The MJO and Air–Sea Interaction in TOGA COARE and DYNAMO

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 597-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon P. de Szoeke ◽  
James B. Edson ◽  
June R. Marion ◽  
Christopher W. Fairall ◽  
Ludovic Bariteau

Abstract Dynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) and Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) observations and reanalysis-based surface flux products are used to test theories of atmosphere–ocean interaction that explain the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). Negative intraseasonal outgoing longwave radiation, indicating deep convective clouds, is in phase with increased surface wind stress, decreased solar heating, and increased surface turbulent heat flux—mostly evaporation—from the ocean to the atmosphere. Net heat flux cools the upper ocean in the convective phase. Sea surface temperature (SST) warms during the suppressed phase, reaching a maximum before the onset of MJO convection. The timing of convection, surface flux, and SST is consistent from the central Indian Ocean (70°E) to the western Pacific Ocean (160°E). Mean surface evaporation observed in TOGA COARE and DYNAMO (110 W m−2) accounts for about half of the moisture supply for the mean precipitation (210 W m−2 for DYNAMO). Precipitation maxima are an order of magnitude larger than evaporation anomalies, requiring moisture convergence in the mean, and on intraseasonal and daily time scales. Column-integrated moisture increases 2 cm before the convectively active phase over the Research Vessel (R/V) Roger Revelle in DYNAMO, in accordance with MJO moisture recharge theory. Local surface evaporation does not significantly recharge the column water budget before convection. As suggested in moisture mode theories, evaporation increases the moist static energy of the column during convection. Rather than simply discharging moisture from the column, the strongest daily precipitation anomalies in the convectively active phase accompany the increasing column moisture.

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 1149-1168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon P. de Szoeke ◽  
Eric D. Skyllingstad ◽  
Paquita Zuidema ◽  
Arunchandra S. Chandra

Abstract Cold pools dominate the surface temperature variability observed over the central Indian Ocean (0°, 80°E) for 2 months of research cruise observations in the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) experiment in October–December 2011. Cold pool fronts are identified by a rapid drop of temperature. Air in cold pools is slightly drier than the boundary layer (BL). Consistent with previous studies, cold pools attain wet-bulb potential temperatures representative of saturated downdrafts originating from the lower midtroposphere. Wind and surface fluxes increase, and rain is most likely within the ~20-min cold pool front. Greatest integrated water vapor and liquid follow the front. Temperature and velocity fluctuations shorter than 6 min achieve 90% of the surface latent and sensible heat flux in cold pools. The temperature of the cold pools recovers in about 20 min, chiefly by mixing at the top of the shallow cold wake layer, rather than by surface flux. Analysis of conserved variables shows mean BL air is composed of 51% air entrained from the BL top (800 m), 22% saturated downdrafts, and 27% air at equilibrium with the ocean surface. The number of cold pools, and their contribution to the BL heat and moisture, nearly doubles in the convectively active phase compared to the suppressed phase of the Madden–Julian oscillation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 723 ◽  
pp. 91-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. J. Lazeroms ◽  
G. Brethouwer ◽  
S. Wallin ◽  
A. V. Johansson

AbstractThis work describes the derivation of an algebraic model for the Reynolds stresses and turbulent heat flux in stably stratified turbulent flows, which are mutually coupled for this type of flow. For general two-dimensional mean flows, we present a correct way of expressing the Reynolds-stress anisotropy and the (normalized) turbulent heat flux as tensorial combinations of the mean strain rate, the mean rotation rate, the mean temperature gradient and gravity. A system of linear equations is derived for the coefficients in these expansions, which can easily be solved with computer algebra software for a specific choice of the model constants. The general model is simplified in the case of parallel mean shear flows where the temperature gradient is aligned with gravity. For this case, fully explicit and coupled expressions for the Reynolds-stress tensor and heat-flux vector are given. A self-consistent derivation of this model would, however, require finding a root of a polynomial equation of sixth-order, for which no simple analytical expression exists. Therefore, the nonlinear part of the algebraic equations is modelled through an approximation that is close to the consistent formulation. By using the framework of a$K\text{{\ndash}} \omega $model (where$K$is turbulent kinetic energy and$\omega $an inverse time scale) and, where needed, near-wall corrections, the model is applied to homogeneous shear flow and turbulent channel flow, both with stable stratification. For the case of homogeneous shear flow, the model predicts a critical Richardson number of 0.25 above which the turbulent kinetic energy decays to zero. The channel-flow results agree well with DNS data. Furthermore, the model is shown to be robust and approximately self-consistent. It also fulfils the requirements of realizability.


