scholarly journals Motion and structure of atmospheric mesoscale baroclinic vortices: dry air and weak environmental shear

2012 ◽  
Vol 701 ◽  
pp. 137-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen Päschke ◽  
Patrik Marschalik ◽  
Antony Z. Owinoh ◽  
Rupert Klein

AbstractA strongly tilted, nearly axisymmetric vortex in dry air with asymmetric diabatic heating is analysed here by matched asymptotic expansions. The vortex is in gradient wind balance, with vortex Rossby numbers of order unity, and embedded in a quasi-geostrophic (QG) background wind with weak vertical shear. With wind speeds of $60{{\ndash}}120~\mathrm{km} ~{\mathrm{h} }^{\ensuremath{-} 1} $, such vortices correspond to tropical storms or nascent hurricanes according to the Saffir–Simpson scale. For asymmetric heating, nonlinear coupling of the evolution equations for the vortex tilt, its core structure, and its influence on the QG background is found. The theory compares well with the established linear theory of precessing quasi-modes of atmospheric vortices, and it corroborates the relationship between vortex tilt and asymmetric potential temperature and vertical velocity patterns as found by Jones (Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., vol. 121, 1995, pp. 821–851) and Frank & Ritchie (Mon. Weath. Rev., vol. 127, 1999, pp. 2044–2061) in simulations of adiabatic tropical cyclones. A relation between the present theory and the local induction approximation for three-dimensional slender vortex filaments is established.

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
pp. 2961-2967 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Muraki ◽  
Chris Snyder

A new class of exact vortex dipole solutions is derived for surface quasigeostrophic (sQG) models. The solutions extend the two-dimensional barotropic modon to fully three-dimensional, continuously stratified flow and are a simple model of localized jets on the tropopause. In addition to the basic sQG dipole, dipole structures exist for a layer of uniform potential vorticity between two rigid boundaries and for a dipole in the presence of uniform background vertical shear and horizontal potential temperature gradient. In the former case, the solution approaches the barotropic Lamb dipole in the limit of a layer that is shallow relative to the Rossby depth based on the dipole’s radius. In the latter case, dipoles that are bounded in the far field must propagate counter to the phase speed of the linear edge waves associated with the surface temperature gradient.


2009 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay L. Shelton ◽  
John Molinari

Abstract Hurricane Claudette developed from a weak vortex in 6 h as deep convection shifted from downshear into the vortex center, despite ambient vertical wind shear exceeding 10 m s−1. Six hours later it weakened to a tropical storm, and 12 h after the hurricane stage a circulation center could not be found at 850 hPa by aircraft reconnaissance. At hurricane strength the vortex contained classic structure seen in intensifying hurricanes, with the exception of 7°–12°C dewpoint depressions in the lower troposphere upshear of the center. These extended from the 100-km radius to immediately adjacent to the eyewall, where equivalent potential temperature gradients reached 6 K km−1. The dry air was not present prior to intensification, suggesting that it was associated with vertical shear–induced subsidence upshear of the developing storm. It is argued that weakening of the vortex was driven by cooling associated with the mixing of dry air into the core, and subsequent evaporation and cold downdrafts. Evidence suggests that this mixing might have been enhanced by eyewall instabilities after the period of rapid deepening. The existence of a fragile, small, but genuinely hurricane-strength vortex at the surface for 6 h presents difficult problems for forecasters. Such a “temporary hurricane” in strongly sheared flow might require a different warning protocol than longer-lasting hurricane vortices in weaker shear.


