scholarly journals An observational study of the evolution of the atmospheric boundary-layer over Cabo Frio, Brazil

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1735-1744 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. H. Franchito ◽  
V. Brahmananda Rao ◽  
T. O. Oda ◽  
J. C. Conforte
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Coastal Upwelling ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Sea Breeze ◽  
Austral Winter ◽  
Atmospheric Mixed Layer ◽  
Cabo Frio

Abstract. The effect of coastal upwelling on the evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in Cabo Frio (Brazil) is investigated. For this purpose, radiosounding data collected in two experiments made during the austral summer (upwelling case) and austral winter (no upwelling case) are analysed. The results show that during the austral summer, cold waters that crop up near the Cabo Frio coast favour the formation of an atmospheric stable layer, which persists during the upwelling episode. Due to the low SSTs, the descending branch of the sea-breeze circulation is located close to the coast, inhibiting the development of a mixed layer mainly during the day. At night, with the reduction of the land-sea thermal contrast the descending motion is weaker, allowing a vertical mixing. The stable ABL favours the formation of a low level jet, which may also contribute to the development of a nocturnal atmospheric mixed layer. During the austral winter, due to the higher SSTs observed near the coast, the ABL is less stable compared with that in the austral summer. Due to warming, a mixed layer is observed during the day. The observed vertical profiles of the zonal winds show that the easterlies at low levels are stronger in the austral summer, indicating that the upwelling modulates the sea-breeze signal, thus confirming model simulations.

scholarly journals Characterization of the Vertical Structure of Coastal Atmospheric Boundary Layer over Thumba (, ) during Different Seasons

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandhya K. Nair ◽  
T. J. Anurose ◽  
D. Bala Subrahamanyam ◽  
N. V. P. Kiran Kumar ◽  
M. Santosh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Flow ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Seasonal Variability ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Sea Breeze ◽  
The Other ◽  
Vertical Thickness

Vertical profiles of meteorological parameters obtained from balloon-borne GPS Radiosonde for a period of more than two years are analyzed for characterization of the coastal atmospheric boundary layer (CABL) over Thumba (, , India). The study reports seasonal variability in the thickness of three different sublayers of the CABL, namely, mixed layer, turbulent flow, and sea breeze flow. Among the three, the vertical thickness of sea breeze flow showed considerable dominance on the other two throughout the year. Mixed layer heights derived through gradients in virtual potential temperature () showed large seasonal variability with a peak in the Summer and Post-Monsoon. On the other hand, the vertical thickness of turbulent flow remained steady all through the year. Results from the present study indicate that the magnitudes of mixed layer heights are often larger than the turbulent flow thickness.

scholarly journals The effect of coastal upwelling on the sea-breeze circulation at Cabo Frio, Brazil: a numerical experiment

1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 866-871 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. H. Franchito ◽  
V. B. Rao ◽  
J. L. Stech ◽  
J. A. Lorenzzetti
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Upwelling ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Sea Breeze ◽  
Atmospheric Model ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Breeze Circulation ◽  
Mesoscale Meteorology ◽  
Forcing Function ◽  
Cabo Frio

Abstract. The effect of coastal upwelling on sea-breeze circulation in Cabo Frio (Brazil) and the feedback of sea-breeze on the upwelling signal in this region are investigated. In order to study the effect of coastal upwelling on sea-breeze a non-linear, three-dimensional, primitive equation atmospheric model is employed. The model considers only dry air and employs boundary layer formulation. The surface temperature is determined by a forcing function applied to the Earth's surface. In order to investigate the seasonal variations of the circulation, numerical experiments considering three-month means are conducted: January-February-March (JFM), April-May-June (AMJ), July-August-September (JAS) and October-November-December (OND). The model results show that the sea-breeze is most intense near the coast at all the seasons. The sea-breeze is stronger in OND and JFM, when the upwelling occurs, and weaker in AMJ and JAS, when there is no upwelling. Numerical simulations also show that when the upwelling occurs the sea-breeze develops and attains maximum intensity earlier than when it does not occur. Observations show a similar behavior. In order to verify the effect of the sea-breeze surface wind on the upwelling, a two-layer finite element ocean model is also implemented. The results of simulations using this model, forced by the wind generated in the sea-breeze model, show that the sea-breeze effectively enhances the upwelling signal.Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (mesoscale meteorology; ocean-atmosphere interactions) · Oceanography (numerical modeling)

scholarly journals Thermodynamic structure of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer over the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean during pre-INDOEX and INDOEX-FFP campaigns

