Constraining the inertial dissipation method using the vertical velocity variance

2003 ◽  
Vol 108 (C3) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Dardier
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Velocity Variance ◽  
Inertial Dissipation Method

scholarly journals Exploring Stratocumulus Cloud-Top Entrainment Processes and Parameterizations by Using Doppler Cloud Radar Observations

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 729-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Albrecht ◽  
Ming Fang ◽  
Virendra Ghate
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Dissipation Rate ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Time Derivative ◽  
Entrainment Rate ◽  
Cloud Radar ◽  
Velocity Variance ◽  
Entrainment Zone

Abstract Observations made at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program’s Southern Great Plains (SGP) site during uniform nonprecipitating stratocumulus cloud conditions for a 14-h period are used to examine cloud-top entrainment processes and parameterizations. The observations from a vertically pointing Doppler cloud radar provide estimates of vertical velocity variance and energy dissipation rate (EDR) terms in the parameterized turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget of the entrainment zone. Hourly averages of the vertical velocity variance term in the TKE entrainment formulation correlated strongly (r = 0.72) with the dissipation rate term in the entrainment zone, with an increased correlation (r = 0.92) when accounting for the nighttime decoupling of the boundary layer. Independent estimates of entrainment rates were obtained from an inversion-height budget using the local time derivative and horizontal advection of cloud-top height together with large-scale vertical velocity at the boundary layer inversion from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis model. The mean entrainment rate from the inversion-height budget during the 14-h period was 0.74 ± 0.15 cm s−1 and was used to calculate bulk coefficients for entrainment parameterizations based on convective velocity scale w* and TKE budgets of the entrainment zone. The hourly values of entrainment rates calculated using these coefficients exhibited good agreement with those calculated from the inversion-height budget associated with substantial changes in surface buoyancy production and cloud-top radiative cooling. The results indicate a strong potential for making entrainment rate estimates directly from radar vertical velocity variance and the EDR measurements.

scholarly journals Turbulence Process Domination under the Combined Forcings of Wind Stress, the Langmuir Vortex Force, and Surface Cooling

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Gargett ◽  
C. E. Grosch
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Ocean Surface ◽  
The Other ◽  
Surface Boundary ◽  
Langmuir Circulation ◽  
Surface Cooling ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Velocity Variance

Abstract Turbulence in the ocean surface layer is generated by time-varying combinations of destabilizing surface buoyancy flux, wind stress forcing, and wave forcing through a vortex force associated with the surface wave field. Observations of time- and depth-averaged vertical velocity variance of full-depth turbulence in shallow unstratified water columns under destabilizing buoyancy forcing are used to determine when process domination can be assigned over a wide range of mixed forcings. The properties of two turbulence archetypes, one representing full-depth Langmuir circulations and the other representing full-depth convection, are described in detail. It is demonstrated that these archetypes lie in distinct regions of the plane of , where and are Langmuir and Rayleigh numbers, respectively, derived from scaling with surface stress velocity and a time scale characteristic of the growth of Langmuir circulation , where and are mean and Stokes velocities, respectively. Situations in which neither process dominates lie between the two end members, with relative dominance given by proximity to one or the other. Cases dominated by direct stress forcing are conspicuous by their absence. In cases of Langmuir domination, surface Stokes velocity is linearly related to , making it impossible to differentiate between scaling depth-averaged vertical velocity variance with , and any other scaling involving both and . A third nondimensional parameter is introduced and used to assess the importance of bottom boundary layer turbulence in a depth-limited system. Questions of time dependence and applicability of results to the open ocean surface boundary layer are considered.

scholarly journals Turbulence and Radiation in Stratocumulus-Topped Marine Boundary Layers: A Case Study from VOCALS-REx

2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virendra P. Ghate ◽  
Bruce A. Albrecht ◽  
Mark A. Miller ◽  
Alan Brewer ◽  
Christopher W. Fairall
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Radiative Flux ◽  
Radiative Cooling ◽  
Flux Divergence ◽  
A Value ◽  
Velocity Variance ◽  
Velocity Scale ◽  
Surface Buoyancy

