On the Diurnal Cycle of Heavy Rainfall over the Sichuan Basin during 10–18 August 2020

A sustained heavy rainfall event occurred over the Sichuan basin in southwest China during 10–18 August 2020, showing pronounced diurnal rainfall variations with nighttime peak and afternoon minimum values, except on the first day. Results show that the westward extension of the anomalously strong western Pacific subtropical high was conducive to the maintenance of a southerly low-level jet (LLJ) in and to the southeast of the basin, which favored continuous water vapor transport and abnormally high precipitable water in the basin. The diurnal cycle of rainfall over the basin was closely related to the periodic oscillation of the LLJ in both wind speed and direction that was caused by the combination of inertial oscillation and terrain thermal forcing. The nocturnally enhanced rainfall was produced by moist convection mostly initiated during the evening hours over the southwest part of the basin where high convective available potential energy with moister near-surface moist air was present. The convective initiation took place as cold air from either previous precipitating clouds from the western Sichuan Plateau or a larger-scale northerly flow met a warm and humid current from the south. It was the slantwise lifting of the warm, moist airflow above the cold air, often facilitated by southwest vortices and quasi-geostrophic ascent, that released the convective instability and produced heavy rainfall.

Double-Nosed Low-Level Jets over Complex Terrain: Driving Mechanisms and Analytical Modeling

<p>Low-level jets (LLJs) are a peculiar feature of the nocturnal Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) and they have been extensively observed both in flat and complex terrain configurations. On the contrary, double-nosed LLJs have been rarely investigated. They essentially consist in the simultaneous occurrence of two noses (i.e. two wind-speed maxima) within the PBL vertical profile of wind speed, but their origin and mechanisms remain rather unclear.</p><p>Data collected in an open valley during the MATERHORN field experiment are used here first to demonstrate that double-nosed LLJs are frequently observed at the site during stable nocturnal conditions, and second to describe the mechanisms that drive their formation. Structural characteristics of these double-nosed LLJs are originally described using refined criteria proposed in the literature.</p><p>Two driving mechanisms for double-nosed LLJs are newly proposed in the current study. The first mechanism is wind-driven, in which the two noses are associated with different air masses flowing one on top of the other. The second mechanism is wave-driven, in which a flow perturbation generates an inertial-gravity wave. This wave vertically transports momentum causing the occurrence of a secondary nose, leading to the formation of a double-nosed LLJ. Careful examination of the temporal evolution of these events also revealed the short-lived and transitional nature of the secondary nose in both the mechanisms, as opposite to the primary nose whose evolution appeared instead driven by inertial oscillations. Application of two analytical inertial-oscillation models retrieved from the literature confirms this hypothesis. Indeed, both models satisfactorily reproduce the observed single-nosed LLJs but fail to capture the temporary formation of the secondary nose.</p>

E-wave asymmetry elucidates diastolic ventricular stiffness-relaxation coupling: model-based prediction with in vivo validation

Although diastolic stiffness and relaxation are considered independent chamber properties, the cardio-hemic inertial oscillation that generates E-waves obeys Newton’s law. E-waves vary with heart rate requiring simultaneous change in stiffness and relaxation. By retrospective analysis of human heart-rate varying transmitral Doppler-data, we show that diastolic stiffness and relaxation are coupled and that the coupling manifests through E-wave asymmetry, quantified through a parametrized diastolic filling model-derived dimensionless parameter, which only depends on deceleration time and acceleration time, readily obtainable via standard echocardiography.

The Role of Upper-Level Coupling on Great Plains Low-Level Jet Structure and Variability

The Great Plains (GP) southerly nocturnal low-level jet (GPLLJ) is a dominant contributor to the region’s warm-season (May–September) mean and extreme precipitation, wind energy generation, and severe weather outbreaks—including mesoscale convective systems. The spatiotemporal structure, variability, and impact of individual GPLLJ events are closely related to their degree of upper-level synoptic coupling, which varies from strong coupling in synoptic trough–ridge environments to weak coupling in quiescent, synoptic ridge environments. Here, we apply an objective dynamic classification of GPLLJ upper-level coupling and fully characterize strongly coupled (C) and relatively uncoupled (UC) GPLLJs from the perspective of the ground-based observer. Through composite analyses of C and UC GPLLJ event samples taken from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ Coupled Earth Reanalysis of the twentieth century (CERA-20C), we address how the frequency of these jet types, as well as their inherent weather- and climate-relevant characteristics—including wind speed, direction, and shear; atmospheric stability; and precipitation—vary on diurnal and monthly time scales across the southern, central, and northern subregions of the GP. It is shown that C and UC GPLLJ events have similar diurnal phasing, but the diurnal amplitude is much greater for UC GPLLJs. C GPLLJs tend to have a faster and more elevated jet nose, less low-level wind shear, and enhanced CAPE and precipitation. UC GPLLJs undergo a larger inertial oscillation (Blackadar mechanism) for all subregions, and C GPLLJs have greater geostrophic forcing (Holton mechanism) in the southern and northern GP. The results underscore the need to differentiate between C and UC GPLLJs in future seasonal forecast and climate prediction activities.

