scholarly journals The Deflection of the China Coastal Current over the Taiwan Bank in Winter

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1433-1450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enhui Liao ◽  
Lie Yauw Oey ◽  
Xiao-Hai Yan ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Yuwu Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Coastal Current ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Bottom Stress ◽  
In Situ Data ◽  
Offshore Flow

AbstractIn winter, an offshore flow of the coastal current can be inferred from satellite and in situ data over the western Taiwan Bank. The dynamics related to this offshore flow are examined here using observations as well as analytical and numerical models. The currents can be classified into three regimes. The downwind (i.e., southward) cold coastal current remains attached to the coast when the northeasterly wind stress is stronger than a critical value depending on the upwind (i.e., northward) large-scale pressure gradient force. By contrast, an upwind warm current appears over the Taiwan Bank when the wind stress is less than the critical pressure gradient force. The downwind coastal current and upwind current converge and the coastal current deflects offshore onto the bank during a moderate wind. Analysis of the vorticity balance shows that the offshore transport is a result of negative bottom stress curl that is triggered by the positive vorticity of the two opposite flows. The negative bottom stress curl is reinforced by the gentle slope over the bank, which enhances the offshore current. Composite analyses using satellite observations show cool waters with high chlorophyll in the offshore current under moderate wind. The results of composite analyses support the model findings and may explain the high productivity over the western bank in winter.

scholarly journals On the Formation Dynamics of the North Equatorial Undercurrent

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 1399-1415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junlu Li ◽  
Jianping Gan
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Relative Vorticity ◽  
Velocity Shear ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Wind Stress Curl ◽  
Equatorial Undercurrent ◽  
The North ◽  
Southern Branch

AbstractBased on a physics-oriented modeling study, we investigate the underlying forcing processes of the North Equatorial Undercurrent (NEUC). Made up of large-scale (~90%) and mesoscale (~10%) components, the NEUC weakens eastward with a longitude-independent seasonality. The large-scale component reflects the effect of the meridional baroclinic pressure gradient force (PGF_BC). The vertical velocity shear forms the eastward NEUC, when the PGF_BC exceeds the meridional barotropic pressure gradient force (PGF_BT). The mesoscale variability with alternating jets is linked to the wind stress curl in different regions of the tropical North Pacific. Spatially, the NEUC has a northern (NEUC_N) and a southern branch (NEUC_S), which are mainly attributed to the transports from Luzon Undercurrent (LUC) and Mindanao Undercurrent (MUC), respectively. The LUC of ~3 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) feeds the NEUC_N in summer, while the MUC of ~4 Sv fuels the NEUC_S in autumn and the two branches do not coexist. The total NEUC transport peaks in August/September, and there exist three distinct periods in a 1-yr cycle: the non-NEUC period in winter, the LUC-driven period in summer, and the MUC-driven period in autumn. Based on the layer-integrated vorticity equation, we diagnose quantitatively that the variation of the NEUC is dominated by the lateral planetary vorticity influx from the LUC and the MUC. These external influxes interact with the internal dynamics of pressure torques and stress curls in the NEUC layer, to jointly govern the NEUC and its variability. Meanwhile, the nonlinearity due to relative vorticity advection near the coast modulates the strength of the NEUC.

scholarly journals Ocean dynamic equations with the real gravity

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Chu
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Dynamic Equations ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
The Real ◽  
Ocean Dynamic ◽  
Scale Motion

AbstractTwo different treatments in ocean dynamics are found between the gravity and pressure gradient force. Vertical component is 5–6 orders of magnitude larger than horizontal components for the pressure gradient force in large-scale motion, and for the gravity in any scale motion. The horizontal pressure gradient force is considered as a dominant force in oceanic motion from planetary to small scales. However, the horizontal gravity is omitted in oceanography completely. A non-dimensional C number (ratio between the horizontal gravity and the Coriolis force) is used to identify the importance of horizontal gravity in the ocean dynamics. Unexpectedly large C number with the global mean around 24 is obtained using the community datasets of the marine geoid height and ocean surface currents. New large-scale ocean dynamic equations with the real gravity are presented such as hydrostatic balance, geostrophic equilibrium, thermal wind, equipotential coordinate system, and vorticity equation.