2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 2679-2691 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. Ramana ◽  
P. Krishnan ◽  
S. Muraleedharan Nair ◽  
P. K. Kunhikrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Trade Wind ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Abstract. Spatial and temporal variability of the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL) height for the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) study period are examined using the data collected through Cross-chained LORAN (Long-Range Aid to Navigation) Atmospheric Sounding System (CLASS) launchings during the Northern Hemispheric winter monsoon period. This paper reports the results of the analyses of the data collected during the pre-INDOEX (1997) and the INDOEX-First Field Phase (FFP; 1998) in the latitude range 14°N to 20°S over the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Mixed layer heights are derived from thermodynamic profiles and they indicated the variability of heights ranging from 400m to 1100m during daytime depending upon the location. Mixed layer heights over the Indian Ocean are slightly higher during the INDOEX-FFP than the pre-INDOEX due to anomalous conditions prevailing during the INDOEX-FFP. The trade wind inversion height varied from 2.3km to 4.5km during the pre-INDOEX and from 0.4km to 2.5km during the INDOEX-FFP. Elevated plumes of polluted air (lofted aerosol plumes) above the marine boundary layer are observed from thermodynamic profiles of the lower troposphere during the INDOEX-FFP. These elevated plumes are examined using 5-day back trajectory analysis and show that one group of air mass travelled a long way from Saudi Arabia and Iran/Iraq through India before reaching the location of measurement, while the other air mass originates from India and the Bay of Bengal.

scholarly journals The co-influence of the sea breeze and the coastal upwelling at Cabo Frio: a numerical investigation using coupled models

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flávia Noronha Dutra Ribeiro ◽  
Jacyra Soares ◽  
Amauri Pereira de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Coastal Upwelling ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Sea Breeze ◽  
Atmospheric Model ◽  
Breeze Circulation ◽  
Coupled Models ◽  
Initial Field ◽  
Oceanic Model ◽  
Cabo Frio

A coupled atmospheric-oceanic model was used to investigate whether there is a positive feedback between the coastal upwelling and the sea breeze at Cabo Frio - RJ (Brazil). Two experiments were performed to ascertain the influence of the sea breeze on the coastal upwelling: the first one used the coupled model forced with synoptic NE winds of 8 m s-1 and the sign of the sea breeze circulation was set by the atmospheric model; the second experiment used only the oceanic model with constant 8 m s-1 NE winds. Then, to study the influence of the coastal upwelling on the sea breeze, two more experiments were performed: one using a coastal upwelling representative SST initial field and the other one using a constant and homogeneous SST field of 26°C. Finally, two more experiments were conducted to verify the influence of the topography and the spatial distribution of the sea surface temperature on the previous results. The results showed that the sea breeze can intensify the coastal upwelling, but the coastal upwelling does not intensify the sea breeze circulation, suggesting that there is no positive feedback between these two phenomena at Cabo Frio.

scholarly journals Atmospheric boundary layer dynamics from balloon soundings worldwide: CLASS4GL v1.0

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2139-2153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Wouters ◽  
Irina Y. Petrova ◽  
Chiel C. van Heerwaarden ◽  
Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano ◽  
Adriaan J. Teuling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Weather Extremes ◽  
Coupled Models ◽  
Layer Height ◽  
Mixed Layer Height

Abstract. The coupling between soil, vegetation and atmosphere is thought to be crucial in the development and intensification of weather extremes, especially meteorological droughts, heat waves and severe storms. Therefore, understanding the evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and the role of land–atmosphere feedbacks is necessary for earlier warnings, better climate projection and timely societal adaptation. However, this understanding is hampered by the difficulties of attributing cause–effect relationships from complex coupled models and the irregular space–time distribution of in situ observations of the land–atmosphere system. As such, there is a need for simple deterministic appraisals that systematically discriminate land–atmosphere interactions from observed weather phenomena over large domains and climatological time spans. Here, we present a new interactive data platform to study the behavior of the ABL and land–atmosphere interactions based on worldwide weather balloon soundings and an ABL model. This software tool – referred to as CLASS4GL (http://class4gl.eu, last access: 27 May 2018) – is developed with the objectives of (a) mining appropriate global observational data from ∼15 million weather balloon soundings since 1981 and combining them with satellite and reanalysis data and (b) constraining and initializing a numerical model of the daytime evolution of the ABL that serves as a tool to interpret these observations mechanistically and deterministically. As a result, it fully automizes extensive global model experiments to assess the effects of land and atmospheric conditions on the ABL evolution as observed in different climate regions around the world. The suitability of the set of observations, model formulations and global parameters employed by CLASS4GL is extensively validated. In most cases, the framework is able to realistically reproduce the observed daytime response of the mixed-layer height, potential temperature and specific humidity from the balloon soundings. In this extensive global validation exercise, a bias of 10.1 m h−1, −0.036 K h−1 and 0.06 g kg−1 h−1 is found for the morning-to-afternoon evolution of the mixed-layer height, potential temperature and specific humidity. The virtual tool is in continuous development and aims to foster a better process understanding of the drivers of the ABL evolution and their global distribution, particularly during the onset and amplification of weather extremes. Finally, it can also be used to scrutinize the representation of land–atmosphere feedbacks and ABL dynamics in Earth system models, numerical weather prediction models, atmospheric reanalysis and satellite retrievals, with the ultimate goal of improving local climate projections, providing earlier warning of extreme weather and fostering a more effective development of climate adaptation strategies. The tool can be easily downloaded via http://class4gl.eu (last access: 27 May 2018) and is open source.

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