Instability Processes in Simulated Finite-Width Ocean Fronts

A simple, isolated front is modeled using a turbulence resolving, large-eddy simulation (LES) to examine the generation of instabilities and inertial oscillations by surface fluxes. Both surface cooling and surface wind stress are considered. Coherent roll instabilities with 200–300-m horizontal scale form rapidly within the front after the onset of surface forcing. With weak surface cooling and no wind, the roll axis aligns with the front, yielding results that are equivalent to previous constant gradient symmetric instability cases. After ~1 day, the symmetric modes transform into baroclinic mixed modes with an off-axis orientation. Traditional baroclinic instability develops by day 2 and thereafter dominates the overall circulation. Addition of destabilizing wind forcing produces a similar behavior, but with off-axis symmetric-Ekman shear modes at the onset of instability. In all cases, imbalance of the geostrophic shear by vertical mixing leads to an inertial oscillation in the frontal currents. Analysis of the energy budget indicates an exchange between kinetic energy linked to the inertial currents and potential energy associated with restratification as the front oscillates in response to the vertically sheared inertial current. Inertial kinetic energy decreases from enhanced mixed layer turbulence dissipation and vertical propagation of inertial wave energy into the pycnocline.

Convection Initiation and Growth at the Coast of South China. Part I: Effect of the Marine Boundary Layer Jet

Convection initiation (CI) and the subsequent upscale convective growth (UCG) at the coast of South China in a warm-sector heavy rainfall event are shown to be closely linked to a varying marine boundary layer jet (MBLJ) over the northern South China Sea (NSCS). To elucidate the dynamic and thermodynamic roles of the MBLJ in CI and UCG, we conducted and analyzed convection-permitting numerical simulations and observations. Compared to radar observations, the simulations captured CI locations and the following southwest–northeast-oriented convection development. The nocturnal MBLJ peaks at 950 hPa and significantly intensifies with turning from southwesterly to nearly southerly by inertial oscillation. The strengthened MBLJ promotes mesoscale ascent on its northwestern edge and terminus where enhanced convergence zones occur. Located directly downstream of the MBLJ, the coastal CI and UCG are dynamically supported by mesoscale ascent. From a thermodynamic perspective, a warm moist tongue over the NSCS is strengthened by the MBLJ-driven mesoscale ascent as well as by a high sea surface temperature. The warm moist tongue farther extends northeastward by horizontal transport and arrives at the coast where CI and UCG occur. Near the CI location, rapid development of a low-level saturated layer is mainly attributed to the mesoscale ascent and low-level moistening associated with the MBLJ. In addition, subsequent CI happens on either side of the original CI along the coast due to the delay of low-level moistening, which partly contributes to linear convective growth. Furthermore, ensemble simulations confirmed that a stronger MBLJ is more favorable to CI and UCG near the coast.

Inertial oscillation modes of an inclined dipolar magnetosphere as a source of band-limited noise in X-ray pulsars

ABSTRACT Magnetic fields of strongly magnetized stars can trap conducting matter due to frozen-in condition. In the force-free regime, the motion of the matter along the field lines may be considered in the ‘bead on a wire’ approximation. Such a motion, if gravity and centrifugal forces are taken into account, has equilibrium points, some of which are stable. In most cases, stability is possible in about several per cent of the possible locations. Corresponding oscillation frequencies span the range from zero to $\sqrt{3}$ of the spin frequency. We suggest that this variability mode may be excited in some X-ray pulsars during the outbursts and create the peaked broad-band noise component near the break frequency in the power density spectrum, as well as produce some of the quasi-periodic oscillation features in this frequency range. Existence of this variability does not require any changes in mass accretion rate and involves only a small amount of matter infiltrating from the disc and magnetic flow due to interchange instabilities.

