Gravity wave breaking, secondary wave generation, and mixing above deep convection in a three-dimensional cloud model

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd P. Lane ◽  
Robert D. Sharman
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Cloud Model ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Wave Generation ◽  
Secondary Wave

Some Influences of Background Flow Conditions on the Generation of Turbulence due to Gravity Wave Breaking above Deep Convection

2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (11) ◽  
pp. 2777-2796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd P. Lane ◽  
Robert D. Sharman
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Critical Level ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Aviation Industry ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Background Flow

Abstract Deep moist convection generates turbulence in the clear air above and around developing clouds, penetrating convective updrafts and mature thunderstorms. This turbulence can be due to shearing instabilities caused by strong flow deformations near the cloud top, and also to breaking gravity waves generated by cloud–environment interactions. Turbulence above and around deep convection is an important safety issue for aviation, and improved understanding of the conditions that lead to out-of-cloud turbulence formation may result in better turbulence avoidance guidelines or forecasting capabilities. In this study, a series of high-resolution two- and three-dimensional model simulations of a severe thunderstorm are conducted to examine the sensitivity of above-cloud turbulence to a variety of background flow conditions—in particular, the above-cloud wind shear and static stability. Shortly after the initial convective overshoot, the above-cloud turbulence and mixing are caused by local instabilities in the vicinity of the cloud interfacial boundary. At later times, when the convection is more mature, gravity wave breaking farther aloft dominates the turbulence generation. This wave breaking is caused by critical-level interactions, where the height of the critical level is controlled by the above-cloud wind shear. The strength of the above-cloud wind shear has a strong influence on the occurrence and intensity of above-cloud turbulence, with intermediate shears generating more extensive regions of turbulence, and strong shear conditions producing the most intense turbulence. Also, more stable above-cloud environments are less prone to turbulence than less stable situations. Among other things, these results highlight deficiencies in current turbulence avoidance guidelines in use by the aviation industry.

scholarly journals Parameterized Mesoscale Forcing Mechanisms for Initiating Numerically Simulated Isolated Multicellular Convection

2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (7) ◽  
pp. 2408-2421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian M. Loftus ◽  
Daniel B. Weber ◽  
Charles A. Doswell
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Model ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Initial Perturbation ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Vertical Motion ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Convection Cell ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Deep Moist Convection

Abstract Two methods designed to parameterize mesoscale ascent in a three-dimensional numerical cloud model via near-surface momentum and heat fluxes are presented and compared to the commonly used technique of an initial perturbation placed within the model initial condition. The flux techniques use a continuously reinforced thermal or convergent low-level wind field to produce upward vertical motion on the order of 10 cm s−1, by which deep, moist convection can be initiated. The sensitivity of the convective response to the type, strength, and size of the forcing is evaluated using numerical simulations of a conditionally unstable environment with weak unidirectional shear. Precipitation-free cloud processes are used to further simplify the model response to the forcing. The three methods tested produce an initial convective response, but only the momentum and heat flux methods are able to produce sustained deep convection that approximately resembles isolated multicellular convection. Cell regeneration periods, defined as the elapsed time between subsequent vertical velocity maxima passing through a constant level in the updraft region above the source, vary from 8 to 25 min, depending on the forcing type, magnitude, and geometry.

Direct numerical simulation of a breaking inertia–gravity wave

2013 ◽  
Vol 722 ◽  
pp. 424-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Remmler ◽  
M. D. Fruman ◽  
S. Hickel
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Middle Atmosphere ◽  
Dimensional Space ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Vertical Direction ◽  
Domain Size ◽  
Boussinesq Equations ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Instability Modes

