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- Author or Editor: Andreas Dörnbrack x
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Abstract
Planetary waves disturbed the hitherto stable Arctic stratospheric polar vortex in the middle of January 2016 in such a way that unique tropospheric and stratospheric flow conditions for vertically and horizontally propagating mountain waves developed. Coexisting strong low-level westerly winds across almost all European mountain ranges plus the almost zonally aligned polar-front jet created these favorable conditions for deeply propagating gravity waves. Furthermore, the northward displacement of the polar night jet resulted in a widespread coverage of stratospheric mountain waves trailing across Northern Europe. This paper describes the particular meteorological setting by analyzing the tropospheric and stratospheric flows based on the ERA5 data. The potential of the flow for exciting internal gravity waves from nonorographic sources is evaluated across all altitudes by considering various indices to indicate flow imbalances as δ, Ro, Roζ, Ro⊥, and ΔNBE. The analyzed gravity waves are described and characterized. The main finding of this case study is the exceptionally vast extension of the mountain waves trailing to high latitudes originating from the flow across the mountainous sources that are located at about 45°N. The magnitudes of the simulated stratospheric temperature perturbations attain values larger than 10 K and are comparable to values as documented by recent case studies of large-amplitude mountain waves over South America. The zonal means of the resolved and parameterized stratospheric wave drag during the mountain wave event peak at −4.5 and −32.2 m s−1 day−1, respectively.
Abstract
Planetary waves disturbed the hitherto stable Arctic stratospheric polar vortex in the middle of January 2016 in such a way that unique tropospheric and stratospheric flow conditions for vertically and horizontally propagating mountain waves developed. Coexisting strong low-level westerly winds across almost all European mountain ranges plus the almost zonally aligned polar-front jet created these favorable conditions for deeply propagating gravity waves. Furthermore, the northward displacement of the polar night jet resulted in a widespread coverage of stratospheric mountain waves trailing across Northern Europe. This paper describes the particular meteorological setting by analyzing the tropospheric and stratospheric flows based on the ERA5 data. The potential of the flow for exciting internal gravity waves from nonorographic sources is evaluated across all altitudes by considering various indices to indicate flow imbalances as δ, Ro, Roζ, Ro⊥, and ΔNBE. The analyzed gravity waves are described and characterized. The main finding of this case study is the exceptionally vast extension of the mountain waves trailing to high latitudes originating from the flow across the mountainous sources that are located at about 45°N. The magnitudes of the simulated stratospheric temperature perturbations attain values larger than 10 K and are comparable to values as documented by recent case studies of large-amplitude mountain waves over South America. The zonal means of the resolved and parameterized stratospheric wave drag during the mountain wave event peak at −4.5 and −32.2 m s−1 day−1, respectively.
Abstract
Systematic numerical experiments were conducted to determine the spatial resolution required to resolve a moist thermal show convergence at a scale proportional to the smaller of the initial thermal diameter D 0 and a buoyancy length scale L buoy. The buoyancy length scale L buoy = ΔT 0/ΔΓ (ΔT 0 is the initial buoyancy excess of the thermal and ΔΓ is the ambient stratification) describes the maximum vertical displacement that can be induced against the stratification in the environment by buoyancy-driven pressure perturbations in the cloud and, thus, the maximum scale of eddies that cross the cloud boundary. For typical atmospheric conditions in which the cloud size D 0 is larger than L buoy, numerical simulations of the mixing processes in cumulus clouds must resolve L buoy.
Abstract
Systematic numerical experiments were conducted to determine the spatial resolution required to resolve a moist thermal show convergence at a scale proportional to the smaller of the initial thermal diameter D 0 and a buoyancy length scale L buoy. The buoyancy length scale L buoy = ΔT 0/ΔΓ (ΔT 0 is the initial buoyancy excess of the thermal and ΔΓ is the ambient stratification) describes the maximum vertical displacement that can be induced against the stratification in the environment by buoyancy-driven pressure perturbations in the cloud and, thus, the maximum scale of eddies that cross the cloud boundary. For typical atmospheric conditions in which the cloud size D 0 is larger than L buoy, numerical simulations of the mixing processes in cumulus clouds must resolve L buoy.
