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Abstract
Upper-air budget methods can be used to estimate the surface sensible and latent heat flux densities on a regional scale. This study assesses the application of radiosonde-based budget methods above homogeneous cropland. Serial daytime soundings were released from Kenaston and Saskatoon, Canada, on fair-weather days between 24 June and 31 July 1991.
Two independent methods were used to establish ground truth: surface-layer Bowen ratio-energy balance and Priestley-Taylor. This study was the fist to extend the surface-layer Bowen ratio method to conventional upper-air soundings. The two ground-truth methods agreed to within 20% at both locations and gave mean daytime Bowen ratios of 0.33.
The upper-air budget surface flux estimates agreed most consistently with ground truth when the budget was integrated over the atmospheric boundary layer (BL) and used parameterized entrainment with a value for the entrainment parameter A R of 0.4. The BL budget with A R of 0.4 closed the daytime surface energy balance to within 4% at Kenaston and 7% at Saskatoon and gave a mean estimate for the Bowen ratio that agreed to within 20% of the mean ground-truth estimates. However, the BL budget estimates for 2-3-h periods were quite variable, and it was necessary to average the budget estimates over periods of 12 days or longer to produce credible values. Random sampling errors and uncertainty in horizontal advection were partly responsible for the high variability of the budget estimates, but these terms averaged to zero over extended periods. More seriously, the BL budget estimates for the surface latent heat flux were quite sensitive to the method for estimating entrainment. Because the authors were unable to establish a preferred entrainment estimate a priori, the BL budget estimates for the surface latent heat flux were considered to be unreliable. Further study is needed to develop a reliable and independent method for specifying the value for A R .
Abstract
Upper-air budget methods can be used to estimate the surface sensible and latent heat flux densities on a regional scale. This study assesses the application of radiosonde-based budget methods above homogeneous cropland. Serial daytime soundings were released from Kenaston and Saskatoon, Canada, on fair-weather days between 24 June and 31 July 1991.
Two independent methods were used to establish ground truth: surface-layer Bowen ratio-energy balance and Priestley-Taylor. This study was the fist to extend the surface-layer Bowen ratio method to conventional upper-air soundings. The two ground-truth methods agreed to within 20% at both locations and gave mean daytime Bowen ratios of 0.33.
The upper-air budget surface flux estimates agreed most consistently with ground truth when the budget was integrated over the atmospheric boundary layer (BL) and used parameterized entrainment with a value for the entrainment parameter A R of 0.4. The BL budget with A R of 0.4 closed the daytime surface energy balance to within 4% at Kenaston and 7% at Saskatoon and gave a mean estimate for the Bowen ratio that agreed to within 20% of the mean ground-truth estimates. However, the BL budget estimates for 2-3-h periods were quite variable, and it was necessary to average the budget estimates over periods of 12 days or longer to produce credible values. Random sampling errors and uncertainty in horizontal advection were partly responsible for the high variability of the budget estimates, but these terms averaged to zero over extended periods. More seriously, the BL budget estimates for the surface latent heat flux were quite sensitive to the method for estimating entrainment. Because the authors were unable to establish a preferred entrainment estimate a priori, the BL budget estimates for the surface latent heat flux were considered to be unreliable. Further study is needed to develop a reliable and independent method for specifying the value for A R .
Abstract
An objective upper level analysis procedure, which attempts to optimize smaller scale features, is described. It makes use of quantities derived for an array of overlapping triangles formed from adjacent radiosonde stations; these values and the direct observations are then smoothed to an array of grid points.
Tests of the procedure, applied to analytically prescribed wave functions, suggest that atmospheric features with characteristic wavelength scales ≲1700 km cannot be adequately described by data from the existing radiosonde network over the United States. Some implications of this limitation, as regards short-range forecasting, are discussed.
Abstract
An objective upper level analysis procedure, which attempts to optimize smaller scale features, is described. It makes use of quantities derived for an array of overlapping triangles formed from adjacent radiosonde stations; these values and the direct observations are then smoothed to an array of grid points.
Tests of the procedure, applied to analytically prescribed wave functions, suggest that atmospheric features with characteristic wavelength scales ≲1700 km cannot be adequately described by data from the existing radiosonde network over the United States. Some implications of this limitation, as regards short-range forecasting, are discussed.