2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 1621-1635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Catto ◽  
Len C. Shaffrey ◽  
Kevin I. Hodges

Abstract Composites of wind speeds, equivalent potential temperature, mean sea level pressure, vertical velocity, and relative humidity have been produced for the 100 most intense extratropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere winter for the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and the high resolution global environment model (HiGEM). Features of conceptual models of cyclone structure—the warm conveyor belt, cold conveyor belt, and dry intrusion—have been identified in the composites from ERA-40 and compared to HiGEM. Such features can be identified in the composite fields despite the smoothing that occurs in the compositing process. The surface features and the three-dimensional structure of the cyclones in HiGEM compare very well with those from ERA-40. The warm conveyor belt is identified in the temperature and wind fields as a mass of warm air undergoing moist isentropic uplift and is very similar in ERA-40 and HiGEM. The rate of ascent is lower in HiGEM, associated with a shallower slope of the moist isentropes in the warm sector. There are also differences in the relative humidity fields in the warm conveyor belt. In ERA-40, the high values of relative humidity are strongly associated with the moist isentropic uplift, whereas in HiGEM these are not so strongly associated. The cold conveyor belt is identified as rearward flowing air that undercuts the warm conveyor belt and produces a low-level jet, and is very similar in HiGEM and ERA-40. The dry intrusion is identified in the 500-hPa vertical velocity and relative humidity. The structure of the dry intrusion compares well between HiGEM and ERA-40 but the descent is weaker in HiGEM because of weaker along-isentrope flow behind the composite cyclone. HiGEM’s ability to represent the key features of extratropical cyclone structure can give confidence in future predictions from this model.


Author(s):  
Tom Dörffel ◽  
Ariane Papke ◽  
Rupert Klein ◽  
Natalia Ernst ◽  
Piotr K. Smolarkiewicz

AbstractPäschke et al. (J Fluid Mech, 2012) studied the nonlinear dynamics of strongly tilted vortices subject to asymmetric diabatic heating by asymptotic methods. They found, inter alia, that an azimuthal Fourier mode 1 heating pattern can intensify or attenuate such a vortex depending on the relative orientation of the tilt and the heating asymmetries. The theory originally addressed the gradient wind regime which, asymptotically speaking, corresponds to vortex Rossby numbers of order unity in the limit. Formally, this restricts the applicability of the theory to rather weak vortices. It is shown below that said theory is, in contrast, uniformly valid for vanishing Coriolis parameter and thus applicable to vortices up to low hurricane strengths. An extended discussion of the asymptotics as regards their physical interpretation and their implications for the overall vortex dynamics is also provided in this context. The paper’s second contribution is a series of three-dimensional numerical simulations examining the effect of different orientations of dipolar diabatic heating on idealized tropical cyclones. Comparisons with numerical solutions of the asymptotic equations yield evidence that supports the original theoretical predictions of Päschke et al. In addition, the influence of asymmetric diabatic heating on the time evolution of the vortex centerline is further analyzed, and a steering mechanism that depends on the orientation of the heating dipole is revealed. Finally, the steering mechanism is traced back to the correlation of dipolar perturbations of potential temperature, induced by the vortex tilt, and vertical velocity, for which diabatic heating not necessarily needs to be responsible, but which may have other origins.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 821
Author(s):  
Sergey Khrapak ◽  
Alexey Khrapak

The Prandtl number is evaluated for the three-dimensional hard-sphere and one-component plasma fluids, from the dilute weakly coupled regime up to a dense strongly coupled regime near the fluid-solid phase transition. In both cases, numerical values of order unity are obtained. The Prandtl number increases on approaching the freezing point, where it reaches a quasi-universal value for simple dielectric fluids of about ≃1.7. Relations to two-dimensional fluids are briefly discussed.


1986 ◽  
Vol 1 (20) ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiao-Kung Liu ◽  
Jan J. Leendertse

This paper presents the development of a three dimensional model of the Gulf of Alaska. The model extends between the Vancouver Island and the Aleutian Islands covering approximatedly 1.5 million square kilometers over the northern Pacific Ocean. Formulated on an ellipsoidal horizontal grid and variable vertical grid, the model is schematized over a 81 x 53 x 10 grid structure. The solution scheme is implicit over the vertical and is programmed using one-dimensional dynamic array for the efficient use of machine storage. The turbulence closure scheme for the non-homogeneous vertical shear is formulated so that the potential and kinetic energetics are monitored and transferred in a closed form. The hydrodynamic model is coupled to a two-dimensional stochastic weather model and an oil-spill trajectory/weathering model. The former also simulates stochastically the cyclogenetic/cyclolytic processes within the modeled area. The paper also compares the computed results with the available field data. Good agreements are found in tidal amplitude and phases as well as currents.