Abstract
A method is presented to compute the spanwise vorticity in polar coordinates from 2D vertical cross sections of high-resolution line-of-sight Doppler wind lidar observations. The method uses the continuity equation to derive the velocity component perpendicular to the observed line-of-sight velocity, which then yields the spanwise vorticity component. The results of the method are tested using a ground-based Doppler lidar, which was deployed during the Terrain-Induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX). The resulting fields can be used to identify and quantify the strength and size of vortices, such as those associated with atmospheric rotors. Furthermore, they may serve to investigate the dynamics and evolution of vortices and to evaluate numerical simulations. A demonstration of the method and comparison with high-resolution numerical simulations reveals that the derived vorticity can explain 66% of the mean-square vorticity fluctuations, has a reasonably skillful magnitude, exhibits no significant bias, and is in qualitative agreement with model-derived vorticity.
Abstract
A method is presented to compute the spanwise vorticity in polar coordinates from 2D vertical cross sections of high-resolution line-of-sight Doppler wind lidar observations. The method uses the continuity equation to derive the velocity component perpendicular to the observed line-of-sight velocity, which then yields the spanwise vorticity component. The results of the method are tested using a ground-based Doppler lidar, which was deployed during the Terrain-Induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX). The resulting fields can be used to identify and quantify the strength and size of vortices, such as those associated with atmospheric rotors. Furthermore, they may serve to investigate the dynamics and evolution of vortices and to evaluate numerical simulations. A demonstration of the method and comparison with high-resolution numerical simulations reveals that the derived vorticity can explain 66% of the mean-square vorticity fluctuations, has a reasonably skillful magnitude, exhibits no significant bias, and is in qualitative agreement with model-derived vorticity.
Abstract
Horizontally dispersing gravity waves with horizontal wavelengths of 30–40 km were observed at mesospheric altitudes over Auckland Island by the airborne advanced mesospheric temperature mapper during a Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) research flight on 14 July 2014. A 3D nonlinear compressible model is used to determine which propagation conditions enabled gravity wave penetration into the mesosphere and how the resulting instability characteristics led to widespread momentum deposition. Results indicate that linear tunneling through the polar night jet enabled quick gravity wave propagation from the surface up to the mesopause, while subsequent instability processes reveal large rolls that formed in the negative shear above the jet maximum and led to significant momentum deposition as they descended. This study suggests that gravity wave tunneling is a viable source for this case and other deep propagation events reaching the mesosphere and lower thermosphere.
Abstract
Horizontally dispersing gravity waves with horizontal wavelengths of 30–40 km were observed at mesospheric altitudes over Auckland Island by the airborne advanced mesospheric temperature mapper during a Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) research flight on 14 July 2014. A 3D nonlinear compressible model is used to determine which propagation conditions enabled gravity wave penetration into the mesosphere and how the resulting instability characteristics led to widespread momentum deposition. Results indicate that linear tunneling through the polar night jet enabled quick gravity wave propagation from the surface up to the mesopause, while subsequent instability processes reveal large rolls that formed in the negative shear above the jet maximum and led to significant momentum deposition as they descended. This study suggests that gravity wave tunneling is a viable source for this case and other deep propagation events reaching the mesosphere and lower thermosphere.
Abstract
The authors present observations of the temporal evolution of downslope windstorms with rotors and internal hydraulic jumps of unprecedented detail and spatiotemporal coverage. The observations were carried out by means of a coherent Doppler lidar in the lee of the southern Sierra Nevada range during the sixth intensive observational period of the Terrain-induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX) in 2006. Two representative flow regimes are analyzed and juxtaposed in this paper. The first case shows pulses of high-momentum air that propagate eastward through the valley with an internal hydraulic jump on the leading edge. The region downstream of the transient internal hydraulic jump is characterized by turbulence but no coherent rotor circulation was observed. During the second case, the strongest windstorm of the field campaign T-REX occurred. The observed features of this event resemble the classical notion of a rotor. Altogether, the Doppler lidar observations of both downslope flow events reveal a complex, turbulent flow that is highly transient, intermittent, 3D, and interacts with a significant along-valley flow.
Abstract
The authors present observations of the temporal evolution of downslope windstorms with rotors and internal hydraulic jumps of unprecedented detail and spatiotemporal coverage. The observations were carried out by means of a coherent Doppler lidar in the lee of the southern Sierra Nevada range during the sixth intensive observational period of the Terrain-induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX) in 2006. Two representative flow regimes are analyzed and juxtaposed in this paper. The first case shows pulses of high-momentum air that propagate eastward through the valley with an internal hydraulic jump on the leading edge. The region downstream of the transient internal hydraulic jump is characterized by turbulence but no coherent rotor circulation was observed. During the second case, the strongest windstorm of the field campaign T-REX occurred. The observed features of this event resemble the classical notion of a rotor. Altogether, the Doppler lidar observations of both downslope flow events reveal a complex, turbulent flow that is highly transient, intermittent, 3D, and interacts with a significant along-valley flow.
