Mobile Integrated Profiler System (MIPS) Observations of Low-Level Convergent Boundaries during IHOP

2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haldun Karan ◽  
Kevin Knupp
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Cold Front ◽  
The Other ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Wind Profiler ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
General Increase ◽  
Convective Boundary ◽  
Convective Initiation ◽  
Slow Moving

Abstract Characteristics of convergent boundary zones (CBZs) sampled by the Mobile Integrated Profiling System (MIPS) during the 2002 International H2O Project (IHOP_2002) are presented. The MIPS sensors (915-MHz wind profiler, 12-channel microwave profiling radiometer, ceilometer, and surface instrumentation) provide very fine temporal kinematic and thermodynamic profiles of the atmospheric boundary layer and CBZ properties, including enhanced 915-MHz backscatter within the CBZ updraft (equivalent to the radar fine line), a general increase in integrated water vapor within the updrafts of the CBZ, an increase in the convective boundary layer (CBL) depth, and changes in ceilometer backscatter that are typically coincident with arrival of cooler, moister air (the case for density current CBZ). Three contrasting CBZs are analyzed. Convective initiation was associated with a slow-moving dryline as it passed over the MIPS on 19 June. Updrafts up to 6 m s−1 were measured, and the CBL attained its greatest depth within the CBZ. The CBZ in the other two cases were quite similar to density currents. The retrograding dryline of 18 June produced an enhancement in preexisting convection within 30 km of the MIPS. On 24 May, a shallow cold front, about 800 m deep, was sampled.

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 Role of Wind Shear in the Decay of Convective Boundary Layers

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Bu Park ◽  
Jong-Jin Baik ◽  
Beom-Soon Han
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Surface Heat Flux ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
The Other ◽  
Convective Boundary

The role of wind shear in the decay of the convective boundary layer (CBL) is systematically investigated using a series of large-eddy simulations. Nine CBLs with weak, intermediate, and strong wind shear are simulated, and their decays after stopping surface heat flux are investigated. After the surface heat flux is stopped, the boundary-layer-averaged turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) stays constant for almost one convective time scale and then decreases following a power law. While the decrease persists until the end of the simulation in the buoyancy-dominated (weak-shear) cases, the TKE in the other cases decreases slowly or even increases to a level which can be maintained by wind shear. In the buoyancy-dominated cases, convective cells occur, and they decay and oscillate over time. The oscillation of vertical velocity is not distinct in the other cases, possibly because wind shear disturbs the reversal of vertical circulations. The oscillations are detected again in the profiles of vertical turbulent heat flux in the buoyancy-dominated cases. In the strong-shear cases, mechanical turbulent eddies are generated, which transport heat downward in the lower boundary layers when convective turbulence decays significantly. The time series of vertical velocity skewness demonstrates the shear-dependent flow characteristics of decaying CBLs.

Density currents or density wedges: boundary-layer influence and control methods

1987 ◽  
Vol 177 ◽  
pp. 187-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard H. Jirka ◽  
Masamitsu Arita
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
State Density ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Local Form ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Viscous Effects ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Ambient Flow ◽  
Wake Zone ◽  
And Control

Density currents and density wedges are two observed manifestations of interactions between an ambient flow and a horizontal buoyant intrusion. In a density current the buoyant pressure force is primarily balanced by the local form drag of the current head which has a blunt shape and abrupt depth change. In a density wedge a distributed interfacial drag is the primary balancing force, leading to a stretched-out shape and long-distance intrusions. A perturbation analysis of the approach flow to the inclined front of a density current shows that slight momentum changes caused by viscous effects in the ambient flow determine which of these two flow types is established. In a uniform ambient channel flow, any momentum deficit relative to the inviscid case will lead to a local flattening of the front and ultimate breakdown into a density wedge. On the other hand, a momentum surplus will support a steady-state density current. Several exploratory experiments on control of the ambient boundary layer through local non-uniformities were performed with the objective of achieving stable density-current forms with limited intrusion lengths. These methods include a small step, a barrier and suction and are applied for intrusions at either the bottom or surface of an ambient water flow. In all cases, good agreement is found with the force balances predicted by Benjamin's (1968) theory and its extension by Britter & Simpson (1978) which accounts for entrainment in the wake zone of the head.

