scholarly journals The OWLeS IOP2b Lake-Effect Snowstorm: Dynamics of the Secondary Circulation

2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (7) ◽  
pp. 2437-2459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip T. Bergmaier ◽  
Bart Geerts ◽  
Leah S. Campbell ◽  
W. James Steenburgh
Keyword(s):  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Secondary Circulation ◽  
Land Breeze ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
Axis Parallel ◽  
Convergence Zones

Intense lake-effect snowfall results from a long-lake-axis-parallel (LLAP) precipitation band that often forms when the flow is parallel to the long axis of an elongated body of water, such as Lake Ontario. The intensity and persistence of the localized precipitation along the downwind shore and farther inland suggests the presence of a secondary circulation that helps organize such a band, and maintain it for some time as the circulation is advected inland. Unique airborne vertical-plane dual-Doppler radar data are used here to document this secondary circulation in a deep, well-organized LLAP band observed during intensive observing period (IOP) 2b of the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) field campaign. The circulation, centered on a convective updraft, intensified toward the downwind shore and only gradually weakened inland. The question arises as to what sustains such a circulation in the vertical plane across the LLAP band. WRF Model simulations indicate that the primary LLAP band and other convergence zones observed over Lake Ontario during this IOP were initiated by relatively shallow airmass boundaries, resulting from a thermal contrast (i.e., land-breeze front) and differential surface roughness across the southern shoreline. Airborne radar data near the downwind shore of the lake indicate that the secondary circulation was much deeper than these shallow boundaries and was sustained primarily by rather symmetric solenoidal forcing, enhanced by latent heat release within the updraft region.

scholarly journals LLAP Band Structure and Intense Lake-Effect Snowfall Downwind of Lake Ontario: Insights from the OWLeS 7–9 January 2014 Event

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (10) ◽  
pp. 1691-1715
Author(s):  
Philip T. Bergmaier ◽  
Bart Geerts
Keyword(s):  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Secondary Circulation ◽  
Land Breeze ◽  
Surface Heat Fluxes ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
Axis Parallel

AbstractModeling and observational studies stemming from the 2013–14 Ontario Winter Lake-Effect Systems (OWLeS) field campaign have yielded much insight into the structure and development of long-lake-axis-parallel (LLAP) lake-effect systems over Lake Ontario. This study uses airborne single- and dual-Doppler radar data obtained during two University of Wyoming King Air flights, as well as a high-resolution numerical model simulation, to examine and contrast two distinctly different LLAP band structures observed within a highly persistent lake-effect system on 7–9 January 2014. On 7 January, a very cold air mass accompanied by strong westerly winds and weak capping aloft resulted in a deep, intense LLAP band that produced heavy snowfall well inland. In contrast, weaker winds, weaker surface heat fluxes, and stronger capping aloft resulted in a weaker LLAP band on 9 January. This band was blocked along the downwind shore and produced only light snowfall closer to the shoreline. Although the two structures examined here represent opposite ends of a spectrum of LLAP bands, both cases reveal a well-organized mesoscale secondary circulation composed of two counterrotating horizontal vortices positioned on either side of a narrow updraft within the band. In both cases, this circulation traces back to a shallow, baroclinic land-breeze front originating along a bulge in the lake’s southern shoreline. As the band extends downstream and the low-level baroclinity weakens, buoyancy increases within the band—driven in part by cloud latent heating—leading to band intensification and a deeper, stronger, and more symmetric secondary circulation over the lake.

scholarly journals Understanding Heavy Lake-Effect Snowfall: The Vertical Structure of Radar Reflectivity in a Deep Snowband over and downwind of Lake Ontario

2016 ◽  
Vol 144 (11) ◽  
pp. 4221-4244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Welsh ◽  
Bart Geerts ◽  
Xiaoqin Jing ◽  
Philip T. Bergmaier ◽  
Justin R. Minder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Radar Reflectivity ◽  
Distribution Data ◽  
W Band ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
X Band ◽  
Axis Parallel ◽  
Frictional Convergence