Abstract
Drought on the Canadian prairies is the single most limiting factor to crop yield. Several indices have been developed that indicate the onset, severity, and persistence of drought. This study was conducted to assess the validity of the Palmer Drought index for characterizing drought on the Canadian prairies. When the empirical relationship used by Palmer for calculating the weighting factor K was applied to historical weather data, the relationship appeared inappropriate. There was only a weak relationship between K and the moisture balance variables from which it is usually calculated. The regional correction factor was calculated to be 14.2, which is lower than the generally accepted value of 17.67. A soil water model, the Versatile Soil Moisture Budget (VMB), was coupled with the Palmer model to improve the modeling of soil water. The drought index obtained with the VMB explained 49% of the variation in wheat yield, while the original Palmer index explained 33%. In addition, a new drought index, which does not rely on the weighting factor K explained 57% of the variation in wheat yield, which is almost twice the variation explained by the original Palmer index.
Abstract
Drought on the Canadian prairies is the single most limiting factor to crop yield. Several indices have been developed that indicate the onset, severity, and persistence of drought. This study was conducted to assess the validity of the Palmer Drought index for characterizing drought on the Canadian prairies. When the empirical relationship used by Palmer for calculating the weighting factor K was applied to historical weather data, the relationship appeared inappropriate. There was only a weak relationship between K and the moisture balance variables from which it is usually calculated. The regional correction factor was calculated to be 14.2, which is lower than the generally accepted value of 17.67. A soil water model, the Versatile Soil Moisture Budget (VMB), was coupled with the Palmer model to improve the modeling of soil water. The drought index obtained with the VMB explained 49% of the variation in wheat yield, while the original Palmer index explained 33%. In addition, a new drought index, which does not rely on the weighting factor K explained 57% of the variation in wheat yield, which is almost twice the variation explained by the original Palmer index.
Abstract
Air–sea exchange in high winds is one of the most important but poorly represented processes in tropical cyclone (TC) prediction models. Effects of sea spray on air–sea heat fluxes in TCs are particularly difficult to model due to complex sea states and lack of observations in extreme wind and wave conditions. This study introduces a new sea-state-dependent air–sea heat flux parameterization with spray, which is developed using the Unified Wave Interface–Coupled Model (UWIN-CM). Impacts of spray on air–sea heat fluxes are investigated across a wide range of winds, waves, and atmospheric and ocean conditions in five TCs of various sizes and intensities. Spray generation with variable size distribution is explicitly represented by surface wave properties such as wave dissipation, significant wave height, and dominant phase speed, which may be uncorrelated with local winds. The sea-state-dependent spray mass flux is substantially different than a wind-dependent flux, especially when wave shoaling occurs with enhanced wave dissipation near the coast during TC landfall. Spray increases the air–sea enthalpy flux near the radius of maximum wind (RMW) by approximately 5%–20% when mean 10-m wind speed at the RMW reaches 40–50 m s−1. These values can be amplified significantly by coastal wave shoaling. Spray latent heat fluxes may be dampened in the eyewall due to high saturation ratio, and they consistently produce a moistening and cooling effect outside the eyewall. Spray strongly modifies the total sensible heat flux and can cause either a warming or cooling effect at the RMW depending on eyewall saturation ratio.
Significance Statement
Fluxes of heat and moisture from the ocean to the atmosphere are important for hurricane intensification, but the impact of sea spray generated by breaking waves on these fluxes is not well understood. We develop a new model for heat fluxes with spray that accounts for how waves control spray, and we apply this model to a set of five simulated hurricanes to better understand the broad range of ways that spray impacts heat fluxes in high wind conditions. We find that spray significantly affects heat fluxes in hurricanes and that impacts are strongly controlled by waves, which are not always correlated to winds. This research improves our understanding of how spray affects heat fluxes in hurricanes and provides a foundation for future studies investigating sea spray and its impacts on high-impact weather systems.