scholarly journals Radiometer and Profiler Analysis of the Effects of a Bore and a Solitary Wave on the Stability of the Nocturnal Boundary Layer

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Coleman ◽  
Kevin R. Knupp
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Free Convection ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Nocturnal Boundary Layer ◽  
Doppler Velocity ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Wind Profiler ◽  
Convective Initiation ◽  
Undular Bore ◽  
The Waves

Abstract This study uses data from a microwave profiling radiometer (MPR), along with 915-MHz wind profiler, Doppler radar, and surface data to quantify the kinematic and thermodynamic effects of two wave features, an undular bore and a soliton, on the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) at high temporal resolution. Both wave features passed directly over the MPR and the wind profiler, allowing for detailed analyses. The effects of the wave features on the convective environment are examined, and convective initiation (CI) associated with the wave features is discussed. The undular bore was illustrated well in Doppler velocity data, and profiler measurements indicated that it produced four wavelengths of upward and downward motion. MPR-derived time–height sections of potential temperature and mixing ratio showed an increase in the depth of the stable boundary layer, along with a decrease in stability, partially associated with mixing of the NBL. The soliton produced a temporary decrease in the depth of the NBL, and also produced destabilization. Trajectory analyses were performed assuming the wave features were two-dimensional, allowing a time-to-space conversion of profiler data. Trajectory analyses, in addition to propagation speed, confirm that the wave features were indeed a bore and a soliton, and that there was vertical divergence in the NBL, likely associated with the decrease in static stability. MPR data were also used to produce time series of convective parameters, including CAPE, convective inhibition (CIN), and the level of free convection (LFC). The CIN was initially too large for free convection despite sufficient CAPE, but MPR data showed that the CIN decreased by more than 50% upon passage of the bore, and again with the soliton. The waves also decreased the LFC due to cooling above the NBL and slight warming near the surface in the bore. Both the reduction in CIN and the lowering of the LFC made convection more likely. Convective initiation occurred behind both wave features, and the vertical motion provided by the waves may have also aided in this CI.

scholarly journals Cold smoke: smoke-induced density currents cause unexpected smoke transport near large wildfires

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 17945-17966
Author(s):  
N. P. Lareau ◽  
C. B. Clements
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Propagation Speed ◽  
Current Speed ◽  
Solar Heating ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Doppler Lidar ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Smoke Transport ◽  
Smoke Layer

Abstract. First observations of smoke-induced density currents originating from large wildfires are presented. Using a novel mobile Doppler LiDAR and additional in situ measurements we document a deep (~ 2 km) smoke-filled density current that propagates more than 25 km at speeds up to 4.5 m s−1 near a large forest fire in northern California. Based on these observations we show that the dynamics governing the spread of the smoke layer result from differential solar heating between the smoke-filled and smoke-free portions of the atmospheric boundary layer. A calculation of the theoretical density current speed agrees well with the observed propagation speed. Additional LiDAR and photographic documentation of other smoke-filled density currents demonstrate that these previously unknown phenomena are relatively common near large wildfires and can cause severe and unexpected smoke inundation of populated areas.

scholarly journals Cold Smoke: smoke-induced density currents cause unexpected smoke transport near large wildfires

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (20) ◽  
pp. 11513-11520 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. P. Lareau ◽  
C. B. Clements
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Propagation Speed ◽  
Current Speed ◽  
Solar Heating ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Doppler Lidar ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Smoke Transport ◽  
Smoke Layer

Abstract. The first observations of smoke-induced density currents originating from large wildfires are presented. Using a novel mobile Doppler lidar and additional in situ measurements, we document a deep (~ 2 km) smoke-filled density current that propagates more than 25 km at speeds up to 4.5 m s−1 near a large forest fire in northern California. Based on these observations we show that the dynamics governing the spread of the smoke layer result from differential solar heating between the smoke-filled and smoke-free portions of the atmospheric boundary layer. A calculation of the theoretical density current speed agrees well with the observed propagation speed. Additional lidar and photographic documentation of other smoke-filled density currents demonstrate that these previously unknown phenomena are relatively common near large wildfires and can cause severe and unexpected smoke inundation of populated areas.

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