On the climatology of surface wind direction frequencies for the central Chilean coast

2010 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Saavedra ◽  
E Muller ◽  
A Foppiano
Keyword(s):  
Wind Direction ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Chilean Coast

scholarly journals Aerosol particle characteristics measured in the United Arab Emirates and their response to mixing in the boundary layer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jutta Kesti ◽  
John Backman ◽  
Ewan James O'Connor ◽  
Anne Hirsikko ◽  
Eija Asmi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Aerosol Particle ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Wind Direction ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Number Concentration ◽  
Particle Properties ◽  
Boundary Layer Height

Abstract. Aerosol particles play an important in role in the microphysics of clouds and hence on their likelihood to precipitate. In the changing climate already dry areas such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are predicted to become even drier. Comprehensive observations of the daily and seasonal variation in aerosol particle properties in such locations are required reducing the uncertainty in such predictions. We analyse observations from a one-year measurement campaign at a background location in the United Arab Emirates to investigate the properties of aerosol particles in this region, study the impact of boundary layer mixing on background aerosol particle properties measured at the surface and study the temporal evolution of the aerosol particle cloud formation potential in the region. We used in-situ aerosol particle measurements to characterise the aerosol particle composition, size, number and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) properties, in-situ SO2 measurements as an anthropogenic signature and a long-range scanning Doppler lidar to provide vertical profiles of the horizontal wind and turbulent properties to monitor the evolution of the boundary layer. Anthropogenic sulphate dominated the aerosol particle mass composition in this location. There was a clear diurnal cycle in the surface wind direction, which had a strong impact on aerosol particle total number concentration, SO2 concentration and black carbon mass concentration. Local sources were the predominant source of black carbon, as concentrations clearly depended on the presence of turbulent mixing, with much higher values during calm nights. The measured concentrations of SO2, instead, were highly dependent on the surface wind direction as well as on the depth of the boundary layer when entrainment from the advected elevated layers occurred. The wind direction at the surface or of the elevated layer suggests that the cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other coastal conurbations were the remote sources of SO2. We observed new aerosol particle formation events almost every day (on four days out of five on average). Calm nights had the highest CCN number concentrations and lowest κ values and activation fractions. We did not observe any clear dependence of CCN number concentration and κ parameter on the height of the daytime boundary layer, whereas the activation fraction did show a slight increase with increasing boundary layer height, due to the change in the shape of the aerosol particle size distribution where the relative portion of larger aerosol particles increased with increasing boundary layer height. We believe that this indicates that size is more important than chemistry for aerosol particle CCN activation at this site. The combination of instrumentation used in this campaign enabled us to identify periods when anthropogenic pollution from remote sources that had been transported in elevated layers was present, and had been mixed down to the surface in the growing boundary layer.

Effectiveness of WRF wind direction for retrieving coastal sea surface wind from synthetic aperture radar

Wind Energy ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 865-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko Takeyama ◽  
Teruo Ohsawa ◽  
Katsutoshi Kozai ◽  
Charlotte Bay Hasager ◽  
Merete Badger
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Aperture Radar ◽  
Wind Direction ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Synthetic Aperture ◽  
Sea Surface Wind ◽  
Coastal Sea ◽  
Aperture Radar

The Effects of SST-Induced Surface Wind Speed and Direction Gradients on Midlatitude Surface Vorticity and Divergence

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry W. O’Neill ◽  
Dudley B. Chelton ◽  
Steven K. Esbensen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Direction ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Kuroshio Extension ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Surface Wind Speed ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Sst Variability ◽  
Seawinds Scatterometer