Abstract
The first collocated measurements during THORPEX (The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment) regional campaign in Europe in 2007 were performed by a novel four-wavelength differential absorption lidar and a scanning 2-μm Doppler wind lidar on board the research aircraft Falcon of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR). One mission that was characterized by exceptionally high data coverage (47% for the specific humidity q and 63% for the horizontal wind speed υh ) was selected to calculate the advective transport of atmospheric moisture qυh along a 1600-km section in the warm sector of an extratropical cyclone. The observations are compared with special 1-hourly model data calculated by the ECMWF integrated forecast system. Along the cross section, the model underestimates the wind speed on average by −2.8% (−0.6 m s−1) and overestimates the moisture at dry layers and in the boundary layer, which results in a wet bias of 17.1% (0.2 g kg−1). Nevertheless, the ECMWF model reproduces quantitatively the horizontally averaged moisture transport in the warm sector. There, the superposition of high low-level humidity and the increasing wind velocities with height resulted in a deep tropospheric layer of enhanced water vapor transport qυh . The observed moisture transport is variable and possesses a maximum of qυh = 130 g kg−1 m s−1 in the lower troposphere. The pathways of the moisture transport from southwest via several branches of different geographical origin are identified by Lagrangian trajectories and by high values of the vertically averaged tropospheric moisture transport.
Abstract
The first collocated measurements during THORPEX (The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment) regional campaign in Europe in 2007 were performed by a novel four-wavelength differential absorption lidar and a scanning 2-μm Doppler wind lidar on board the research aircraft Falcon of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR). One mission that was characterized by exceptionally high data coverage (47% for the specific humidity q and 63% for the horizontal wind speed υh ) was selected to calculate the advective transport of atmospheric moisture qυh along a 1600-km section in the warm sector of an extratropical cyclone. The observations are compared with special 1-hourly model data calculated by the ECMWF integrated forecast system. Along the cross section, the model underestimates the wind speed on average by −2.8% (−0.6 m s−1) and overestimates the moisture at dry layers and in the boundary layer, which results in a wet bias of 17.1% (0.2 g kg−1). Nevertheless, the ECMWF model reproduces quantitatively the horizontally averaged moisture transport in the warm sector. There, the superposition of high low-level humidity and the increasing wind velocities with height resulted in a deep tropospheric layer of enhanced water vapor transport qυh . The observed moisture transport is variable and possesses a maximum of qυh = 130 g kg−1 m s−1 in the lower troposphere. The pathways of the moisture transport from southwest via several branches of different geographical origin are identified by Lagrangian trajectories and by high values of the vertically averaged tropospheric moisture transport.
Airborne Wind Lidar Measurements of Vertical and Horizontal Winds for the Investigation of Orographically Induced Gravity WavesAbstract
Airborne coherent Doppler wind lidar measurements, acquired during the Gravity Wave Life-Cycle (GW-LCYCLE) I field campaign performed from 2 to 14 December 2013 in Kiruna, Sweden, are used to investigate internal gravity waves (GWs) induced by flow across the Scandinavian Mountains. Vertical wind speed is derived from lidar measurements with a mean bias of less than 0.05 m s−1 and a standard deviation of 0.2 m s−1 by correcting horizontal wind projections onto the line-of-sight direction by means of ECMWF wind data. The horizontal wind speed and direction are retrieved from lidar measurements by applying a velocity–azimuth display scan and a spectral accumulation technique, leading to a horizontal resolution of about 9 km along the flight track and a vertical resolution of 100 m, respectively. Both vertical and horizontal wind measurements are valuable for characterizing GW properties as demonstrated by means of a flight performed on 13 December 2013 acquired during weather conditions favorable for orographic GW excitation. Wavelet power spectra of the vertical wind speed indicate that the horizontal GW wavelengths lay mainly between 10 and 30 km and that the GW amplitude above the mountain ridge decreases with increasing altitude. Additionally, the perturbations of the horizontal wind speed are analyzed, showing horizontal wavelengths in the excitation region of 100–125 km with upwind-tilted wave fronts. By means of elevation power spectra, it is revealed that vertical wind power spectra are dominated by the short-wave elevation part, whereas horizontal wind perturbations are dominated by the long-wave part.
