scholarly journals Vertical transport of pollutants by shallow cumuli from large eddy simulations

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 11391-11413
Author(s):  
G. Chen ◽  
H. Xue ◽  
G. Feingold ◽  
X. Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Inversion Layer ◽  
Lower Boundary ◽  
Vertical Transport ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
Cumulus Clouds ◽  
Shallow Cumulus ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Dry Convection ◽  
Lower Boundary Layer

Abstract. This study investigates the vertical transport of a passive tracer in a shallow cumulus boundary layer using large eddy simulations. The tracer source is at the surface in one case, and in the inversion layer in the other case. Results show that shallow cumulus clouds can significantly enhance vertical transport of the tracer in both cases. In the case with surface-borne pollutants, cloudy regions are responsible for the upward transport, due to the intense updrafts in cumulus clouds. In the case where pollutants are aloft, cloud-free regions are responsible for the downward transport, but the downward transport mainly occurs in thin regions around cloud edges. This is consistent with previous aircraft measurements of downdrafts around cumulus clouds and indicates that the downward transport is also cloud-induced. We also preformed cloud-free sensitivity runs for the two cases. Results show that this dry convection can neither transport the surface-borne pollutants into the inversion layer, nor transport pollutants from the inversion layer downward to the lower boundary layer. Cumulus convection is therefore more effective than dry convection at venting pollutants upward from the surface, and fumigating pollutants in the inversion layer downward into the lower boundary layer.

scholarly journals Vertical transport of pollutants by shallow cumuli from large eddy simulations

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 11319-11327 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Chen ◽  
H. Xue ◽  
G. Feingold ◽  
X. Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Inversion Layer ◽  
Lower Boundary ◽  
Vertical Transport ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
Cumulus Clouds ◽  
Shallow Cumulus ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Upward Transport ◽  
Lower Boundary Layer

Abstract. This study investigates the vertical transport of a passive tracer in a shallow cumulus boundary layer using large eddy simulations. The tracer source is at the surface in one case, and in the inversion layer in the other case. Results show that shallow cumulus clouds can significantly enhance vertical transport of the tracer in both cases. In the case with surface-borne pollutants, cloudy regions are responsible for the upward transport, due to the intense updrafts in cumulus clouds. In the case where pollutants are aloft, cloud-free regions are responsible for the downward transport, but the downward transport mainly occurs in thin regions around cloud edges. This is consistent with previous aircraft measurements of downdrafts around cumulus clouds and indicates that the downward transport is also cloud-induced. Cumulus convection is therefore able to both vent pollutants upward from the surface and fumigate pollutants in the inversion layer downward into the lower boundary layer.

scholarly journals Resolution Dependence of Turbulent Structures in Convective Boundary Layer Simulations

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary-Jane M. Bopape ◽  
Robert S. Plant ◽  
Omduth Coceal
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
Convective Boundary Layer ◽  
Inversion Layer ◽  
Lower Boundary ◽  
Quadrant Analysis ◽  
Turbulent Structures ◽  
Convective Boundary ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Lower Boundary Layer

Large-eddy simulations are performed using the U.K. Met Office Large Eddy Model to study the effects of resolution on turbulent structures in a convective boundary layer. A standard Smagorinsky subgrid scheme is used. As the grid length is increased, the diagnosed height of the boundary layer increases, and the horizontally- and temporally-averaged temperature near the surface and in the inversion layer increase. At the highest resolution, quadrant analysis shows that the majority of events in the lower boundary layer are associated with cold descending air, followed by warm ascending air. The largest contribution to the total heat flux is made by warm ascending air, with associated strong thermals. At lower resolutions, the contribution to the heat flux from cold descending air is increased, and that from cold ascending air is reduced in the lower boundary layer; around the inversion layer, however, the contribution from cold ascending air is increased. Calculations of the heating rate show that the differences in cold ascending air are responsible for the warm bias below the boundary layer top in the low resolution simulations. Correlation length and time scales for coherent resolved structures increase with increasing grid coarseness. The results overall suggest that differences in the simulations are due to weaker mixing between thermals and their environment at lower resolutions. Some simple numerical experiments are performed to increase the mixing in the lower resolution simulations and to investigate backscatter. Such simulations are successful at reducing the contribution of cold ascending air to the heat flux just below the inversion, although the effects in the lower boundary layer are weaker.

scholarly journals Automated tracking of shallow cumulus clouds in large domain, long duration Large Eddy Simulations

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 2287-2323 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Heus ◽  
A. Seifert
Keyword(s):  
Large Data ◽  
Current Method ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
Large Data Sets ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Cumulus Clouds ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
Shallow Cumulus ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Large Eddy