Abstract The effects of surface wind speed and direction gradients on midlatitude surface vorticity and divergence fields associated with mesoscale sea surface temperature (SST) variability having spatial scales of 100–1000 km are investigated using vector wind observations from the SeaWinds scatterometer on the Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) satellite and SST from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) Aqua satellite. The wind–SST coupling is analyzed over the period June 2002–August 2008, corresponding to the first 6+ years of the AMSR-E mission. Previous studies have shown that strong wind speed gradients develop in response to persistent mesoscale SST features associated with the Kuroshio Extension, Gulf Stream, South Atlantic, and Agulhas Return Current regions. Midlatitude SST fronts also significantly modify surface wind direction; the surface wind speed and direction responses to typical SST differences of about 2°–4°C are, on average, about 1–2 m s−1 and 4°–8°, respectively, over all four regions. Wind speed perturbations are positively correlated and very nearly collocated spatially with the SST perturbations. Wind direction perturbations, however, are displaced meridionally from the SST perturbations, with cyclonic flow poleward of warm SST and anticyclonic flow poleward of cool SST. Previous observational analyses have shown that small-scale perturbations in the surface vorticity and divergence fields are related linearly to the crosswind and downwind components of the SST gradient, respectively. When the vorticity and divergence fields are analyzed in curvilinear natural coordinates, the wind speed contributions to the SST-induced vorticity and divergence depend equally on the crosswind and downwind SST gradients, respectively. SST-induced wind direction gradients also significantly modify the vorticity and divergence fields, weakening the vorticity response to crosswind SST gradients while enhancing the divergence response to downwind SST gradients.

scholarly journals Sea Surface Wind Correction Using HF Ocean Radar and Its Impact on Coastal Wave Prediction

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 2001-2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukiharu Hisaki
Keyword(s):  
Wind Direction ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Hf Radar ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Wave Parameter ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Wave Prediction ◽  
Sea Surface Wind ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBoth wind speeds and wind directions are important for predicting wave heights near complex coastal areas, such as small islands, because the fetch is sensitive to the wind direction. High-frequency (HF) radar can be used to estimate sea surface wind directions from first-order scattering. A simple method is proposed to correct sea surface wind vectors from reanalysis data using the wind directions estimated from HF radar. The constraints for wind speed corrections are that the corrections are small and that the corrections of horizontal divergences are small. A simple algorithm for solving the solution that minimizes the weighted sum of the constraints is developed. Another simple method is proposed to correct sea surface wind vectors. The constraints of the method are that corrections of wind vectors and horizontal divergences from the reanalysis wind vectors are small and that the projection of the corrected wind vectors to the direction orthogonal to the HF radar–estimated wind direction is small. The impact of wind correction on wave parameter prediction is large in the area in which the fetch is sensitive to wind direction. The accuracy of the wave prediction is improved by correcting the wind in that area, where correction of wind direction is more important than correction of wind speeds for the improvement. This method could be used for near-real-time wave monitoring by correcting forecast winds using HF radar data.

scholarly journals Surface Roughness Imaging of Currents Shows Divergence and Strain in the Wind Direction

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 2153-2163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Rascle ◽  
Bertrand Chapron ◽  
Aurélien Ponte ◽  
Fabrice Ardhuin ◽  
Patrice Klein
Keyword(s):  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Wind Direction ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Surface Currents ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Sea Surface Roughness ◽  
Deformation Properties ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Synthetic Aperture Radars

Abstract Images of sea surface roughness—for example, obtained by synthetic aperture radars (SAR) or by radiometers viewing areas in and around the sun glitter—at times provide clear observations of meso- and submesoscale oceanic features. Interacting with the surface wind waves, particular deformation properties of surface currents are responsible for those manifestations. Ignoring other sources of surface roughness variations, the authors limit their discussion to the mean square slope (mss) variability. This study confirms that vortical currents and currents with shear in the wind direction shall not be expressed in surface roughness images. Only divergent currents or currents with no divergence but strained in the wind direction can exhibit surface roughness signatures. More specifically, nondivergent currents might be traced with a 45° sensitivity to the wind direction. A simple method is proposed in order to interpret high-resolution roughness images, where roughness variations are proportional to ∂u/∂x + α∂υ/∂y, a linear combination of the along-wind and crosswind current gradients. The polarization parameter α depends upon the sensor look direction and the directional properties of the surface waves selected by the sensor. The use of multiple look directions or possible acquisitions with different wind directions shall thus help to retrieve surface currents from surface roughness observations.

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