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The JET2000 Project: Aircraft Observations of the African Easterly Jet and African Easterly Waves
Aircraft Observations of the African Easterly Jet and African Easterly Waves
Scientific background and motivation for the JET2000 aircraft observing campaign that took place in West Africa during the last week of August 2000 are presented. The Met Research Flight CI30 aircraft made two flights along the African easterly jet (AEJ) between Sal, Cape Verde, and Niamey, Niger, and two “box” flights that twice crossed the AEJ at longitudes near Niamey. Dropsondes were released at approximately 0.5°–10° intervals. The two box flights also included low-level flights that sampled north–south variations in boundary layer properties in the baroclinic zone beneath the AEJ.
Preliminary results and analysis of the JET2000 period including some of the aircraft data are presented. The JET2000 campaign occurred during a relatively dry period in the Niamey region and, perhaps consistent with this, was also associated with less coherent easterly wave activity compared to other periods in the season. Meridional cross sections of the AEJ on 28 and 29 August (after the passage of a mesoscale system) are presented and discussed. Analysis of dropsonde data on 28 August indicates contrasting convective characteristics north and south of the AEJ with dry convection more dominant to the north and moist convection more dominant to the south. The consequences of this for the AEJ and the relationship with the boundary layer observations are briefly discussed.
Preliminary NWP results indicate little sensitivity to the inclusion of the dropsonde data on the AEJ winds in European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and Met Office analyses. It is proposed that this may be due to a good surface analysis and a realistic model response to this. Both models poorly predict the AEJ in the 5-day forecast indicating the need for more process studies in the region.
Scientific background and motivation for the JET2000 aircraft observing campaign that took place in West Africa during the last week of August 2000 are presented. The Met Research Flight CI30 aircraft made two flights along the African easterly jet (AEJ) between Sal, Cape Verde, and Niamey, Niger, and two “box” flights that twice crossed the AEJ at longitudes near Niamey. Dropsondes were released at approximately 0.5°–10° intervals. The two box flights also included low-level flights that sampled north–south variations in boundary layer properties in the baroclinic zone beneath the AEJ.
Preliminary results and analysis of the JET2000 period including some of the aircraft data are presented. The JET2000 campaign occurred during a relatively dry period in the Niamey region and, perhaps consistent with this, was also associated with less coherent easterly wave activity compared to other periods in the season. Meridional cross sections of the AEJ on 28 and 29 August (after the passage of a mesoscale system) are presented and discussed. Analysis of dropsonde data on 28 August indicates contrasting convective characteristics north and south of the AEJ with dry convection more dominant to the north and moist convection more dominant to the south. The consequences of this for the AEJ and the relationship with the boundary layer observations are briefly discussed.
Preliminary NWP results indicate little sensitivity to the inclusion of the dropsonde data on the AEJ winds in European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and Met Office analyses. It is proposed that this may be due to a good surface analysis and a realistic model response to this. Both models poorly predict the AEJ in the 5-day forecast indicating the need for more process studies in the region.
Abstract
A case study of persistent stratocumulus over the Azores is simulated using two independent large-eddy simulation (LES) models with bin microphysics, and forward-simulated cloud radar Doppler moments and spectra are compared with observations. Neither model is able to reproduce the monotonic increase of downward mean Doppler velocity with increasing reflectivity that is observed under a variety of conditions, but for differing reasons. To a varying degree, both models also exhibit a tendency to produce too many of the largest droplets, leading to excessive skewness in Doppler velocity distributions, especially below cloud base. Excessive skewness appears to be associated with an insufficiently sharp reduction in droplet number concentration at diameters larger than ~200 μm, where a pronounced shoulder is found for in situ observations and a sharp reduction in reflectivity size distribution is associated with relatively narrow observed Doppler spectra. Effectively using LES with bin microphysics to study drizzle formation and evolution in cloud Doppler radar data evidently requires reducing numerical diffusivity in the treatment of the stochastic collection equation; if that is accomplished sufficiently to reproduce typical spectra, progress toward understanding drizzle processes is likely.
Abstract
A case study of persistent stratocumulus over the Azores is simulated using two independent large-eddy simulation (LES) models with bin microphysics, and forward-simulated cloud radar Doppler moments and spectra are compared with observations. Neither model is able to reproduce the monotonic increase of downward mean Doppler velocity with increasing reflectivity that is observed under a variety of conditions, but for differing reasons. To a varying degree, both models also exhibit a tendency to produce too many of the largest droplets, leading to excessive skewness in Doppler velocity distributions, especially below cloud base. Excessive skewness appears to be associated with an insufficiently sharp reduction in droplet number concentration at diameters larger than ~200 μm, where a pronounced shoulder is found for in situ observations and a sharp reduction in reflectivity size distribution is associated with relatively narrow observed Doppler spectra. Effectively using LES with bin microphysics to study drizzle formation and evolution in cloud Doppler radar data evidently requires reducing numerical diffusivity in the treatment of the stochastic collection equation; if that is accomplished sufficiently to reproduce typical spectra, progress toward understanding drizzle processes is likely.
