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Abstract
A simple nonlinear model of the generation of Kelvin waves is presented and applied to internal Kelvin waves in Lake Michigan. It is shown that a Kelvin wave which has a wavelength longer than the Rossby radius of deformation steepens. This may explain “warm fronts” in records of nearshore temperature in Lake Michigan.
Abstract
A simple nonlinear model of the generation of Kelvin waves is presented and applied to internal Kelvin waves in Lake Michigan. It is shown that a Kelvin wave which has a wavelength longer than the Rossby radius of deformation steepens. This may explain “warm fronts” in records of nearshore temperature in Lake Michigan.
Abstract
A two-layer circular lake model is used to study the mean flow of Lake Ontario during midsummer. By computing the model only to the second order of amplitude, it is shown that the observed cyclonic circulation of Lake Ontario during summer is due to the rectified effects of the large, transient, wind-driven currents. This effect is strongly influenced by model grid resolution and friction.
Abstract
A two-layer circular lake model is used to study the mean flow of Lake Ontario during midsummer. By computing the model only to the second order of amplitude, it is shown that the observed cyclonic circulation of Lake Ontario during summer is due to the rectified effects of the large, transient, wind-driven currents. This effect is strongly influenced by model grid resolution and friction.
Abstract
Observations of Lake Ontario during the International Field Year for the Great Lakes are used to develop a. three-dimensional numerical model for calculating temperature and current. The model has a variable grid resolution and a horizontal smoothing which filters out small-scale vertical motion caused by truncation error but has little effect on the strong currents of the coastal boundary layer. Resolution of the shore zones and reduced horizontal smoothing improve simulation of both long-term mean flow and current reversals due to low-frequency waves.
Abstract
Observations of Lake Ontario during the International Field Year for the Great Lakes are used to develop a. three-dimensional numerical model for calculating temperature and current. The model has a variable grid resolution and a horizontal smoothing which filters out small-scale vertical motion caused by truncation error but has little effect on the strong currents of the coastal boundary layer. Resolution of the shore zones and reduced horizontal smoothing improve simulation of both long-term mean flow and current reversals due to low-frequency waves.
Abstract
Two time-dependent “vertical cross section models” are analyzed and applied to wind-driven currents in Lake Ontario. The models are: 1) a linear frictionless, two-level model, and 2) a numerical model which includes both friction and nonlinear terms. They predict current and temperature under the assumption that all variables except pressure are independent of the longshore coordinate. The longshore pressure gradient is computed from the condition that the volume transport normal to the cross section is zero.
First, the quasi-static response of the linear frictionless model is studied to isolate the effects of topography and stratification on the structure of the coastal currents. It predicts that the vertically averaged longshore current is independent of both rotation and stratification, being in the direction of the wind where the water is shallower than average and opposite the wind in the deep water. Under homogeneous conditions, the strongest currents are confined to a thin (∼3 km wide for Lake Ontario) region near the shore. The effect of stratification is to increase the width of this “costal jet” region and cause the flow to be more confined to the surface layer.
These qualitative results of the linear model are also true for the numerical model, but the latter gives more realistic current magnitudes. The main differences between the two models are due to friction which has a relatively straightforward damping effect on both the quasi-geostrophic and inertial oscillation components of the flow. The damping of the geostrophic mode, however, is smaller in cases where stratification is important, because it decreases the effect of bottom friction.
The models give realistic magnitudes for both horizontal and vertical motion in Lake Ontario and can explain many of the differences between the spring and summer current regimes.
Abstract
Two time-dependent “vertical cross section models” are analyzed and applied to wind-driven currents in Lake Ontario. The models are: 1) a linear frictionless, two-level model, and 2) a numerical model which includes both friction and nonlinear terms. They predict current and temperature under the assumption that all variables except pressure are independent of the longshore coordinate. The longshore pressure gradient is computed from the condition that the volume transport normal to the cross section is zero.
First, the quasi-static response of the linear frictionless model is studied to isolate the effects of topography and stratification on the structure of the coastal currents. It predicts that the vertically averaged longshore current is independent of both rotation and stratification, being in the direction of the wind where the water is shallower than average and opposite the wind in the deep water. Under homogeneous conditions, the strongest currents are confined to a thin (∼3 km wide for Lake Ontario) region near the shore. The effect of stratification is to increase the width of this “costal jet” region and cause the flow to be more confined to the surface layer.
