012. The measurements included spiraling vertical profiles of temperature and horizontal wind vectors, from which the potential temperature θ, mechanical energy dissipation rate ε, Brunt–Väsälä frequency N, temperature structure parameter CT2, Thorpe and Ozmidov scales LT and LO, and Richardson number Ri were inferred. Profiles of these quantities from ~50 to 400 m reveal apparent gravity wave modulation at larger scales, persistent sheet-and-layer structures at scales of ~30–100 m, and several layers exhibiting significant correlations of large ε, CT2, LT, and small Ri. Smaller-scale flow features suggest local gravity waves and Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities exhibiting strong correlations, yielding significant vertical displacements and inducing turbulence and mixing at smaller scales. Comparisons of these results with a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of similar multiscale dynamics indicate close agreement between measured and modeled layer character and evolution, small-scale dynamics, and turbulence intensities. In particular, a detailed examination of the potential biases in inferred quantities and/or misinterpretation of the underlying dynamics as a result of the specific DataHawk sampling trajectory is carried out using virtual sampling paths through the DNS and comparing these with the DataHawk measurements.

scholarly journals Aircraft measurements of gravity waves in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere during the START08 Field Experiment

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 4725-4766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuqing Zhang ◽  
Junhong Wei ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
K. P. Bowman ◽  
L. L. Pan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Aircraft Measurements ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. This study analyzes in situ airborne measurements from the 2008 Stratosphere–Troposphere Analyses of Regional Transport (START08) experiment to characterize gravity waves in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (ExUTLS) region. The focus is on the second research flight (RF02), which took place on 21–22 April 2008. This was the first airborne mission dedicated to probing gravity waves associated with strong upper-tropospheric jet-front systems. Based on spectral and wavelet analyses of the in situ observations, along with a diagnosis of the polarization relationships, clear signals of mesoscale variations with wavelengths ~50–500 km are found in almost every segment of the 8 h flight, which took place mostly in the lower stratosphere. The aircraft sampled a wide range of background conditions including the region near the jet core, the jet exit and over the Rocky Mountains. In contrast to the long wavelength mesoscale variations, smaller-scale wavelike oscillations below 50 km are found to be quite transient. In particular, aircraft measurements of several flight segments are dominated by signals with periods of ~20– ~60 s and wavelengths of ~5– ~15 km. We speculate that at least part of these nearly-periodic high-frequency signals are a result of intrinsic observational errors in the aircraft measurements or small-scale flight-altitude fluctuations that are difficult to fully characterize. Despite the presence of possibly spurious wave oscillations in several flight segments, the power spectra of horizontal winds and temperature averaged over the analyzed START08 flight segments follow closely the -5/3 power law.

scholarly journals Self-Stratification of Tropical Cyclone Outflow. Part I: Implications for Storm Structure

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (10) ◽  
pp. 2236-2249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry Emanuel ◽  
Richard Rotunno
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Richardson Number ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Absolute Temperature ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Temperature Structure ◽  
State Structure ◽  
Vertical Temperature ◽  
Radial Structure ◽  
Scale Turbulence

Abstract Extant theoretical work on the steady-state structure and intensity of idealized axisymmetric tropical cyclones relies on the assumption that isentropic surfaces in the storm outflow match those of the unperturbed environment at large distances from the storm’s core. These isentropic surfaces generally lie just above the tropopause, where the vertical temperature structure is approximately isothermal, so it has been assumed that the absolute temperature of the outflow is nearly constant. Here it is shown that this assumption is not justified, at least when applied to storms simulated by a convection-resolving axisymmetric numerical model in which much of the outflow occurs below the ambient tropopause and develops its own stratification, unrelated to that of the unperturbed environment. The authors propose that this stratification is set in the storm’s core by the requirement that the Richardson number remain near its critical value for the onset of small-scale turbulence. This ansatz is tested by calculating the Richardson number in numerically simulated storms, and then showing that the assumption of constant Richardson number determines the variation of the outflow temperature with angular momentum or entropy and thereby sets the low-level radial structure of the storm outside its radius of maximum surface winds. Part II will show that allowing the outflow temperature to vary also allows one to discard an empirical factor that was introduced in previous work on the intensification of tropical cyclones.

scholarly journals Can one detect small-scale turbulence from standard meteorological radiosondes?