AbstractObservations made during a 24-h period as part of the Variability of the American Monsoon Systems (VAMOS) Ocean–Cloud–Atmosphere–Land Study Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx) are analyzed to study the radiation and turbulence associated with the stratocumulus-topped marine boundary layer (BL). The first 14 h exhibited a well-mixed (coupled) BL with an average cloud-top radiative flux divergence of ~130 W m−2; the BL was decoupled during the last 10 h with negligible radiative flux divergence. The averaged radiative cooling very close to the cloud top was −9.04 K h−1 in coupled conditions and −3.85 K h−1 in decoupled conditions. This is the first study that combined data from a vertically pointing Doppler cloud radar and a Doppler lidar to yield the vertical velocity structure of the entire BL. The averaged vertical velocity variance and updraft mass flux during coupled conditions were higher than those during decoupled conditions at all levels by a factor of 2 or more. The vertical velocity skewness was negative in the entire BL during coupled conditions, whereas it was weakly positive in the lower third of the BL and negative above during decoupled conditions. A formulation of velocity scale is proposed that includes the effect of cloud-top radiative cooling in addition to the surface buoyancy flux. When scaled by the velocity scale, the vertical velocity variance and coherent downdrafts had similar magnitude during the coupled and decoupled conditions. The coherent updrafts that exhibited a constant profile in the entire BL during both the coupled and decoupled conditions scaled well with the convective velocity scale to a value of ~0.5.

scholarly journals Vertical Velocity Variance Measurements from Wind Profiling Radars

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine McCaffrey ◽  
Laura Bianco ◽  
Paul Johnston ◽  
James M. Wilczak
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Planetary Boundary Layer ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Stable Conditions ◽  
Sonic Anemometers ◽  
Velocity Variance

Abstract. Observations of turbulence in the planetary boundary layer are critical for developing and evaluating boundary layer parameterizations in mesoscale numerical weather prediction models. These observations, however, are expensive, and rarely profile the entire boundary layer. Using optimized configurations for 449 MHz and 915 MHz wind profiling radars during the eXperimental Planetary boundary layer Instrumentation Assessment, improvements have been made to the historical methods of measuring vertical velocity variance through the time series of vertical velocity, as well as the Doppler spectral width. Using six heights of sonic anemometers mounted on a 300-m tower, correlations of up to R2 = 0.74 are seen in measurements of the large-scale variances from the radar time series, and R2 = 0.79 in measurements of small-scale variance from radar spectral widths. The total variance, measured as the sum of the small- and large-scales agrees well with sonic anemometers, with R2 = 0.79. Correlation is higher in daytime, convective boundary layers than nighttime, stable conditions when turbulence levels are smaller. With the good agreement with the in situ measurements, highly-resolved profiles up to 2 km can be accurately observed from the 449 MHz radar, and 1 km from the 915 MHz radar. This optimized configuration will provide unique observations for the verification and improvement to boundary layer parameterizations in mesoscale models.

Direct numerical simulations of turbulent Ekman layers with increasing static stability: modifications to the bulk structure and second-order statistics

2014 ◽  
Vol 760 ◽  
pp. 494-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stimit K. Shah ◽  
Elie Bou-Zeid
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Richardson Number ◽  
Momentum Flux ◽  
Static Stability ◽  
Direct Numerical Simulations ◽  
Temperature Variance ◽  
Ekman Layers ◽  
Velocity Variance ◽  
Shear Production