Abstract The distribution of radar-estimated precipitation from lake-effect snowbands over and downwind of Lake Ontario shows more snowfall in downwind areas than over the lake itself. Here, two nonexclusive processes contributing to this are examined: the collapse of convection that lofts hydrometeors over the lake and allows them to settle downwind; and stratiform ascent over land, due to the development of a stable boundary layer, frictional convergence, and terrain, leading to widespread precipitation there. The main data sources for this study are vertical profiles of radar reflectivity and hydrometeor vertical velocity in a well-defined, deep long-lake-axis-parallel band, observed on 11 December 2013 during the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) project. The profiles are derived from an airborne W-band Doppler radar, as well as an array of four K-band radars, an X-band profiling radar, a scanning X-band radar, and a scanning S-band radar. The presence of convection offshore is evident from deep, strong (up to 10 m s−1) updrafts producing bounded weak-echo regions and locally heavily rimed snow particles. The decrease of the standard deviation, skewness, and peak values of Doppler vertical velocity during the downwind shore crossing is consistent with the convection collapse hypothesis. Consistent with the stratiform ascent hypothesis are (i) an increase in mean vertical velocity over land; and (ii) an increasing abundance of large snowflakes at low levels and over land, due to depositional growth and aggregation, evident from flight-level and surface particle size distribution data, and from differences in reflectivity values from S-, X-, K-, and W-band radars at nearly the same time and location.

scholarly journals The OWLeS IOP2b Lake-Effect Snowstorm: Shoreline Geometry and the Mesoscale Forcing of Precipitation

2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (7) ◽  
pp. 2421-2436 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. James Steenburgh ◽  
Leah S. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
System Development ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Land Breeze ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
The North ◽  
Lake Effect

Long-lake-axis-parallel (LLAP) lake-effect precipitation systems that form when the flow is parallel to the long axis of an elongated body of water frequently produce intense, highly localized snowfall. Conceptual models of these LLAP systems typically emphasize the role of thermally forced land breezes from the flanking shorelines, with low-level convergence and ascent centered near the lake axis. In reality, other factors such as shoreline geometry and differential surface roughness can strongly influence LLAP systems. Here a WRF Model simulation is used to examine the mesoscale forcing of lake-effect precipitation over Lake Ontario during IOP2b of the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) field campaign. In the simulation, the large-scale flow, shoreline geometry, and differential surface heating and roughness contribute to the development of three major airmass boundaries. The first is a land-breeze front that forms along a bulge in the south shoreline between St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and Thirty Mile Point, New York; extends downstream over eastern Lake Ontario; and plays a primary role in the LLAP system development. The second is a land-breeze front that forms along the southeast shoreline near Oswego, New York; extends downstream and obliquely across the LLAP system near Tug Hill; and influences inland precipitation processes. The third is a convergence zone that extends downstream from the north shoreline near Point Petre, Ontario, Canada; and contributes to the intermittent development of lake-effect precipitation north of the primary LLAP system. These results highlight the multifaceted nature of LLAP system development over Lake Ontario, especially the contributions of shoreline geometry and mesoscale airmass boundaries.

scholarly journals WRF-model sensitivity test and assimilation studies of Cempaka tropical cyclone

2021 ◽  
Vol 893 (1) ◽  
pp. 012029
Author(s):  
Fazrul Rafsanjani Sadarang ◽  
Fitria Puspita Sari
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Time Integration ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Control Model ◽  
Cyclone Track ◽  
Tropical Cyclone Track ◽  
Parameterization Schemes ◽  
Assimilation Scheme

Abstract The WRF model was used to forecast the most intensive stage of Cempaka Tropical Cyclone (TC) on 27 - 29 November 2017. This study evaluates the combination of cumulus and microphysics parameterization and the efficiency of assimilation method to predict pressure values at the center of the cyclone, maximum wind speed, and cyclone track. This study tested 18 combinations of cumulus and microphysics parameterization schemes to obtain the best combination of both parameterization schemes which later on called as control model (CTL). Afterward, assimilation schemes using 3DVAR cycles of 1, 3, 6 hours, and 4DVAR, namely RUC01, RUC03, RUC06, and 4DV, were evaluated for two domains with grid size of each 30 and 10 km. GFS data of 0.25-degree and the Yogyakarta Doppler Radar data were used as the initial data and assimilation data input, respectively. The result of the parameterization test shows that there is no combination of parameterization schemes that constantly outperform all variables. However, the combination of Kain-Fritsch and Thompson can produce the best prediction of tropical cyclone track compared to other combinations. While, the RUC03 assimilation scheme was noted as the most efficient method based on the accuracy of track prediction and duration of model time integration.