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 969-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Wilson ◽  
F. Dalaudier ◽  
H. Luce
Keyword(s):  
Size Distribution ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Free Atmosphere ◽  
Instrumental Noise ◽  
Empirical Probability ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
Scale Turbulence ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Similar Decrease

Abstract. It has been recently proposed by Clayson and Kantha (2008) to evaluate the climatology of atmospheric turbulence in the free atmosphere by applying a Thorpe analysis on standard radiosoundings obtained with relatively low resolution (LR) in the vertical. Since then, several studies based on this idea have been published. However, the impact of instrumental noise on the detection of turbulent layers was completely ignored in these works. The present study aims to evaluate the feasibility of turbulence detection from radiosoundings. For this purpose, we analyzed data of two field campaigns during which high-resolution (HR) soundings (10–20 cm) were performed simultaneously with standard LR soundings. We here used the raw data of standard radiosondes, the vertical resolution ranging from 5 to 8 m. A Thorpe analysis was performed on both LR and HR potential temperature profiles. A denoising procedure was first applied in order to reduce the probability of occurrence of artificial inversions, i.e. inversions due to instrumental noise only. We then compare the empirical probability of the sizes of the selected overturns from LR and HR profiles. From HR profiles in the troposphere, the scales of the detected turbulent overturns range from 4 to ~1000 m. The shape of the distribution of the size of overturns is found to sharply decrease with increasing scales. From LR profiles, the smallest scale of detected overturns is ~32 m, a similar decrease in the shape of the size distribution being observed. These results suggest that turbulent events can indeed be detected from standard radiosondes measurements in the troposphere. However these events are rather rare as they belong to the tail of the size distribution of the turbulent overturns: they only represent the 7% largest events. Similar conclusions are obtained from radiosondes data collected in the lower stratosphere, but the fraction of the detectable events is even smaller than in the troposphere since they are the 4% largest events.

Variations of Tropical Lapse Rates in Climate Models and their Implications for Upper Tropospheric Warming

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-50
Author(s):  
P. Keil ◽  
H. Schmidt ◽  
B. Stevens ◽  
J. Bao
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
Atmospheric Model ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Temperature Structure ◽  
Vertical Temperature ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Global Atmospheric Model ◽  
Lapse Rates ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Physics Experiments

AbstractThe vertical temperature structure in the tropics is primarily set by convection and therefore follows a moist adiabat to first order. However, tropical upper tropospheric temperatures differ among climate models and observations, as atmospheric convection remains poorly understood. Here, we quantify the variations in tropical lapse rates in CMIP6 models and explore reasons for these variations. We find that differences in surface temperatures weighted by the regions of strongest convection cannot explain these variations and therefore we hypothesise that the representation of convection itself and associated small scale processes are responsible. We reproduce these variations in perturbed physics experiments with the global atmospheric model ICON-A, in which we vary autoconversion and entrainment parameters. For smaller autoconversion values, additional freezing enthalpy from the cloud water that is not precipitated warms the upper troposphere. Smaller entrainment rates also lead to a warmer upper troposphere, as convection and thus latent heating reaches higher. Furthermore, we show that according to most radiosonde datasets all CMIP6 AMIP simulations overestimate recent upper tropospheric warming. Additionally, all radiosonde datasets agree that climate models on average overestimate the amount of upper tropospheric warming for a given lower tropospheric warming. We demonstrate that increased entrainment rates reduce this overestimation, likely because of the reduction of latent heat release in the upper troposphere. Our results suggest that imperfect convection parameterisations are responsible for a considerable part of the variations in tropical lapse rates and also part of the overestimation of warming compared to the observations.

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