Abstract
Airborne coherent Doppler wind lidar measurements, acquired during the Gravity Wave Life-Cycle (GW-LCYCLE) I field campaign performed from 2 to 14 December 2013 in Kiruna, Sweden, are used to investigate internal gravity waves (GWs) induced by flow across the Scandinavian Mountains. Vertical wind speed is derived from lidar measurements with a mean bias of less than 0.05 m s−1 and a standard deviation of 0.2 m s−1 by correcting horizontal wind projections onto the line-of-sight direction by means of ECMWF wind data. The horizontal wind speed and direction are retrieved from lidar measurements by applying a velocity–azimuth display scan and a spectral accumulation technique, leading to a horizontal resolution of about 9 km along the flight track and a vertical resolution of 100 m, respectively. Both vertical and horizontal wind measurements are valuable for characterizing GW properties as demonstrated by means of a flight performed on 13 December 2013 acquired during weather conditions favorable for orographic GW excitation. Wavelet power spectra of the vertical wind speed indicate that the horizontal GW wavelengths lay mainly between 10 and 30 km and that the GW amplitude above the mountain ridge decreases with increasing altitude. Additionally, the perturbations of the horizontal wind speed are analyzed, showing horizontal wavelengths in the excitation region of 100–125 km with upwind-tilted wave fronts. By means of elevation power spectra, it is revealed that vertical wind power spectra are dominated by the short-wave elevation part, whereas horizontal wind perturbations are dominated by the long-wave part.
Abstract
Stratospheric gravity waves observed during the DEEPWAVE research flight RF25 over the Southern Ocean are analyzed and compared with numerical weather prediction (NWP) model results. The quantitative agreement of the NWP model output and the tropospheric and lower-stratospheric observations is remarkable. The high-resolution NWP models are even able to reproduce qualitatively the observed upper-stratospheric gravity waves detected by an airborne Rayleigh lidar. The usage of high-resolution ERA5 data—partially capturing the long internal gravity waves—enabled a thorough interpretation of the particular event. Here, the observed and modeled gravity waves are excited by the stratospheric flow past a deep tropopause depression belonging to an eastward-propagating Rossby wave train. In the reference frame of the propagating Rossby wave, vertically propagating hydrostatic gravity waves appear stationary; in reality, of course, they are transient and propagate horizontally at the phase speed of the Rossby wave. The subsequent refraction of these transient gravity waves into the polar night jet explains their observed and modeled patchy stratospheric occurrence near 60°S. The combination of both unique airborne observations and high-resolution NWP output provides evidence for the one case investigated in this paper. As the excitation of such gravity waves persists during the quasi-linear propagation phase of the Rossby wave’s life cycle, a hypothesis is formulated that parts of the stratospheric gravity wave belt over the Southern Ocean might be generated by such Rossby wave trains propagating along the midlatitude waveguide.
Abstract
Stratospheric gravity waves observed during the DEEPWAVE research flight RF25 over the Southern Ocean are analyzed and compared with numerical weather prediction (NWP) model results. The quantitative agreement of the NWP model output and the tropospheric and lower-stratospheric observations is remarkable. The high-resolution NWP models are even able to reproduce qualitatively the observed upper-stratospheric gravity waves detected by an airborne Rayleigh lidar. The usage of high-resolution ERA5 data—partially capturing the long internal gravity waves—enabled a thorough interpretation of the particular event. Here, the observed and modeled gravity waves are excited by the stratospheric flow past a deep tropopause depression belonging to an eastward-propagating Rossby wave train. In the reference frame of the propagating Rossby wave, vertically propagating hydrostatic gravity waves appear stationary; in reality, of course, they are transient and propagate horizontally at the phase speed of the Rossby wave. The subsequent refraction of these transient gravity waves into the polar night jet explains their observed and modeled patchy stratospheric occurrence near 60°S. The combination of both unique airborne observations and high-resolution NWP output provides evidence for the one case investigated in this paper. As the excitation of such gravity waves persists during the quasi-linear propagation phase of the Rossby wave’s life cycle, a hypothesis is formulated that parts of the stratospheric gravity wave belt over the Southern Ocean might be generated by such Rossby wave trains propagating along the midlatitude waveguide.