Doppler Radar Analysis of the Eyewall Replacement Cycle of Hurricane Matthew (2016) in Vertical Wind Shear

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting-Yu Cha ◽  
Michael M. Bell ◽  
Alexander J. DesRosiers
Keyword(s):  
Wind Shear ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Secondary Circulation ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Radar Observations ◽  
Eyewall Replacement Cycle ◽  
Replacement Cycle

AbstractHurricane Matthew (2016) was observed by ground-based polarimetric radars in Miami (KAMX), Melbourne (KMLB), and Jacksonville (KJAX) and a NOAA P3 airborne tail Doppler radar near the coast of the southeastern United States during an eyewall replacement cycle (ERC). The radar observations indicate that Matthew’s primary eyewall was replaced with a weaker outer eyewall, but unlike a classic ERC, Matthew did not reintensify after the inner eyewall disappeared. Triple Doppler analysis was calculated from the NOAA P3 airborne fore and aft radar scanning combined with the KAMX radar data during the period of secondary eyewall intensification and inner eyewall weakening from 19 UTC 6 October to 00 UTC 7 October. Four flight passes of the P3 aircraft show the evolution of the reflectivity, tangential winds, and secondary circulation as the outer eyewall became well-established. Further evolution of the ERC is analyzed from the ground-based single Doppler radar observations for 35 hours with high temporal resolution at a 5-minute interval from 19 UTC 6 October to 00 UTC 8 October using the Generalized Velocity Track Display (GVTD) technique. The single-Doppler analyses indicate that the inner eyewall decayed a few hours after the P3 flight, while the outer eyewall contracted but did not reintensify and the asymmetries increased episodically. The analysis suggests that the ERC process was influenced by a complex combination of environmental vertical wind shear, an evolving axisymmetric secondary circulation, and an asymmetric vortex Rossby wave damping mechanism that promoted vortex resiliency despite increasing shear.

scholarly journals The Evolution of Lake-Effect Convection during Landfall and Orographic Uplift as Observed by Profiling Radars

2015 ◽  
Vol 143 (11) ◽  
pp. 4422-4442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin R. Minder ◽  
Theodore W. Letcher ◽  
Leah S. Campbell ◽  
Peter G. Veals ◽  
W. James Steenburgh
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Structure ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Horizontal Distance ◽  
Field Campaign ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
X Band ◽  
Liquid Precipitation ◽  
K Band

Abstract A pronounced snowfall maximum occurs about 30 km downwind of Lake Ontario over the 600-m-high Tug Hill Plateau (hereafter Tug Hill), a region where lake-effect convection is affected by mesoscale forcing associated with landfall and orographic uplift. Profiling radar data from the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems field campaign are used to characterize the inland evolution of lake-effect convection that produces the Tug Hill snowfall maximum. Four K-band profiling Micro Rain Radars (MRRs) were aligned in a transect from the Ontario coast onto Tug Hill. Additional observations were provided by an X-band profiling radar (XPR). Analysis is presented of a major lake-effect storm that produced 6.4-cm liquid precipitation equivalent (LPE) snowfall over Tug Hill. This event exhibited strong inland enhancement, with LPE increasing by a factor of 1.9 over 15-km horizontal distance. MRR profiles reveal that this enhancement was not due to increases in the depth or intensity of lake-effect convection. With increasing inland distance, echoes transitioned from a convective toward a stratiform morphology, becoming less intense, more uniform, more frequent, and less turbulent. An inland increase in echo frequency (possibly orographically forced) contributes somewhat to snowfall enhancement. The XPR observations reproduce the basic vertical structure seen by the MRRs while also revealing a suppression of snowfall below 600 m AGL upwind of Tug Hill, possibly associated with subcloud sublimation or hydrometeor advection. Statistics from 29 events demonstrate that the above-described inland evolution of convection is common for lake-effect storms east of Lake Ontario.

Detailed Dual-Doppler Structure of Kelvin–Helmholtz Waves from an Airborne Profiling Radar over Complex Terrain. Part I: Dynamic Structure

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 1761-1782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coltin Grasmick ◽  
Bart Geerts
Keyword(s):  
Complex Terrain ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Dynamic Structure ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Range Resolution ◽  
Small Complex ◽  
Steep Terrain ◽  
Airborne Doppler Radar ◽  
The Waves

Abstract Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) waves are remarkably common in deep stratiform precipitation systems associated with frontal disturbances, at least in the vicinity of complex terrain, as is evident from transects of vertical velocity and 2D circulation, obtained from a 3-mm airborne Doppler radar, the Wyoming Cloud Radar. The high range resolution of this radar (~40 m) allows detection and depiction of KH waves in fine detail. These waves are observed in a variety of wavelengths, depths, amplitudes, and turbulence intensities. Proximity rawinsonde data confirm that they are triggered in layers where the Richardson number is very small. Complex terrain may locally enhance wind shear, leading to KH instability. In some KH waves, the flow remains mostly laminar, while in other cases it breaks down into turbulence. KH waves are frequently locked to the terrain, and occur at various heights, including within the free troposphere, at the boundary layer top, and close to the surface. They are observed not only upwind of terrain barriers, as has been documented before, but also in the wake of steep terrain, where the waves can be highly turbulent. Vertical-plane dual-Doppler analyses of KH waves reveal the mixing of layers of differential momentum across the high-shear zone. Doppler radar data are used to explore the dynamics of KH waves, including the response of thermodynamic and kinematic variables above, below, and within the instability layer.