These qualitative results of the linear model are also true for the numerical model, but the latter gives more realistic current magnitudes. The main differences between the two models are due to friction which has a relatively straightforward damping effect on both the quasi-geostrophic and inertial oscillation components of the flow. The damping of the geostrophic mode, however, is smaller in cases where stratification is important, because it decreases the effect of bottom friction.
The models give realistic magnitudes for both horizontal and vertical motion in Lake Ontario and can explain many of the differences between the spring and summer current regimes.
Abstract
The effects of horizontal shear of the mean zonal wind on the lateral propagation of disturbances through the Tropics is studied by the use of a one-layer model. The governing equations are reduced to a second-order differential equation for v, the northward component of velocity. The equation is analyzed as an eigenvalue problem and solved numerically for the free modes of the Tropics for the case with zero mean flow. These solutions are compared with solutions that are forced at a boundary situated in mid-latitudes, for cases with and without a mean zonal flow.
At “critical latitudes,” the basic equation has a singularity (where the phase speed of a wave forced at the boundary is equal to the mean flow). The case for forced motions is investigated in more detail by numerically studying the evolution of disturbances as an initial value problem for the case of nondivergent flow.
The horizontal shear is shown to significantly alter the types of mid-latitude motions that can affect tropical motions. In particular, disturbances with large eastward phase propagation are shown to have negligible effect. Disturbances that have phase speeds that are somewhere equal to the mean flow are shown to be absorbed at the critical latitude. Disturbances with phase speeds more westward than the mean flow may be free to propagate into the Tropics, providing their wavelengths are not too short.
Abstract
The effects of horizontal shear of the mean zonal wind on the lateral propagation of disturbances through the Tropics is studied by the use of a one-layer model. The governing equations are reduced to a second-order differential equation for v, the northward component of velocity. The equation is analyzed as an eigenvalue problem and solved numerically for the free modes of the Tropics for the case with zero mean flow. These solutions are compared with solutions that are forced at a boundary situated in mid-latitudes, for cases with and without a mean zonal flow.
At “critical latitudes,” the basic equation has a singularity (where the phase speed of a wave forced at the boundary is equal to the mean flow). The case for forced motions is investigated in more detail by numerically studying the evolution of disturbances as an initial value problem for the case of nondivergent flow.
The horizontal shear is shown to significantly alter the types of mid-latitude motions that can affect tropical motions. In particular, disturbances with large eastward phase propagation are shown to have negligible effect. Disturbances that have phase speeds that are somewhere equal to the mean flow are shown to be absorbed at the critical latitude. Disturbances with phase speeds more westward than the mean flow may be free to propagate into the Tropics, providing their wavelengths are not too short.
Abstract
The rectified flow induced by wind-driven internal seiches in a rotating lake is studied. Friction and nonlinearity combine to generate a secondary mean flow which is calculated analytically for the case of a uniform depth lake and numerically for variable depth.
The theory is applied to Lake Kinneret, the former Sea of Galilee, where the diurnal wind forcing produces a large internal Kelvin wave and which has a strong cyclonic mean flow. The uniform depth model reproduces the diurnal response adequately, but variable depth is required to reproduce the mean flow.
Abstract
The rectified flow induced by wind-driven internal seiches in a rotating lake is studied. Friction and nonlinearity combine to generate a secondary mean flow which is calculated analytically for the case of a uniform depth lake and numerically for variable depth.
The theory is applied to Lake Kinneret, the former Sea of Galilee, where the diurnal wind forcing produces a large internal Kelvin wave and which has a strong cyclonic mean flow. The uniform depth model reproduces the diurnal response adequately, but variable depth is required to reproduce the mean flow.