AbstractDirect numerical simulations of stably stratified Ekman layers are conducted to study the effect of increasing static stability on turbulence dynamics and modelling in wall-bounded flows at three moderate Reynolds numbers. The flow field is analysed by examining the mean profiles of wind speed, potential temperature and momentum flux, as well as streamwise velocity and temperature spectra. The maximum stabilizing buoyancy flux that a flow can sustain while remaining fully turbulent is found to depend on the Reynolds number. The flows with the highest Reynolds number display a relatively well-developed inertial range and logarithmic layer, and are found to bear similarities to much higher-Reynolds-number flows like the ones encountered in the atmospheric boundary layer. In particular, the near-wall mean profiles follow the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory. However, several flow features, such as the critical Richardson number and the stress–strain alignment, are found to maintain significant dependence on the Reynolds number. The budgets of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), vertical velocity variance, momentum and buoyancy fluxes, and temperature variance are analysed. The results indicate that the effect of stability on turbulence is first directly manifested in the vertical velocity variance budget, and results in damping of vertical motions. This then leads to a reduction in the downward transport of horizontal momentum components towards the surface, and consequently to a decrease in the shear production term in the TKE budget: changes in the vertical profile of TKE shear production with increasing Richardson number are significant and have a larger impact on TKE than direct buoyancy destruction. The reduction in vertical velocity variance also results in significant drops in the production terms in the momentum flux, buoyancy flux and temperature variance budgets. Various assumptions and parameters related to low-order turbulence closures are investigated. The results suggest that the vertical velocity variance is a more appropriate parameter than the full TKE on which to base eddy-diffusivity and viscosity models.

Evaluation of the Simulated Interannual and Subseasonal Variability in an AMIP-Style Simulation Using the CSU Multiscale Modeling Framework

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marat Khairoutdinov ◽  
Charlotte DeMott ◽  
David Randall
Keyword(s):  
Multiscale Modeling ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Subseasonal Variability ◽  
Cloud Water Content ◽  
Velocity Variance ◽  
Stratocumulus Clouds ◽  
Cloud Effect ◽  
Multiscale Modeling Framework

Abstract The Colorado State University (CSU) Multiscale Modeling Framework (MMF) is a new type of general circulation model (GCM) that replaces the conventional parameterizations of convection, clouds, and boundary layer with a cloud-resolving model (CRM) embedded into each grid column. The MMF has been used to perform a 19-yr-long Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project–style simulation using the 1985–2004 sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice distributions as prescribed boundary conditions. Particular focus has been given to the simulation of the interannual and subseasonal variability. The annual mean climatology is generally well simulated. Prominent biases include excessive precipitation associated with the Indian and Asian monsoon seasons, precipitation deficits west of the Maritime Continent and over Amazonia, shortwave cloud effect biases west of the subtropical continents due to insufficient stratocumulus clouds, and longwave cloud effect biases due to overestimation of high cloud amounts, especially in the tropics. The geographical pattern of the seasonal cycle of precipitation is well reproduced, although the seasonal variance is considerably overestimated mostly because of the excessive monsoon precipitation mentioned above. The MMF does a good job of reproducing the interannual variability in terms of the spatial structure and magnitude of major anomalies associated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The subseasonal variability of tropical climate associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) and equatorially trapped waves are particular strengths of the simulation. The wavenumber–frequency power spectra of the simulated outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), precipitation rate, and zonal wind at 200 and 850 mb for time scales in the range of 2–96 days compare very well to the spectra derived from observations, and show a robust MJO and Kelvin and Rossby waves with phase speeds similar to those observed. The geographical patterns of the MJO and Kelvin wave–filtered OLR variance for summer and winter seasons are well simulated; however, the variances tend to be overestimated by as much as 50%. The observed seasonal and interannual variations of the strength of the MJO are also well reproduced. The physical realism of the simulated marine stratocumulus clouds is demonstrated by an analysis of the composite diurnal cycle of cloud water content, longwave (IR) cooling, vertical velocity variance, rainfall, and subcloud vertical velocity skewness. The relationships between vertical velocity variance, IR cooling, and negative skewness all suggest that, despite the coarse numerical grid of the CRM, the simulated clouds behave in a manner consistent with the understanding of the stratocumulus dynamics. In the stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition zone, the diurnal cycle of the inversion layer as simulated by the MMF also bears a remarkable resemblance to in situ observations. It is demonstrated that in spite of the coarse spacing of the CRM grid used in the current version of MMF, the bulk of vertical transport of water in the MMF is carried out by the circulations explicitly represented on the CRM grid rather than by the CRM’s subgrid-scale parameterization.

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