Abstract. This paper presents a method for feature tracking of fields of shallow cumulus convection in Large Eddy Simulations (LES) by connecting the projected cloud cover in space and time, and by accounting for splitting and merging of cloud objects. Existing methods tend to be either imprecise or, when using the full 3 dimensional spatial field, prohibitively expensive for large data sets. Compared to those 3-D methods, the current method reduces the memory footprint by up to a factor 100, while retaining most of the precision by correcting for splitting and merging events between different clouds. The precision of the algorithm is further enhanced by taking the vertical extent of the cloud into account. Furthermore, rain and subcloud thermals are also tracked, and links between clouds, their rain, and their subcloud thermals are made. The method compares well with results from the literature. Resolution and domain dependencies are also discussed. For the current simulations, the cloud size distribution converges for clouds larger than an effective resolution of 6Δx, and smaller than about 20% of the horizontal domains size.

scholarly journals A Closer Look at Boundary Layer Inversion in Large-Eddy Simulations and Bulk Models: Buoyancy-Driven Case

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 728-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Gentine ◽  
Gilles Bellon ◽  
Chiel C. van Heerwaarden
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Convective Boundary Layer ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Inversion Layer ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
Buoyancy Flux ◽  
Convective Boundary ◽  
Strong Inversion ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Large Eddy

Abstract The inversion layer (IL) of a clear-sky, buoyancy-driven convective boundary layer is investigated using large-eddy simulations covering a wide range of convective Richardson numbers. A new model of the IL is suggested and tested. The model performs better than previous first-order models of the entrainment and provides physical insights into the main controls of the mixed-layer and IL growths. A consistent prognostic equation of the IL growth is derived, with explicit dependence on the position of the minimum buoyancy flux, convective Richardson number, and relative stratification across the inversion G. The IL model expresses the interrelationship between the position and magnitude of the minimum buoyancy flux and inversion-layer depth. These relationships emphasize why zero-order jump models of the convective boundary layer perform well under a strong inversion and show that these models miss the additional parameter G to fully characterize the entrainment process under a weak inversion. Additionally, the position of the minimum buoyancy flux within the new IL model is shown to be a key component of convective boundary layer entrainment. The new IL model is sufficiently simple to be used in numerical weather prediction or general circulation models as a way to resolve the IL in a low-vertical-resolution model.

scholarly journals Cloud droplet growth in shallow cumulus clouds considering 1-D and 3-D thermal radiative effects

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 6295-6313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolin Klinger ◽  
Graham Feingold ◽  
Takanobu Yamaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Radiation ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
Droplet Growth ◽  
Radiative Effects ◽  
Cumulus Clouds ◽  
Shallow Cumulus ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Thermal Cooling

Abstract. The effect of 1-D and 3-D thermal radiation on cloud droplet growth in shallow cumulus clouds is investigated using large eddy simulations with size-resolved cloud microphysics. A two-step approach is used for separating microphysical effects from dynamical feedbacks. In step one, an offline parcel model is used to describe the onset of rain. The growth of cloud droplets to raindrops is simulated with bin-resolved microphysics along previously recorded Lagrangian trajectories. It is shown that thermal heating and cooling rates can enhance droplet growth and raindrop production. Droplets grow to larger size bins in the 10–30 µm radius range. The main effect in terms of raindrop production arises from recirculating parcels, where a small number of droplets are exposed to strong thermal cooling at cloud edge. These recirculating parcels, comprising about 6 %–7 % of all parcels investigated, make up 45 % of the rain for the no-radiation simulation and up to 60 % when 3-D radiative effects are considered. The effect of 3-D thermal radiation on rain production is stronger than that of 1-D thermal radiation. Three-dimensional thermal radiation can enhance the rain amount up to 40 % compared to standard droplet growth without radiative effects in this idealized framework. In the second stage, fully coupled large eddy simulations show that dynamical effects are stronger than microphysical effects, as far as the production of rain is concerned. Three-dimensional thermal radiative effects again exceed one-dimensional thermal radiative effects. Small amounts of rain are produced in more clouds (over a larger area of the domain) when thermal radiation is applied to microphysics. The dynamical feedback is shown to be an enhanced cloud circulation with stronger subsiding shells at the cloud edges due to thermal cooling and stronger updraft velocities in the cloud center. It is shown that an evaporation–circulation feedback reduces the amount of rain produced in simulations where 3-D thermal radiation is applied to microphysics and dynamics, in comparison to where 3-D thermal radiation is only applied to dynamics.