AbstractWe have performed fully resolved three-dimensional numerical simulations of a statically unstable monochromatic inertia–gravity wave using the Boussinesq equations on an $f$-plane with constant stratification. The chosen parameters represent a gravity wave with almost vertical direction of propagation and a wavelength of 3 km breaking in the middle atmosphere. We initialized the simulation with a statically unstable gravity wave perturbed by its leading transverse normal mode and the leading instability modes of the time-dependent wave breaking in a two-dimensional space. The wave was simulated for approximately 16 h, which is twice the wave period. After the first breaking triggered by the imposed perturbation, two secondary breaking events are observed. Similarities and differences between the three-dimensional and previous two-dimensional solutions of the problem and effects of domain size and initial perturbations are discussed.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Orographic Gravity Waves Observed in the Mesosphere over the Auckland Islands during the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE)

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (10) ◽  
pp. 3855-3876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Eckermann ◽  
Dave Broutman ◽  
Jun Ma ◽  
James D. Doyle ◽  
Pierre-Dominique Pautet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Large Amplitude ◽  
Middle Atmosphere ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
Heating Rates ◽  
Wave Fields ◽  
Wave Experiment

Abstract On 14 July 2014 during the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE), aircraft remote sensing instruments detected large-amplitude gravity wave oscillations within mesospheric airglow and sodium layers at altitudes z ~ 78–83 km downstream of the Auckland Islands, located ~1000 km south of Christchurch, New Zealand. A high-altitude reanalysis and a three-dimensional Fourier gravity wave model are used to investigate the dynamics of this event. At 0700 UTC when the first observations were made, surface flow across the islands’ terrain generated linear three-dimensional wave fields that propagated rapidly to z ~ 78 km, where intense breaking occurred in a narrow layer beneath a zero-wind region at z ~ 83 km. In the following hours, the altitude of weak winds descended under the influence of a large-amplitude migrating semidiurnal tide, leading to intense breaking of these wave fields in subsequent observations starting at 1000 UTC. The linear Fourier model constrained by upstream reanalysis reproduces the salient aspects of observed wave fields, including horizontal wavelengths, phase orientations, temperature and vertical displacement amplitudes, heights and locations of incipient wave breaking, and momentum fluxes. Wave breaking has huge effects on local circulations, with inferred layer-averaged westward flow accelerations of ~350 m s−1 h−1 and dynamical heating rates of ~8 K h−1, supporting recent speculation of important impacts of orographic gravity waves from subantarctic islands on the mean circulation and climate of the middle atmosphere during austral winter.

Validation of Large-Eddy Simulation Methods for Gravity Wave Breaking

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 3537-3562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Remmler ◽  
Stefan Hickel ◽  
Mark D. Fruman ◽  
Ulrich Achatz
Keyword(s):  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Turbulence Parameterization ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Numerical Studies ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Scale Turbulence

Abstract To reduce the computational costs of numerical studies of gravity wave breaking in the atmosphere, the grid resolution has to be reduced as much as possible. Insufficient resolution of small-scale turbulence demands a proper turbulence parameterization in the framework of a large-eddy simulation (LES). The authors validate three different LES methods—the adaptive local deconvolution method (ALDM), the dynamic Smagorinsky method (DSM), and a naïve central discretization without turbulence parameterization (CDS4)—for three different cases of the breaking of well-defined monochromatic gravity waves. For ALDM, a modification of the numerical flux functions is developed that significantly improves the simulation results in the case of a temporarily very smooth velocity field. The test cases include an unstable and a stable inertia–gravity wave as well as an unstable high-frequency gravity wave. All simulations are carried out both in three-dimensional domains and in two-dimensional domains in which the velocity and vorticity fields are three-dimensional (so-called 2.5D simulations). The results obtained with ALDM and DSM are generally in good agreement with the reference direct numerical simulations as long as the resolution in the direction of the wave vector is sufficiently high. The resolution in the other directions has a weaker influence on the results. The simulations without turbulence parameterization are only successful if the resolution is high and the level of turbulence is comparatively low.

scholarly journals Parameterization of Strong Stratospheric Inertia–Gravity Waves Forced by Poleward-Breaking Rossby Waves