Penetration of Wind-Generated Near-Inertial Waves into a Turbulent Ocean

An idealized storm scenario is examined in which a wind-generated inertial wave interacts with a turbulent baroclinic quasigeostrophic flow. The flow is initialized by spinning up an Eady model with a stratification profile based on observations. The storm is modeled as an initial value problem for a mixed layer confined, horizontally uniform inertial oscillation. The primordial inertial oscillation evolves according to the phase-averaged model of Young and Ben Jelloul. Waves feed back onto the flow by modifying the potential vorticity. In the first few days, refraction dominates and wave energy is attracted (repelled) by regions of negative (positive) vorticity. Wave energy is subsequently drained down into the interior ocean guided by anticyclonic vortices. This drainage halts as wave energy encounters weakening vorticity. After a week or two, wave energy accumulates at the bottom of negative vorticity features, that is, along filamentary structures at shallow depths and in larger anticyclonic vortices at greater depths. Wave feedback tends to weaken vortices and thus slows the penetration of waves into the ocean interior. This nonlinear effect, however, is weak even for vigorous storms.

Understanding Atypical Midlevel Wind Speed Maxima in Hurricane Eyewalls

In tropical cyclones (TCs), the peak wind speed is typically found near the top of the boundary layer (approximately 0.5–1 km). Recently, it was shown that in a few observed TCs, the wind speed within the eyewall can increase with height within the midtroposphere, resulting in a secondary local maximum at 4–5 km. This study presents additional evidence of such an atypical structure, using dropsonde and Doppler radar observations from Hurricane Patricia (2015). Near peak intensity, Patricia exhibited an absolute wind speed maximum at 5–6-km height, along with a weaker boundary layer maximum. Idealized simulations and a diagnostic boundary layer model are used to investigate the dynamics that result in these atypical wind profiles, which only occur in TCs that are very intense (surface wind speed > 50 m s−1) and/or very small (radius of maximum winds < 20 km). The existence of multiple maxima in wind speed is a consequence of an inertial oscillation that is driven ultimately by surface friction. The vertical oscillation in the radial velocity results in a series of unbalanced tangential wind jets, whose magnitude and structure can manifest as a midlevel wind speed maximum. The wavelength of the inertial oscillation increases with vertical mixing length l∞ in a turbulence parameterization, and no midlevel wind speed maximum occurs when l∞ is large. Consistent with theory, the wavelength in the simulations scales with (2K/I)1/2, where K is the (vertical) turbulent diffusivity, and I2 is the inertial stability. This scaling is used to explain why only small and/or strong TCs exhibit midlevel wind speed maxima.

Diurnal Cycle of the Asian Summer Monsoon: Air Pump of the Second Kind

Diurnal variations of rainfall and winds are pronounced over the Asian summer monsoon region, but their activities under different monsoon conditions are not clarified. Here, the diurnal cycle of monsoon flow and its influence are examined using 20-yr satellite rainfall and reanalysis data. A total of 1840 summer days are partitioned into four dynamic groups of strong or weak background flows with large or small diurnal amplitudes of low-level meridional wind. Large-scale southerly wind is found to be strongest after midnight, with a large diurnal amplitude on strong monsoon days over central-north India and southeast China. Such a nocturnal speed-up is closely associated with the Blackadar boundary layer inertial oscillation due to the diurnal heating over low-lying landmass. It acts like a large air pump that injects moisture poleward at night and strengthens monsoonal circulation with anomalous rising motion at the northern rainband of the Asian monsoon. In particular, monsoon southerlies with large nighttime speed-up converge with downslope winds from the Himalayas or northerly anomaly from midlatitudes. Enhanced water vapor convergence facilitates the growth of organized convection, producing substantial rainfall at the Himalayan foothills in predawn hours and at the mei-yu–baiu zone from predawn to noon. When monsoon flow undergoes a small diurnal cycle, rainfall is instead displaced south and mostly recorded in daytime. Both the daily mean and morning peak of rainfall are suppressed on land under weak monsoon southerlies. Moreover, the monsoon diurnal cycle exhibits evident intraseasonal/interannual variations and contributes to rainfall variability. The results highlight that monsoon flow couples with subdaily forcings to strongly regulate the detailed patterns of rainfall and moisture budget over the Asian monsoon regions.