Abstract
The Convective Precipitation Experiment (COPE) was a joint U.K.–U.S. field campaign held during the summer of 2013 in the southwest peninsula of England, designed to study convective clouds that produce heavy rain leading to flash floods. The clouds form along convergence lines that develop regularly as a result of the topography. Major flash floods have occurred in the past, most famously at Boscastle in 2004. It has been suggested that much of the rain was produced by warm rain processes, similar to some flash floods that have occurred in the United States. The overarching goal of COPE is to improve quantitative convective precipitation forecasting by understanding the interactions of the cloud microphysics and dynamics and thereby to improve numerical weather prediction (NWP) model skill for forecasts of flash floods. Two research aircraft, the University of Wyoming King Air and the U.K. BAe 146, obtained detailed in situ and remote sensing measurements in, around, and below storms on several days. A new fast-scanning X-band dual-polarization Doppler radar made 360° volume scans over 10 elevation angles approximately every 5 min and was augmented by two Met Office C-band radars and the Chilbolton S-band radar. Detailed aerosol measurements were made on the aircraft and on the ground. This paper i) provides an overview of the COPE field campaign and the resulting dataset, ii) presents examples of heavy convective rainfall in clouds containing ice and also in relatively shallow clouds through the warm rain process alone, and iii) explains how COPE data will be used to improve high-resolution NWP models for operational use.
Abstract
The Convective Precipitation Experiment (COPE) was a joint U.K.–U.S. field campaign held during the summer of 2013 in the southwest peninsula of England, designed to study convective clouds that produce heavy rain leading to flash floods. The clouds form along convergence lines that develop regularly as a result of the topography. Major flash floods have occurred in the past, most famously at Boscastle in 2004. It has been suggested that much of the rain was produced by warm rain processes, similar to some flash floods that have occurred in the United States. The overarching goal of COPE is to improve quantitative convective precipitation forecasting by understanding the interactions of the cloud microphysics and dynamics and thereby to improve numerical weather prediction (NWP) model skill for forecasts of flash floods. Two research aircraft, the University of Wyoming King Air and the U.K. BAe 146, obtained detailed in situ and remote sensing measurements in, around, and below storms on several days. A new fast-scanning X-band dual-polarization Doppler radar made 360° volume scans over 10 elevation angles approximately every 5 min and was augmented by two Met Office C-band radars and the Chilbolton S-band radar. Detailed aerosol measurements were made on the aircraft and on the ground. This paper i) provides an overview of the COPE field campaign and the resulting dataset, ii) presents examples of heavy convective rainfall in clouds containing ice and also in relatively shallow clouds through the warm rain process alone, and iii) explains how COPE data will be used to improve high-resolution NWP models for operational use.
The Convective Storm Initiation Project (CSIP) is an international project to understand precisely where, when, and how convective clouds form and develop into showers in the mainly maritime environment of southern England. A major aim of CSIP is to compare the results of the very high resolution Met Office weather forecasting model with detailed observations of the early stages of convective clouds and to use the newly gained understanding to improve the predictions of the model.
A large array of ground-based instruments plus two instrumented aircraft, from the U.K. National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and the German Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK), Karlsruhe, were deployed in southern England, over an area centered on the meteorological radars at Chilbolton, during the summers of 2004 and 2005. In addition to a variety of ground-based remote-sensing instruments, numerous rawinsondes were released at one- to two-hourly intervals from six closely spaced sites. The Met Office weather radar network and Meteosat satellite imagery were used to provide context for the observations made by the instruments deployed during CSIP.
This article presents an overview of the CSIP field campaign and examples from CSIP of the types of convective initiation phenomena that are typical in the United Kingdom. It shows the way in which certain kinds of observational data are able to reveal these phenomena and gives an explanation of how the analyses of data from the field campaign will be used in the development of an improved very high resolution NWP model for operational use.
The Convective Storm Initiation Project (CSIP) is an international project to understand precisely where, when, and how convective clouds form and develop into showers in the mainly maritime environment of southern England. A major aim of CSIP is to compare the results of the very high resolution Met Office weather forecasting model with detailed observations of the early stages of convective clouds and to use the newly gained understanding to improve the predictions of the model.
A large array of ground-based instruments plus two instrumented aircraft, from the U.K. National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and the German Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK), Karlsruhe, were deployed in southern England, over an area centered on the meteorological radars at Chilbolton, during the summers of 2004 and 2005. In addition to a variety of ground-based remote-sensing instruments, numerous rawinsondes were released at one- to two-hourly intervals from six closely spaced sites. The Met Office weather radar network and Meteosat satellite imagery were used to provide context for the observations made by the instruments deployed during CSIP.
This article presents an overview of the CSIP field campaign and examples from CSIP of the types of convective initiation phenomena that are typical in the United Kingdom. It shows the way in which certain kinds of observational data are able to reveal these phenomena and gives an explanation of how the analyses of data from the field campaign will be used in the development of an improved very high resolution NWP model for operational use.