2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 645-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Wen ◽  
Zhengyu Liu ◽  
Qinyu Liu

AbstractMost previous studies have proven the local negative heat flux feedback (the surface heat flux response to SST anomalies) in the midlatitude areas. However, it is uncertain whether a nonlocal heat flux feedback can be observed. In this paper, the generalized equilibrium feedback assessment (GEFA) method is employed to examine the full surface turbulent heat flux response to SST in the North Atlantic Ocean using NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data. The results not only confirm the dominant local negative feedback, but also indicate a robust nonlocal positive feedback of the Gulf Stream Extension (GSE) SST to the downstream heat flux in the subpolar region. This nonlocal feedback presents a strong seasonality, with response magnitudes of in winter and in summer. Further study indicates that the nonlocal effect is initiated by the adjustments of the downstream surface wind to the GSE SST anomalies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (4) ◽  
pp. 1385-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Guy ◽  
David P. Jorgensen

Abstract This study presents characteristics of convective systems observed during the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian oscillation (DYNAMO) experiment by the instrumented NOAA WP-3D aircraft. Nine separate missions, with a focus on observing mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), were executed to obtain data in the active and inactive phase of a Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) in the Indian Ocean. Doppler radar and in situ thermodynamic data are used to contrast the convective system characteristics during the evolution of the MJO. Isolated convection was prominent during the inactive phases of the MJO, with deepening convection during the onset of the MJO. During the MJO peak, convection and stratiform precipitation became more widespread. A larger population of deep convective elements led to a larger area of stratiform precipitation. As the MJO decayed, convective system top heights increased, though the number of convective systems decreased, eventually transitioning back to isolated convection. A distinct shift of echo top heights and contoured frequency-by-altitude diagram distributions of radar reflectivity and vertical wind speed indicated that some mesoscale characteristics were coupled to the MJO phase. Convective characteristics in the climatological initiation region (Indian Ocean) were also apparent. Comparison to results from the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) in the western Pacific indicated that DYNAMO MCSs were linearly organized more parallel to the low-level shear and without strong cold pools than in TOGA COARE. Three-dimensional MCS airflow also showed a different dynamical structure, with a lack of the descending rear inflow present in shear perpendicularly organized TOGA COARE MCSs. Weaker, but deeper updrafts were observed in DYNAMO.


2016 ◽  
Vol 798 ◽  
pp. 299-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Sun ◽  
Sudheer Tenneti ◽  
Shankar Subramaniam ◽  
Donald L. Koch

Fluctuations in the gas-phase velocity can contribute significantly to the total gas-phase kinetic energy even in laminar gas–solid flows as shown by Mehrabadi et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 770, 2015, pp. 210–246), and these pseudo-turbulent fluctuations can also enhance heat transfer in gas–solid flow. In this work, the pseudo-turbulent heat flux arising from temperature–velocity covariance, and average fluid-phase conduction during convective heat transfer in a gas–solid flow are quantified and modelled over a wide range of mean slip Reynolds number and solid volume fraction using particle-resolved direct numerical simulations (PR-DNS) of steady flow through a random assembly of fixed isothermal monodisperse spherical particles. A thermal self-similarity condition on the local excess temperature developed by Tenneti et al. (Intl J. Heat Mass Transfer, vol. 58, 2013, pp. 471–479) is used to guarantee thermally fully developed flow. The average gas–solid heat transfer rate for this flow has been reported elsewhere by Sun et al. (Intl J. Heat Mass Transfer, vol. 86, 2015, pp. 898–913). Although the mean velocity field is homogeneous, the mean temperature field in this thermally fully developed flow is inhomogeneous in the streamwise coordinate. An exponential decay model for the average bulk fluid temperature is proposed. The pseudo-turbulent heat flux that is usually neglected in two-fluid models of the average fluid temperature equation is computed using PR-DNS data. It is found that the transport term in the average fluid temperature equation corresponding to the pseudo-turbulent heat flux is significant when compared to the average gas–solid heat transfer over a significant range of solid volume fraction and mean slip Reynolds number that was simulated. For this flow set-up a gradient-diffusion model for the pseudo-turbulent heat flux is found to perform well. The Péclet number dependence of the effective thermal diffusivity implied by this model is explained using a scaling analysis. Axial conduction in the fluid phase, which is often neglected in existing one-dimensional models, is also quantified. As expected, it is found to be important only for low Péclet number flows. Using the exponential decay model for the average bulk fluid temperature, a model for average axial conduction is developed that verifies standard assumptions in the literature. These models can be used in two-fluid simulations of heat transfer in fixed beds. A budget analysis of the mean fluid temperature equation provides insight into the variation of the relative magnitude of the various terms over the parameter space.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Changwoo Kang ◽  
Kyung-Soo Yang