Abstract
Air–sea exchange in high winds is one of the most important but poorly represented processes in tropical cyclone (TC) prediction models. Effects of sea spray on air–sea heat fluxes in TCs are particularly difficult to model due to complex sea states and lack of observations in extreme wind and wave conditions. This study introduces a new sea-state-dependent air–sea heat flux parameterization with spray, which is developed using the Unified Wave Interface–Coupled Model (UWIN-CM). Impacts of spray on air–sea heat fluxes are investigated across a wide range of winds, waves, and atmospheric and ocean conditions in five TCs of various sizes and intensities. Spray generation with variable size distribution is explicitly represented by surface wave properties such as wave dissipation, significant wave height, and dominant phase speed, which may be uncorrelated with local winds. The sea-state-dependent spray mass flux is substantially different than a wind-dependent flux, especially when wave shoaling occurs with enhanced wave dissipation near the coast during TC landfall. Spray increases the air–sea enthalpy flux near the radius of maximum wind (RMW) by approximately 5%–20% when mean 10-m wind speed at the RMW reaches 40–50 m s−1. These values can be amplified significantly by coastal wave shoaling. Spray latent heat fluxes may be dampened in the eyewall due to high saturation ratio, and they consistently produce a moistening and cooling effect outside the eyewall. Spray strongly modifies the total sensible heat flux and can cause either a warming or cooling effect at the RMW depending on eyewall saturation ratio.
Significance Statement
Fluxes of heat and moisture from the ocean to the atmosphere are important for hurricane intensification, but the impact of sea spray generated by breaking waves on these fluxes is not well understood. We develop a new model for heat fluxes with spray that accounts for how waves control spray, and we apply this model to a set of five simulated hurricanes to better understand the broad range of ways that spray impacts heat fluxes in high wind conditions. We find that spray significantly affects heat fluxes in hurricanes and that impacts are strongly controlled by waves, which are not always correlated to winds. This research improves our understanding of how spray affects heat fluxes in hurricanes and provides a foundation for future studies investigating sea spray and its impacts on high-impact weather systems.
Abstract
A “thermostat” mechanism for cooling the Equatorial pacific is being tested with data collected during the Central Equatorial Pacific Experiment. The Los Alamos National Laboratory participated by fielding two shipboard lidars that collected nearly continuous data over the Pacific from 10 to 21 March 1993 as the ship sailed from Guadalcanal to Christmas Island. A Raman lidar measured water vapor mixing ratio in the lower troposphere, especially in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), and an aerosol backscatter lidar measured height and thickness of clouds to an altitude of 20 km. The data collected from these two lidars were used to determine ocean–atmosphere phenomenology, which in turn, affects the climatology of the Central Pacific.
Agreement between coincident radiosonde and the Raman water vapor lidar measurements was typically within ±0.25 g kg−1 of water. Divergence between the two instruments occurred at transitions between distinct layers in the lower marine atmosphere. Reasons for this divergence will be discussed. Above the ABL the lidar and radiosonde are in excellent agreement. A wealth of detail is apparent in the lidar-derived profiles. For example, there are large variations in water vapor mixing ratio—the expression of the inherent low-frequency, intermittent, atmospheric turbulence that produces spatially discrete features such as convective plumes. These features define the structure and extent of the ABL. Using the ABL structural characteristics, an analysis of the relationship between entrainment zone (EZ) height and observed sea surface temperature (SST) revealed counterintuitive behavior—that the height of the EZ decreases as SST increases in the range between 27° and 3°C.
Abstract
A “thermostat” mechanism for cooling the Equatorial pacific is being tested with data collected during the Central Equatorial Pacific Experiment. The Los Alamos National Laboratory participated by fielding two shipboard lidars that collected nearly continuous data over the Pacific from 10 to 21 March 1993 as the ship sailed from Guadalcanal to Christmas Island. A Raman lidar measured water vapor mixing ratio in the lower troposphere, especially in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), and an aerosol backscatter lidar measured height and thickness of clouds to an altitude of 20 km. The data collected from these two lidars were used to determine ocean–atmosphere phenomenology, which in turn, affects the climatology of the Central Pacific.
Agreement between coincident radiosonde and the Raman water vapor lidar measurements was typically within ±0.25 g kg−1 of water. Divergence between the two instruments occurred at transitions between distinct layers in the lower marine atmosphere. Reasons for this divergence will be discussed. Above the ABL the lidar and radiosonde are in excellent agreement. A wealth of detail is apparent in the lidar-derived profiles. For example, there are large variations in water vapor mixing ratio—the expression of the inherent low-frequency, intermittent, atmospheric turbulence that produces spatially discrete features such as convective plumes. These features define the structure and extent of the ABL. Using the ABL structural characteristics, an analysis of the relationship between entrainment zone (EZ) height and observed sea surface temperature (SST) revealed counterintuitive behavior—that the height of the EZ decreases as SST increases in the range between 27° and 3°C.