2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Zülicke ◽  
Dieter Peters
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Wave Generation ◽  
Wave Action ◽  
Rossby Wave Breaking ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
Inertia Gravity Waves

Abstract The link between poleward-breaking Rossby waves and stratospheric inertia–gravity waves is examined. With a visual inspection of Ertel’s potential vorticity maps based on ECMWF analyses it was found that Rossby wave–breaking events occurred over northern Europe in about 40% of the winter days in 1999–2003. The majority of them were breaking poleward downstream. A total of 10 field campaigns were performed in the winters of 1999–2002 at Kühlungsborn, Germany (54°N, 12°E). They are related to such events and can be considered as representative for poleward-breaking Rossby waves. Inertia–gravity wave properties are diagnosed from radiosonde observations. They appeared to be shallower, slower, and stronger than the climatological mean for the north German lowlands. Hence, Rossby wave–breaking events are linked with strong stratospheric inertia–gravity wave activity. A novel parameterization of inertia–gravity wave generation and propagation is proposed. The stratospheric inertia–gravity wave action in the 16–20-km height range was parameterized with the synoptic-scale cross-stream ageostrophic wind, which accounts for imbalances in the upper-tropospheric jet streak. This empirical relationship is supported with quasigeostrophic theory. Effects of damping and critical level absorption are taken into account with Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin theory. For verification of the parameterization with homogeneous meteorological fields in space and time, the 10 field campaigns were hindcasted with the nonhydrostatic fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model. About 80% of the variance in inertia–gravity wave action was found to be explained. For the 10 campaigns a close link was found between the poleward-breaking Rossby waves and the strong stratospheric inertia–gravity waves. The role of the polar vortex was twofold: first, it forced the poleward-oriented Rossby waves to break downstream and to form strong tropospheric jet streaks generating inertia–gravity waves. Second, the strong winds in the stratosphere favored the upward propagation of the inertia–gravity waves. The proposed new parameterization of inertia–gravity wave generation and propagation was validated and can be used to deduce mesoscale wave intensity from synoptic flow characteristics during poleward Rossby wave–breaking events.

scholarly journals Convective Initiation ahead of the Sea-Breeze Front

2005 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
pp. 264-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Fovell
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Cloud Model ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Sea Breeze ◽  
Breeze Circulation ◽  
Convective Initiation ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Offshore Flow

Abstract In earlier work, a three-dimensional cloud model was used to simulate the interaction between the sea-breeze front (SBF) and front-parallel horizontal convective rolls (HCRs), resulting in the SBF systematically encountering roll updrafts and downdrafts as it progressed inland. Interestingly, deep convection was spawned above an HCR updraft ahead of the SBF as the front approached, well before the inevitable front–roll merger. Ostensibly, both the sea-breeze and roll circulations were required for deep convection to be present in this case at all because convection was entirely absent when either phenomenon was removed. Further analysis reveals why both circulations were necessary yet not sufficient for the excitation of deep convection in this case. The sea-breeze circulation (SBC) made its upstream (inland) environment more favorable for convection by bringing about persistent if gentle lifting over an extended region stretching well ahead of the SBF. This persistent ascent established a moist and cool tongue of air, manifested by a visible and/or subvisible cloud feature termed the cloud shelf emanating ahead of the front. Though this lifting moistened and destabilized the environment, the roll’s direct and indirect effects on this moist tongue were also required. The former consisted of a moisture plume lofted by the roll updraft, and the latter consisted of obstacle effect gravity waves generated as the roll drafts penetrated through the top of the boundary layer, into the SBC-associated offshore flow farther aloft. These provided the missing spark, which led to rapid growth of cumulus above the roll updraft, drawing first from air located above the boundary layer. Once established, deep convection above the roll updraft modulated cloudiness above the approaching SBF, at first suppressing it but subsequently assuring its reestablishment and eventual growth into deep convection, again prior to the front–roll merger. This resulted from the influence of gravity waves excited owing to heating and cooling within the roll cloud.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document