In the current investigation, we performed large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent heat transfer in circular ribbed-pipe flow in order to study the effects of periodically mounted square ribs on heat transfer characteristics. The ribs were implemented on a cylindrical coordinate system by using an immersed boundary method, and dynamic subgrid-scale models were used to model Reynolds stresses and turbulent heat flux terms. A constant and uniform wall heat flux was imposed on all the solid boundaries. The Reynolds number (Re) based on the bulk velocity and pipe diameter is 24,000, and Prandtl number is fixed at Pr = 0.71. The blockage ratio (BR) based on the pipe diameter and rib height is fixed with 0.0625, while the pitch ratio based on the rib interval and rib height is varied with 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 18. Since the pitch ratio is the key parameter that can change flow topology, we focus on its effects on the characteristics of turbulent heat transfer. Mean flow and temperature fields are presented in the form of streamlines and contours. How the surface roughness, manifested by the wall-mounted ribs, affects the mean streamwise-velocity profile was investigated by comparing the roughness function. Local heat transfer distributions between two neighboring ribs were obtained for the pitch ratios under consideration. The flow structures related to heat transfer enhancement were identified. Friction factors and mean heat transfer enhancement factors were calculated from the mean flow and temperature fields, respectively. Furthermore, the friction and heat-transfer correlations currently available in the literature for turbulent pipe flow with surface roughness were revisited and evaluated with the LES data. A simple Nusselt number correlation is also proposed for turbulent heat transfer in ribbed pipe flow.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (21) ◽  
pp. 4582-4599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungsu Park ◽  
Clara Deser ◽  
Michael A. Alexander

Abstract The surface heat flux response to underlying sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (the surface heat flux feedback) is estimated using 42 yr (1956–97) of ship-derived monthly turbulent heat fluxes and 17 yr (1984–2000) of satellite-derived monthly radiative fluxes over the global oceans for individual seasons. Net surface heat flux feedback is generally negative (i.e., a damping of the underlying SST anomalies) over the global oceans, although there is considerable geographical and seasonal variation. Over the North Pacific Ocean, net surface heat flux feedback is dominated by the turbulent flux component, with maximum values (28 W m−2 K−1) in December–February and minimum values (5 W m−2 K−1) in May–July. These seasonal variations are due to changes in the strength of the climatological mean surface wind speed and the degree to which the near-surface air temperature and humidity adjust to the underlying SST anomalies. Similar features are observed over the extratropical North Atlantic Ocean with maximum (minimum) feedback values of approximately 33 W m−2 K−1 (9 W m−2 K−1) in December–February (June–August). Although the net surface heat flux feedback may be negative, individual components of the feedback can be positive depending on season and location. For example, over the midlatitude North Pacific Ocean during late spring to midsummer, the radiative flux feedback associated with marine boundary layer clouds and fog is positive, and results in a significant enhancement of the month-to-month persistence of SST anomalies, nearly doubling the SST anomaly decay time from 2.8 to 5.3 months in May–July. Several regions are identified with net positive heat flux feedback: the tropical western North Atlantic Ocean during boreal winter, the Namibian stratocumulus deck off West Africa during boreal fall, and the Indian Ocean during boreal summer and fall. These positive feedbacks are mainly associated with the following atmospheric responses to positive SST anomalies: 1) reduced surface wind speed (positive turbulent heat flux feedback) over the tropical western North Atlantic and Indian Oceans, 2) reduced marine boundary layer stratocumulus cloud fraction (positive shortwave radiative flux feedback) over the Namibian stratocumulus deck, and 3) enhanced atmospheric water vapor (positive longwave radiative flux feedback) in the vicinity of the tropical deep convection region over the Indian Ocean that exceeds the negative shortwave radiative flux feedback associated with enhanced cloudiness.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 1190-1202 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Bernie ◽  
S. J. Woolnough ◽  
J. M. Slingo ◽  
E. Guilyardi