Finescale Vertical Structure of a Cold Front as Revealed by an Airborne Doppler Radar

2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Geerts ◽  
Rick Damiani ◽  
Samuel Haimov
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Structure ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Cold Front ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Doppler Velocity ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Convective Boundary ◽  
Flight Level ◽  
Airborne Doppler Radar

Abstract In the afternoon of 24 May 2002, a well-defined and frontogenetic cold front moved through the Texas panhandle. Detailed observations from a series of platforms were collected near the triple point between this cold front and a dryline boundary. This paper primarily uses reflectivity and Doppler velocity data from an airborne 95-GHz radar, as well as flight-level thermodynamic data, to describe the vertical structure of the cold front as it intersected with the dryline. The prefrontal convective boundary layer was weakly capped, weakly sheared, and about 2.5 times deeper than the cold-frontal density current. The radar data depict the cold front as a fine example of an atmospheric density current at unprecedented detail (∼40 m). The echo structure and dual-Doppler-inferred airflow in the vertical plane reveal typical features such as a nose, a head, a rear-inflow current, and a broad current of rising prefrontal air that feeds the accelerating front-to-rear current over the head. The 2D cross-frontal structure, including the frontal slope, is highly variable in time or alongfront distance. Along this slope horizontal vorticity, averaging ∼0.05 s−1, is generated baroclinically, and the associated strong cross-front shear triggers Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) billows at the density interface. Some KH billows occupy much of the depth of the density current, possibly even temporarily cutting off the head from its trailing body.

scholarly journals Variational Pseudo-Multiple-Doppler Wind Retrieval in the Vertical Plane for Ground-Based Mobile Radar Data

2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1165-1185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher C. Weiss ◽  
Howard B. Bluestein ◽  
Robert Conzemius ◽  
Evgeni Fedorovich
Keyword(s):  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Radial Component ◽  
Processing Technique ◽  
Observation System ◽  
Observation Error ◽  
Convective Boundary ◽  
Wind Retrieval ◽  
The Difference

Abstract A variational procedure is developed that utilizes mobile ground-based range–height indicator (RHI) Doppler radar velocity data for the synthesis of two-dimensional, RHI plane wind vectors. The radial component winds are obtained with the radar platform in motion, a data collection strategy referred to as the rolling RHI technique. Using the assumption of stationarity—standard to any pseudo-multiple-Doppler processing technique—individual radial velocity values at a given point in space will contribute a varying amount of independent information to the two components of wind velocity in the RHI plane, depending strongly on the difference in radar viewing angles amongst the looks. The variational technique is tested successfully with observation system simulation experiments, using both a homogeneous flow field and large eddy simulation (LES) output from a highly sheared convective boundary layer simulation. Pseudoradar data are collected in these tests in a manner consistent with the specifications of the University of Massachusetts mobile W-band radar, which was used in a separate study to resolve the finescale structure of a dryline during the International H2O Project (IHOP_2002). The results of these tests indicate clearly that the technique performs well in regions of adequate “look” angle separation. Observation error contributes significantly to the analysis when the radar looks become more collinear.

Radar Data Assimination in WRF Model to Forecast Heavy Rainfall at Ho Chi Minh City

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1S) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tran Duy Thuc ◽  
Cong Thanh
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Rainfall ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Cold Start ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Warm Start ◽  
South Vietnam ◽  
Better Than

Abstract: This article using high resolution WRF model simulation on a heavy rainfall in summer at Hochiminh city by using radar data to assimilation initial conditions with 3DVAR method, the WRF3Dvar running simulation with two modes: cold start and warm start combine with three cases: only Reflectivity of radar; Reflectivity and Doppler radar radial wind observations; Reflectivity, Doppler radar radial wind, and GTS data. The background error used was CV7 created from 6 months forecast in South Vietnam. Radar data before assimilation was quality control and thinned to remove noise and create the best observation. 24 station rainfall in South Vietnam using to an evaluation of WRF model simulation. Results show assimilation only reflectivity will affect to variable qcloud, qvapor and qrain on the initial condition of model and assimilation only Doppler radar radial wind improve wind. Compare each case show warm start simulation precipitation better than the cold start, assimilation both Doppler radar radial wind observations, the reflectivity of radar and GTS better than another case. Key words: WRFDA,RADAR

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document