A diagnostic study of contrasting rainfall epochs over Mumbai

An attempt has made to diagnose the synoptic features and some dynamic and thermodynamic parameters associated with contrasting rainfall situations (on consecutive days) during the monsoon season, over Mumbai. Study has been made for two contrasting monsoon years, viz. 1987 (Bad monsoon year) and 1988 (Good monsoon year). For this study RS data of Mumbai have been used. In many cases heavy rainfall on an isolated day over Mumbai is associated with the following synoptic systems (a) a trough on sea level chart running along west coast through Maharashtra Coast and (b) a cyclonic circulation (CYCIR) over Gujarat in the lower/middle tropospheric level. At least one of the above two systems ceased to exist on the days of light rainfall. Weighted average value of moist static energy is more on the day of heavy rainfall. In most of the cases convective available potential energy (CAPE) is also more on the day of heavy rainfall. LFC, on most of the cases, is seen to have lowered down on the days of heavy rainfall. Variation in upper air flow pattern and scorer parameter also gave very interesting clues to variation of rainfall on contrasting days.

Turbulencia- és hegyihullámképződés-diagnosztikák a repülési előrejelzésben az Országos Meteorológiai Szolgálatnál

Az Országos Meteorológiai Szolgálat Repülésmeteorológiai Osztályán folyó egyik kutatómunka az új repülésmeteorológiai honlap (http://aviation.met.hu) Modell előrejelzések menüpontja alatt található, a hullámrepülés támogatását szolgáló aloldal fejlesztését célozza. E kutatás első lépéseiről az első szerző egy korábbi cikkben már beszámolt. Az akkori tervek közül néhány már megvalósult, valamint új irányok felé is nyitott a kutatás. Az AROME-modellből ma már több esettanulmányhoz előállt a Scorer-paraméter, a közeljövő feladata az operatív modellből történő előállítás kidolgozása. Az esettanulmányok feldolgozására egy MSc-diplomamunka keretében kerül sor. A turbulencia előrejelzésével kapcsolatban egy korábban független, a szerzőtársak által végzett másik kutatás került kapcsolatba. Az ő kutatásuk parametrizációk fejlesztésével a szabad légköri turbulencia modellezésének fejlesztését célozza. Megállapították, hogy csapdázott hegyi hullámok jelenléte esetén jelentős az alulbecslés, ezért a további terv közös munkával megpróbálni eredményt elérni.

Bores Observed during IHOP_2002: The Relationship of Bores to the Nocturnal Environment

This study documents atmospheric bores and other convergent boundaries in the southern Great Plains’ nocturnal environment during the IHOP_2002 summer campaign. Observational evidence demonstrates that convective outflows routinely generate bores. Statistically resampled flow regimes, derived from an adaptation of hydraulic theory, agree well with observations. Specifically, convective outflows within the observed environments are likely to produce a partially blocked flow regime, which is a favorable condition for generating a bore. Once a bore develops, the direction of movement generally follows the orientation of the bulk shear vector between the nose of the nocturnal low-level jet and a height of 1.5 or 2.5 km AGL. This relationship is believed to be a consequence of wave trapping through the curvature of the horizontal wind with respect to height. This conclusion comes after analyzing the profile of the Scorer parameter. Overall, these findings provide an impetus for future investigations aimed at understanding and predicting nocturnal deep convection over this region.

Evolution and Vertical Structure of an Undular Bore Observed on 20 June 2015 during PECAN

This study documents the evolution of an impressive, largely undular bore triggered by an MCS-generated density current on 20 June 2015, observed as part of the Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN) experiment. The University of Wyoming King Air with profiling nadir- and zenith-viewing lidars sampled the south-bound bore from the time the first bore wave emerged from the nocturnal convective cold pool and where updrafts over 10 m s−1 and turbulence in the wave’s wake were encountered, through the early dissipative stage in which the leading wave began to lose amplitude and speed. Through most of the bore’s life cycle, its second wave had a higher or equal amplitude relative to the leading wave. Striking roll clouds formed in wave crests and wave energy was detected to about 5 km AGL. The upstream environment indicates a negative Scorer parameter region due to flow reversal at midlevels, providing a wave trapping mechanism. The observed bore strength of 2.4–2.9 and speed of 15–16 m s−1 agree well with values predicted from hydraulic theory. Surface and profiling measurements collected later in the bore’s life cycle, just after sunrise, indicate a transition to a soliton.

Low-Level Convergence Lines over Northeastern Australia. Part II: Southerly Disturbances

Observations of northward-moving borelike convergence lines over the southern part of the Gulf of Carpentaria region of northern Australia are described. Eleven such disturbances were documented during the 45-day period of the 2002 Gulf Lines Experiment. Of these, six were classified as major and five as minor, depending on their coherence throughout the region. The mean synoptic conditions leading to the two types of events were found to differ. The data for the events provide further insight into the structure and origin of borelike disturbances in the region. Two of the major events, those of 28–29 September and 9 October, are particularly noteworthy. The first of these had a clear double-change structure at all surface stations in the southeastern gulf region with an undular borelike wave preceding and separating from an airmass change in the form of a dryline. It is probably one of the best documented cases of its type. The second, which was documented in unprecedented detail by an instrumented research aircraft, consisted of three separate disturbances: one moving from the southeast, one from the south, and one from the northeast, all of which collided over the gulf. It is believed that the aircraft measurements are the first of their kind anywhere in the world. The aircraft made two long low-level transects through the disturbances and a higher-level transect where they were colliding. Various soundings were also made. The aircraft data showed clearly the undular borelike nature of the southeasterly disturbance. Measured vertical velocities in the waves were as high as 3 m s−1 at a mean altitude of about 230 m. Vertical velocities as high as 5 m s−1 were measured in the region of the collision at an altitude of about 1 km. The longevity of the bores is not explained by the vertical structure of the Scorer parameter, which indicates a leaky waveguide.

Long solitary internal waves in stable stratifications

Observations of internal solitary waves over an antarctic ice shelf (Rees and Rottman, 1994) demonstrate that even large amplitude disturbances have wavelengths that are bounded by simple heuristic arguments following from the Scorer parameter based on linear theory for wave trapping. Classical weak nonlinear theories that have been applied to stable stratifications all begin with perturbations of simple long waves, with corrections for weak nonlinearity and dispersion resulting in nonlinear wave equations (Korteweg-deVries (KdV) or Benjamin-Davis-Ono) that admit localized propagating solutions. It is shown that these theories are apparently inappropriate when the Scorer parameter, which gives the lowest wavenumber that does not radiate vertically, is positive. In this paper, a new nonlinear evolution equation is derived for an arbitrary wave packet thus including one bounded below by the Scorer parameter. The new theory shows that solitary internal waves excited in high Richardson number waveguides are predicted to have a halfwidth inversely proportional to the Scorer parameter, in agreement with atmospheric observations. A localized analytic solution for the new wave equation is demonstrated, and its soliton-like properties are demonstrated by numerical simulation.