Abstract The intraseasonal variability of SST associated with the passage of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is well documented; yet coupled model integrations generally underpredict the magnitude of this SST variability. Observations from the Improved Meteorological Instrument (IMET) mooring in the western Pacific during the intensive observing period (IOP) of the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) showed a large diurnal signal in SST that is modulated by the passage of the MJO. In this study, observations from the IOP of the TOGA COARE and a one-dimensional (1D) ocean mixed layer model incorporating the K-Profile Parameterization (KPP) vertical mixing scheme have been used to investigate the rectification of the intraseasonal variability of SST by the diurnal cycle and the implied impact of the absence of a representation of this process on the modeled intraseasonal variability in coupled GCMs. Analysis of the SST observations has shown that the increase of the daily mean SST by the diurnal cycle of SST accounts for about one-third of the magnitude of intraseasonal variability of SST associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation in the western Pacific warm pool. Experiments from the 1D model forced with fluxes at a range of temporal resolutions and with differing vertical resolution of the model have shown that to capture 90% of the diurnal variability of SST, and hence 95% of the intraseasonal variability of SST, requires a 3-h or better temporal resolution of the fluxes and a vertical grid with an upper-layer thickness of the order of 1 m. In addition to the impact of the representation of the diurnal cycle on the intraseasonal variability of SST, the strength of the mixing across the thermocline was found to be enhanced by the proper representation of the nighttime deep mixing in the ocean, implying a possible impact of the diurnal cycle onto the mean climate of the tropical ocean.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huangwei Zhang

Large eddy simulation (LES) with three-dimensional conditional moment closure (CMC) subgrid model for combustion is applied to simulate a swirl-stabilized nonpremixed methane flame with localized extinction, with special focus on the effects of heat loss to the burner surface. The convective wall heat loss is modeled through introducing a source term in the conditionally filtered total enthalpy equation for the CMC cells adjacent to the wall. The mean heat flux is high on the middle surface of the bluff body, but relatively low near its edges. The turbulent heat flux based on the gradient of the resolved temperature is relatively low compared to the laminar counterpart, but increases with the turbulent intensity. The heat loss facilitates the occurrences of extinction and re-ignition for the CMC cells immediately adjacent to the wall, evidenced by comparing flame structures in the near-wall CMC cells. This can be directly linked to the increase of the mean conditional scalar dissipation near the wall in the heat loss case. Furthermore, the degree of local extinction near the bluff body measured by conditional reactedness at stoichiometry is intensified due to the wall heat loss. However, the results also show that there is negligible influence of wall heat loss on the probability density function (PDF) of the lift-off height, demonstrating the dominance of aerodynamic effects on flame stabilization. The results are in reasonable agreement with experimental measurements.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Maloney ◽  
Hien Bui ◽  
Emily Riley Dellaripa ◽  
Bohar Singh

<p>This study analyzes wind speed and surface latent heat flux anomalies from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), aiming to understand the physical mechanisms regulating intraseasonal convection, particularly associated with the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO). The importance of wind-driven surface flux variability for supporting east Pacific diurnal convective disturbances during boreal summer is also examined. An advantage of CYGNSS compared to other space-based datasets is that its surface wind speed retrievals have reduced attenuation by precipitation, thus providing improved information about the importance of wind-induced surface fluxes for the maintenance of convection. Consistent with previous studies from buoys, CYGNSS shows that enhanced MJO precipitation is associated with enhanced wind speeds, and that associated surface heat fluxes anomalies have a magnitude about 7%-12% of precipitation anomalies. Thus, latent heat flux anomalies are an important maintenance mechanism for MJO convection through the column moist static energy budget. A composite analysis during boreal summer over the eastern north Pacific also supports the idea that wind-induced surface flux is important for MJO maintenance there. We also show the surface fluxes help moisten the atmosphere in advance of diurnal convective disturbances that propagate offshore from the Colombian Coast during boreal summer, helping to sustain such convection.  </p>


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