Smoke pot and oil fog smoke tracers have been used to plan meteorological instrument placement and quantitatively estimate air volume flow from a tributary during nocturnal drainage wind conditions. The estimated volume flow agrees well with estimates of the flow using tethered-balloon and remotely obtained wind velocity measurements. The smoke visualization shows a very complex flow structure caused by tributary flow interactions with the flow down the main valley. The magnitude of the outflow volume from the tributary was greater than expected. If the tributary studied is representative of the other tributaries in the valley, most of the volume flow in the main valley may enter through the tributaries.
Smoke pot and oil fog smoke tracers have been used to plan meteorological instrument placement and quantitatively estimate air volume flow from a tributary during nocturnal drainage wind conditions. The estimated volume flow agrees well with estimates of the flow using tethered-balloon and remotely obtained wind velocity measurements. The smoke visualization shows a very complex flow structure caused by tributary flow interactions with the flow down the main valley. The magnitude of the outflow volume from the tributary was greater than expected. If the tributary studied is representative of the other tributaries in the valley, most of the volume flow in the main valley may enter through the tributaries.
Abstract
The goal of the Sea2Cloud project is to study the interplay between surface ocean biogeochemical and physical properties, fluxes to the atmosphere, and ultimately their impact on cloud formation under minimal direct anthropogenic influence. Here we present an interdisciplinary approach, combining atmospheric physics and chemistry with marine biogeochemistry, during a voyage between 41° and 47°S in March 2020. In parallel to ambient measurements of atmospheric composition and seawater biogeochemical properties, we describe semicontrolled experiments to characterize nascent sea spray properties and nucleation from gas-phase biogenic emissions. The experimental framework for studying the impact of the predicted evolution of ozone concentration in the Southern Hemisphere is also detailed. After describing the experimental strategy, we present the oceanic and meteorological context including provisional results on atmospheric thermodynamics, composition, and flux measurements. In situ measurements and flux studies were carried out on different biological communities by sampling surface seawater from subantarctic, subtropical, and frontal water masses. Air–Sea-Interface Tanks (ASIT) were used to quantify biogenic emissions of trace gases under realistic environmental conditions, with nucleation observed in association with biogenic seawater emissions. Sea spray continuously generated produced sea spray fluxes of 34% of organic matter by mass, of which 4% particles had fluorescent properties, and which size distribution resembled the one found in clean sectors of the Southern Ocean. The goal of Sea2Cloud is to generate realistic parameterizations of emission flux dependences of trace gases and nucleation precursors, sea spray, cloud condensation nuclei, and ice nuclei using seawater biogeochemistry, for implementation in regional atmospheric models.
Abstract
The goal of the Sea2Cloud project is to study the interplay between surface ocean biogeochemical and physical properties, fluxes to the atmosphere, and ultimately their impact on cloud formation under minimal direct anthropogenic influence. Here we present an interdisciplinary approach, combining atmospheric physics and chemistry with marine biogeochemistry, during a voyage between 41° and 47°S in March 2020. In parallel to ambient measurements of atmospheric composition and seawater biogeochemical properties, we describe semicontrolled experiments to characterize nascent sea spray properties and nucleation from gas-phase biogenic emissions. The experimental framework for studying the impact of the predicted evolution of ozone concentration in the Southern Hemisphere is also detailed. After describing the experimental strategy, we present the oceanic and meteorological context including provisional results on atmospheric thermodynamics, composition, and flux measurements. In situ measurements and flux studies were carried out on different biological communities by sampling surface seawater from subantarctic, subtropical, and frontal water masses. Air–Sea-Interface Tanks (ASIT) were used to quantify biogenic emissions of trace gases under realistic environmental conditions, with nucleation observed in association with biogenic seawater emissions. Sea spray continuously generated produced sea spray fluxes of 34% of organic matter by mass, of which 4% particles had fluorescent properties, and which size distribution resembled the one found in clean sectors of the Southern Ocean. The goal of Sea2Cloud is to generate realistic parameterizations of emission flux dependences of trace gases and nucleation precursors, sea spray, cloud condensation nuclei, and ice nuclei using seawater biogeochemistry, for implementation in regional atmospheric models.