scholarly journals Coastal Trapped Waves, Alongshore Pressure Gradients, and the California Undercurrent*

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Connolly ◽  
Barbara M. Hickey ◽  
Igor Shulman ◽  
Richard E. Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Current System ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradients ◽  
Transport Pathway ◽  
California Current System

Abstract The California Undercurrent (CUC), a poleward-flowing feature over the continental slope, is a key transport pathway along the west coast of North America and an important component of regional upwelling dynamics. This study examines the poleward undercurrent and alongshore pressure gradients in the northern California Current System (CCS), where local wind stress forcing is relatively weak. The dynamics of the undercurrent are compared in the primitive equation Navy Coastal Ocean Model and a linear coastal trapped wave model. Both models are validated using hydrographic data and current-meter observations in the core of the undercurrent in the northern CCS. In the linear model, variability in the predominantly equatorward wind stress along the U.S. West Coast produces episodic reversals to poleward flow over the northern CCS slope during summer. However, reproducing the persistence of the undercurrent during late summer requires additional incoming energy from sea level variability applied south of the region of the strongest wind forcing. The relative importance of the barotropic and baroclinic components of the modeled alongshore pressure gradient changes with latitude. In contrast to the southern and central portions of the CCS, the baroclinic component of the alongshore pressure gradient provides the primary poleward force at CUC depths over the northern CCS slope. At time scales from weeks to months, the alongshore pressure gradient force is primarily balanced by the Coriolis force associated with onshore flow.

scholarly journals A Cloud-Resolving Simulation Study on the Merging Processes and Effects of Topography and Environmental Winds

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 1232-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danhong Fu ◽  
Xueliang Guo
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Level Pressure ◽  
Merging Process ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Water Vapor Convergence

Abstract The cloud-resolving fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5) was used to study the cloud interactions and merging processes in the real case that generated a mesoscale convective system (MCS) on 23 August 2001 in the Beijing region. The merging processes can be grouped into three classes for the studied case: isolated nonprecipitating and precipitating cell merging, cloud cluster merging, and echo core or updraft core merging within cloud systems. The mechanisms responsible for the multiscale merging processes were investigated. The merging process between nonprecipitating cells and precipitating cells and that between clusters is initiated by forming an upper-level cloud bridge between two adjacent clouds due to upper-level radial outflows in one vigorous cloud. The cloud bridge is further enhanced by a favorable middle- and upper-level pressure gradient force directed from one cloud to its adjacent cloud by accelerating cloud particles being horizontally transported from the cloud to its adjacent cloud and induce the redistribution of condensational heating, which destabilizes the air at and below the cloud bridge and forms a favorable low-level pressure structure for low-level water vapor convergence and merging process. The merging of echo cores within the mesoscale cloud happens because of the interactions between low-level cold outflows associated with the downdrafts formed by these cores. Further sensitivity studies on the effects of topography and large-scale environmental winds suggest that the favorable pressure gradient force from one cloud to its adjacent cloud and stronger low-level water vapor convergence produced by the topographic lifting of large-scale low-level airflow determine further cloud merging processes over the mountain region.

scholarly journals Extratropical Influence on 200-hPa Easterly Acceleration over the Western Indian Ocean Preceding Madden–Julian Oscillation Convective Onset

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Gahtan ◽  
Paul Roundy
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Madden Julian Oscillation ◽  
Initial Development

Abstract The onset of Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) deep convection often occurs over the western Indian Ocean and has upper-tropospheric circulation precursors that consist of eastward-circumnavigating tropical easterlies and subtropical cyclonic Rossby gyres near eastern Africa. Moreover, the evolution of the large-scale circulation and its ability to reduce subsidence may be necessary for the initial development of organized deep convection. To better understand the evolution of the circulation precursors and their interaction with convective onset, this paper analyzes the upper-tropospheric zonal momentum budget using a regional index based on the temporal progression of the meridional structure of intraseasonal outgoing longwave radiation anomalies over eastern Africa and the western Indian Ocean. The circumnavigating intraseasonal easterly acceleration produces upper-level divergence when it reaches the western extent of a region of intraseasonal westerlies and may provide a forcing for the in-phase midtropospheric upward vertical motion. For about three-quarters of the identified cases, the easterly acceleration over the western Indian Ocean is a response to the zonal pressure gradient over the region. In the composite, the negative pressure gradient force may be initially induced by the injection of negative geopotential height anomalies from the extratropics of both hemispheres to the tropics over eastern Africa, though tropically circumnavigating and local signals may also contribute to the easterly acceleration, especially in the days following convective onset.