Coherent Structures in Large-Eddy Simulations of a Nonprecipitating Stratocumulus-Topped Boundary Layer

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (12) ◽  
pp. 4117-4137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Davini ◽  
Fabio D’Andrea ◽  
Seung-Bu Park ◽  
Pierre Gentine
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Transport ◽  
Inversion Layer ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
Convective Structures ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Areal Fraction ◽  
Temperature Liquid ◽  
Heat And Moisture ◽  
Negligible Contribution

Abstract The properties of coherent convective structures are analyzed in a nonprecipitating marine nocturnal stratocumulus-topped boundary layer (STBL) with a series of high-resolution large-eddy simulations (LESs). A new classification method based on octant analysis—using vertical velocity and two passive scalars—is introduced to systematically define convective structures in both the cloudy and the cloud-free regions. It is therefore possible to detect and track updrafts, downdrafts, and their turbulent shells (both ascending and subsiding), together with the entraining air from the inversion layer or the free troposphere. The geometrical and thermodynamical characteristics (e.g., areal fraction, temperature, liquid and total water mixing ratio, buoyancy) of those structures are then accurately described, and particular attention is given to their respective contributions to the turbulent transport of mass, heat, and moisture. It is shown that updrafts, downdrafts, and entrainment are equally important to describe the STBL dynamics. Conversely, it is found that shells, although they partially contribute to the mass transport, have a negligible contribution to the turbulent fluxes of heat and moisture.

scholarly journals Evaluation of large-eddy simulations forced with mesoscale model output for a multi-week period during a measurement campaign

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 7083-7109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rieke Heinze ◽  
Christopher Moseley ◽  
Lennart Nils Böske ◽  
Shravan Kumar Muppa ◽  
Vera Maurer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Mesoscale Model ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
Model Output ◽  
Synoptic Scale ◽  
High Definition ◽  
Shallow Cumulus ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Lidar Measurements ◽  
The Mean

Abstract. Large-eddy simulations (LESs) of a multi-week period during the HD(CP)2 (High-Definition Clouds and Precipitation for advancing Climate Prediction) Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) conducted in Germany are evaluated with respect to mean boundary layer quantities and turbulence statistics. Two LES models are used in a semi-idealized setup through forcing with mesoscale model output to account for the synoptic-scale conditions. Evaluation is performed based on the HOPE observations. The mean boundary layer characteristics like the boundary layer depth are in a principal agreement with observations. Simulating shallow-cumulus layers in agreement with the measurements poses a challenge for both LES models. Variance profiles agree satisfactorily with lidar measurements. The results depend on how the forcing data stemming from mesoscale model output are constructed. The mean boundary layer characteristics become less sensitive if the averaging domain for the forcing is large enough to filter out mesoscale fluctuations.

On the lifecycle of a shallow cumulus cloud: Is it a bubble or plume, active or forced?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Romps ◽  
Rusen Öktem ◽  
Satoshi Endo ◽  
Andrew M. Vogelmann
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Cover ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Doppler Lidar ◽  
Cumulus Cloud ◽  
Cumulus Clouds ◽  
Shallow Cumulus ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Stereo Cameras ◽  
Using Data

AbstractA cloud’s lifecycle determines how its mass flux translates into cloud cover, thereby setting Earth’s albedo. Here, an attempt is made to quantify the most basic aspects of the lifecycle of a shallow cumulus cloud: the degree to which it is a bubble or plume, and active or forced. Quantitative measures are proposed for these properties, which are then applied to hundreds of shallow cumulus clouds in Oklahoma using data from stereo cameras, a Doppler lidar, and large-eddy simulations. The observed clouds are intermediate between active and forced, but behave more like bubbles than plumes. The simulated clouds, on the other hand, are more active and plume-like, suggesting room for improvement in the modeling of shallow cumulus.

scholarly journals Automated tracking of shallow cumulus clouds in large domain, long duration large eddy simulations

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1261-1273 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Heus ◽  
A. Seifert
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Domain Size ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Current Method ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Cumulus Clouds ◽  
Shallow Cumulus ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Large Eddy

Abstract. This paper presents a method for feature tracking of fields of shallow cumulus convection in large eddy simulations (LES) by connecting the projected cloud cover in space and time, and by accounting for splitting and merging of cloud objects. Existing methods tend to be either imprecise or, when using the full three-dimensional (3-D) spatial field, prohibitively expensive for large data sets. Compared to those 3-D methods, the current method reduces the memory footprint by up to a factor 100, while retaining most of the precision by correcting for splitting and merging events between different clouds. The precision of the algorithm is further enhanced by taking the vertical extent of the cloud into account. Furthermore, rain and subcloud thermals are also tracked, and links between clouds, their rain, and their subcloud thermals are made. The method compares well with results from the literature. Resolution and domain dependencies are also discussed. For the current simulations, the cloud size distribution converges for clouds larger than an effective resolution of 6 times the horizontal grid spacing, and smaller than about 20% of the horizontal domain size.

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