Abstract
Dual-Doppler analysis of data from two coherent lidars during the Terrain-Induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX) allows the retrieval of flow structures, such as vortices, during mountain-wave events. The spatial and temporal resolution of this approach is sufficient to identify and track vortical motions on an elevated, cross-barrier plane in clear air. Assimilation routines or additional constraints such as two-dimensional continuity are not required. A relatively simple and quick least squares method forms the basis of the retrieval. Vortices are shown to evolve and advect in the flow field, allowing analysis of their behavior in the mountain–wave–boundary layer system. The locations, magnitudes, and evolution of the vortices can be studied through calculated fields of velocity, vorticity, streamlines, and swirl. Generally, observations suggest two classes of vortical motions: rotors and small-scale vortical structures. These two structures differ in scale and behavior. The level of coordination of the two lidars and the nature of the output (i.e., in range gates) creates inherent restrictions on the spatial and temporal resolution of retrieved fields.
Abstract
Dual-Doppler analysis of data from two coherent lidars during the Terrain-Induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX) allows the retrieval of flow structures, such as vortices, during mountain-wave events. The spatial and temporal resolution of this approach is sufficient to identify and track vortical motions on an elevated, cross-barrier plane in clear air. Assimilation routines or additional constraints such as two-dimensional continuity are not required. A relatively simple and quick least squares method forms the basis of the retrieval. Vortices are shown to evolve and advect in the flow field, allowing analysis of their behavior in the mountain–wave–boundary layer system. The locations, magnitudes, and evolution of the vortices can be studied through calculated fields of velocity, vorticity, streamlines, and swirl. Generally, observations suggest two classes of vortical motions: rotors and small-scale vortical structures. These two structures differ in scale and behavior. The level of coordination of the two lidars and the nature of the output (i.e., in range gates) creates inherent restrictions on the spatial and temporal resolution of retrieved fields.
Abstract
Strong turbulence was encountered by the German High-Altitude Long-Range Research Aircraft (HALO) at flight level 430 (13.8 km) on 13 October 2016 above Iceland. In this event the turbulence caused altitude changes of the research aircraft of about 50 m within a period of approximately 15 s. Additionally, the automatic thrust control of the HALO could not control the large gradients in the horizontal wind speed and, consequently, the pilot had to switch off this system. Simultaneously, the French Falcon of Service des Avions Français Instrumentés pour la Recherche en Environnement (SAFIRE), flying 2 km below HALO, also encountered turbulence at almost the same location. On that day, mountain-wave (MW) excitation and propagation was favored by the alignment of strong surface winds and the polar front jet. We use a combination of in situ observations, ECMWF and empirical turbulence forecasts, and high-resolution simulations to characterize the observed turbulent event. These show that a pronounced negative vertical shear of the horizontal wind favored overturning and breaking of MWs in the area of the encountered turbulence. The turbulent region was tilted upstream and extended over a distance of about 2 km in the vertical. The analyses suggest that HALO was flying through the center of a breaking MW field while the French Falcon encountered the lower edge of this region. Surprisingly, the pronounced gradients in the horizontal wind speeds leading to the deactivation of the automatic thrust control were located north of the breaking MW field. In this area, our analysis suggests the presence of gravity waves that could have generated the encountered modulation of the horizontal wind field.
Abstract
Strong turbulence was encountered by the German High-Altitude Long-Range Research Aircraft (HALO) at flight level 430 (13.8 km) on 13 October 2016 above Iceland. In this event the turbulence caused altitude changes of the research aircraft of about 50 m within a period of approximately 15 s. Additionally, the automatic thrust control of the HALO could not control the large gradients in the horizontal wind speed and, consequently, the pilot had to switch off this system. Simultaneously, the French Falcon of Service des Avions Français Instrumentés pour la Recherche en Environnement (SAFIRE), flying 2 km below HALO, also encountered turbulence at almost the same location. On that day, mountain-wave (MW) excitation and propagation was favored by the alignment of strong surface winds and the polar front jet. We use a combination of in situ observations, ECMWF and empirical turbulence forecasts, and high-resolution simulations to characterize the observed turbulent event. These show that a pronounced negative vertical shear of the horizontal wind favored overturning and breaking of MWs in the area of the encountered turbulence. The turbulent region was tilted upstream and extended over a distance of about 2 km in the vertical. The analyses suggest that HALO was flying through the center of a breaking MW field while the French Falcon encountered the lower edge of this region. Surprisingly, the pronounced gradients in the horizontal wind speeds leading to the deactivation of the automatic thrust control were located north of the breaking MW field. In this area, our analysis suggests the presence of gravity waves that could have generated the encountered modulation of the horizontal wind field.