scholarly journals PADRÕES DE VENTO A NÍVEL DE SUPERFÍCIE PARA REGIÃO DA COSTA NORTE DO BRASIL

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 383
Author(s):  
Luiz Eduardo Medeiros ◽  
Gilberto Fisch ◽  
Paulo Iriart ◽  
Felipe Denardin Costa ◽  
Dionnathan Willian Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Surface Pressure ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Hadley Cell ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Momentum Balance ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Meridional Component

The atmospheric flow near the surface and in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) are investigated for the coastal part of Maranhão state. Near the coast in the PBL the flow is predominantly from the northeast quadrant with its meridional component increasing during the day and being from north-northeast and decreasing during the course of the night to be from east-northeast at early morning. The result of this is a small counterclockwise rotation but with no flow reversals. Through an analysis of extensive radiosonde data it is found that the flow above the PBL is predominantly southeasterly for the region. It is consequence of the outflow from the descending branch of the large-scale circulation of the Hadley cell. For stations further inland the flow is from approximately northeast during period between morning to noon but rotating clockwise to become from southeast-east (SEE) sector at early evening. The clockwise rotation continues in the afternoon and the wind becomes from south, and later southwest when in the evening it quickly becomes from north. The wind rotation during this period is mainly determined by an oscillating surface pressure gradient-force. During the night the local surface wind tendency is not controlled by the gradient-force probably because the air has to go against higher terrain and negative buoyancy becomes an important force of the momentum balance. The oscillating surface pressure-gradient-force is a response to a sea-breeze circulation. In the coast, we speculate that the flow does not reverse its meridional component because the surface pressure-gradient point south there for most of the time.

scholarly journals A Specific Large-Scale Pressure Gradient Forcing for Computation of Realistic 3D Wind Fields Over a Canopy at Stand Scale

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francois Pimont ◽  
Jean-Luc Dupuy ◽  
Rodman Linn ◽  
Jeremy Sauer
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Macro Scale

Turbulent flows over and within forest canopies have recently been modeled with success using Large Eddy Simulations (LES). Validation exercises against experimental data suggest that models can be applied with a high degree of confidence for many applications, mechanical and physiological plant/atmosphere interaction analysis, seed or pollen dispersal, wildfire spread and firebrand transport, or investigation of causes of eddy-covariance technique bias. Long distances required for shear-induced turbulence to equilibrate, result in the widespread use of cyclic boundary conditions in LES atmospheric boundary layer studies. Vegetation drag dissipates air momentum in the atmosphere, but equilibrium is often achieved through compensatory momentum source, supplied by macro-scale pressure gradient forcing. Unfortunately, both classical Ekman balance or simple spatially-constant pressure gradient techniques for implementing this forcing have major drawbacks in the context of cyclic boundary conditions for the applications listed above. Among them, it is difficult to specify aspects of the mean velocity profile such as a specific desired wind velocity and direction at a reference height. In the present paper, we propose a new technique for capturing the effects of a large-scale pressure gradient force (LSPGF) that can be used at stand scale and enables simulation of realistic and specifiable wind fields. Several variants of this LSPGF are developed and analyzed here and validated against experimental data. Although this LSPGF technique is developed in the context of HIGRAD/FIRETEC wildfire simulations, LSPGF can be used for any LES wind modeling application aimed at generating detailed stand-scale wind fields with resolved turbulence and shear profiles consistent with vegetation structure in the boundary layer.

scholarly journals Shifting momentum balance and frictional adjustment observed over the inner-shelf during a storm