2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1437-1448 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-U. Grooß ◽  
G. Günther ◽  
R. Müller ◽  
P. Konopka ◽  
S. Bausch ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present simulations with the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) for the Arctic winter 2002/2003. We integrated a Lagrangian denitrification scheme into the three-dimensional version of CLaMS that calculates the growth and sedimentation of nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) particles along individual particle trajectories. From those, we derive the HNO3 downward flux resulting from different particle nucleation assumptions. The simulation results show a clear vertical redistribution of total inorganic nitrogen ( ), with a maximum vortex average permanent removal of over 5ppb in late December between 500 and 550K and a corresponding increase of of over 2ppb below about 450K. The simulated vertical redistribution of is compared with balloon observations by MkIV and in-situ observations from the high altitude aircraft Geophysica. Assuming a globally uniform NAT particle nucleation rate of 7.8x10-6cm-3h-1 in the model, the observed denitrification is well reproduced. In the investigated winter 2002/2003, the denitrification has only moderate impact (≤14%) on the simulated vortex average ozone loss of about 1.1ppm near the 460K level. At higher altitudes, above 600K potential temperature, the simulations show significant ozone depletion through -catalytic cycles due to the unusual early exposure of vortex air to sunlight.


2015 ◽  
Vol 784 ◽  
pp. 292-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Wulfinghoff ◽  
Marek Fassin ◽  
Stefanie Reese

In this work, two time integration algorithms for the anisotropic damage model proposed by Lemaitre et al. (2000) are compared. Specifically, the standard implicit Euler scheme is compared to an algorithm which implicitly solves the elasto-plastic evolution equations and explicitly computes the damage update. To this end, a three dimensional bending example is solved using the finite element method and the results of the two algorithms are compared for different time step sizes.


1971 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANK ENGELUND ◽  
JØRGEN FREDSØE

The formation of ripples and dunes (lower range bed waves) is assumed to be related to the transport of sediment as bed load. From the present theory it is concluded that the formation of the upper range bed configurations (standing waves, antidunes) may be explained on the assumption that the predominant part of the sediment transport is in suspension. The paper presents a mathematical model of the formation of double-periodic antidunes, first-order potential flow theory being applied. It differs from previous models in taking account of the non-uniform distribution of the suspended load. The theory predicts regions of stability and instability. Results are compared with measurements made by different observers.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
pp. 3758-3774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Kirshbaum ◽  
Dale R. Durran

Abstract The three-dimensional structure of shallow orographic convection is investigated through simulations performed with a cloud-resolving numerical model. In moist flows that overcome a given topographic barrier to form statically unstable cap clouds, the organization of the convection depends on both the atmospheric structure and the mechanism by which the convection is initiated. Convection initiated by background thermal fluctuations embedded in the flow over a smooth mountain (without any small-scale topographic features) tends to be cellular and disorganized except that shear-parallel bands may form in flows with strong unidirectional vertical shear. The development of well-organized bands is favored when there is weak static instability inside the cloud and when the dry air surrounding the cloud is strongly stable. These bands move with the flow and distribute their cumulative precipitation evenly over the mountain upslope. Similar shear-parallel bands also develop in flows where convection is initiated by small-scale topographic noise superimposed onto the main mountain profile, but in this case stronger circulations are also triggered that create stationary rainbands parallel to the low-level flow. This second dominant mode, which is less sensitive to the atmospheric structure and the strength of forcing, is triggered by lee waves that form over small-scale topographic bumps near the upstream edge of the main orographic cloud. Due to their stationarity, these flow-parallel bands can produce locally heavy precipitation amounts.


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