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 897-924
Author(s):  
M. Grifoll ◽  
A. Aretxabaleta ◽  
J. L. Pelegrí ◽  
M. Espino
Keyword(s):  
Wind Stress ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Momentum Balance ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Inner Shelf ◽  
Bottom Stress ◽  
Nw Mediterranean ◽  
High Kinetic Energy ◽  
Nw Mediterranean Sea

Abstract. We investigate the rapidly changing equilibrium between the momentum sources and sinks during the passage of a two-peak storm over the Catalan inner-shelf (NW Mediterranean Sea). Velocity measurements at 24 m water depth are taken as representative of the inner shelf, and the cross-shelf variability is explored with additional measurements at 50 m water depth. At 24 m, as the storm-related wind stress accelerated the flow, velocity increased throughout the water column, resulting in bottom stress starting to become important. The sea level also responded, with the pressure gradient force opposing the wind stress. In particular, during the second wind pulse, there were rapid oscillations in the acceleration and advective terms, apparently reflecting the incapacity of the bottom stress to dissipate the high kinetic energy of the system. The Coriolis and wave induced terms (via radiation stresses) were less important in the momentum balance. The frictional adjustment time scale was around 10 h, consistent with the e-folding time obtained from bottom drag parameterizations. Estimates of the frictional time and Ekman depth confirm the prevailing frictional response at 24 m. The momentum evolution in deeper parts of the shelf (50 m) showed an increase in the Coriolis force at the expense of the frictional term, typical in the transition from the inner to the mid-shelf.

scholarly journals Some Exact Solutions of the Equations of Magnetohydrodynamics when Both Self-Attraction and Magnetic Fields Are Present

1958 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 1080-1083
Author(s):  
G. C. McVittie
Keyword(s):  
Heat Conduction ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Exact Solutions ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Constant Density ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Compressible Material

This paper describes recent work on magnetohydrodynamics by M. H. Rogers and myself. It has seemed to us that the large-scale dynamics of cosmical gas clouds must take into account the fact that a gas is a compressible material, so that the hypothesis of a constant density must be avoided. Secondly, there must be present a pressure-gradient force. Thirdly, self-gravitation cannot be omitted. Fourthly, the motion should be adiabatic, in the first instance at least. To these conditions we have now also added the effects of the presence of magnetic fields, but have assumed that the conductivity of the material is infinite and that it is of constant permeability. We have neglected the effects of turbulence, of viscosity, and of heat conduction.

Gap Flows through Idealized Topography. Part II: Effects of Rotation and Surface Friction

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 2720-2739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saša Gaberšek ◽  
Dale R. Durran
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Surface Friction ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Synoptic Scale ◽  
Mesoscale Circulations ◽  
Balanced Flow ◽  
Large Scale Flow ◽  
Effects Of Rotation

Abstract Numerical simulations are conducted of geostrophically balanced flow over an isolated mountain cut by a horizontal gap. The relative importance of the along-gap synoptic-scale pressure gradient and terrain-induced mesoscale circulations for the generation of gap winds was examined by changing the direction of the synoptic-scale wind relative to the topography. In all cases, the forcing associated with mesoscale circulations generated by the mountain was at least as significant as the synoptic-scale pressure gradient. In the cases where a component of the large-scale flow was directed perpendicular to the ridge, the dynamics were dominated by either the vertical momentum fluxes due to mountain lee waves or by mesoscale pressure gradients associated with upstream blocking or lee troughing. Mesoscale circulations were also important when the large-scale flow was parallel to the ridge because surface friction turned the low-level winds toward the high pressure side of the ridge, partially blocking the flow and enhancing the along-gap pressure gradient. The flow in the interior of a very long uniform gap was also simulated for a case with the synoptic-scale winds parallel to the ridge so that the synoptic-scale pressure gradient was down the gap. The flow in the interior of the long gap was not horizontal and not in a simple dynamical balance between acceleration, the pressure gradient force, and surface friction. Even the flow in the lowest 150 m was gradually subsiding. Subsidence and lateral momentum flux convergence at low levels near the center of the gap were important contributors to the mass and along-gap momentum budgets.

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