scholarly journals Feasibility of Estimating Turbulent Heat Fluxes via Variational Assimilation of Reference-Level Air Temperature and Specific Humidity Observations

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1065
Author(s):  
Elahe Tajfar ◽  
Sayed M. Bateni ◽  
Essam Heggy ◽  
Tongren Xu
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Reference Level ◽  
Turbulent Heat ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Variational Assimilation ◽  
Available Energy ◽  
Turbulent Heat Fluxes ◽  
Mean Square Errors

This study investigated the feasibility of partitioning the available energy between sensible (H) and latent (LE) heat fluxes via variational assimilation of reference-level air temperature and specific humidity. For this purpose, sequences of reference-level air temperature and specific humidity were assimilated into an atmospheric boundary layer model (ABL) within a variational data assimilation (VDA) framework to estimate H and LE. The VDA approach was tested at six sites (namely, Arou, Audubon, Bondville, Brookings, Desert, and Willow Creek) with contrasting climatic and vegetative conditions. The unknowns of the VDA system were the neutral bulk heat transfer coefficient (CHN) and evaporative fraction (EF). EF estimates were found to agree well with observations in terms of magnitude and day-to-day fluctuations in wet/densely vegetated sites but degraded in dry/sparsely vegetated sites. Similarly, in wet/densely vegetated sites, the variations in the CHN estimates were found to be consistent with those of the leaf area index (LAI) while this consistency deteriorated in dry/sparely vegetated sites. The root mean square errors (RMSEs) of daily H and LE estimates at the Arou site (wet) were 25.43 (Wm−2) and 55.81 (Wm−2), which are respectively 57.6% and 45.4% smaller than those of 60.00 (Wm−2) and 102.21 (Wm−2) at the Desert site (dry). Overall, the results show that the VDA system performs well at wet/densely vegetated sites (e.g., Arou and Willow Creek), but its performance degrades at dry/slightly vegetated sites (e.g., Desert and Audubon). These outcomes show that the sequences of reference-level air temperature and specific humidity have more information on the partitioning of available energy between the sensible and latent heat fluxes in wet/densely vegetated sites than dry/slightly vegetated sites.

scholarly journals Estimation of Turbulent Heat Fluxes via Assimilation of Air Temperature and Specific Humidity into an Atmospheric Boundary Layer Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Tajfar ◽  
S. M. Bateni ◽  
S. A. Margulis ◽  
P. Gentine ◽  
T. Auligne
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Turbulent Heat ◽  
Layer Model ◽  
Ground Heat Flux ◽  
Turbulent Heat Fluxes

AbstractA number of studies have used time series of air temperature and specific humidity observations to estimate turbulent heat fluxes. These studies require the specification of surface roughness lengths for heat and momentum (that are directly related to the neutral bulk heat transfer coefficient CHN) and/or ground heat flux, which are often unavailable. In this study, sequences of air temperature and specific humidity are assimilated into an atmospheric boundary layer model within a variational data assimilation (VDA) framework to estimate CHN, evaporative fraction (EF), turbulent heat fluxes, and atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) height, potential temperature, and humidity. The developed VDA approach needs neither the surface roughness parameterization (as it is optimized by the VDA approach) nor ground heat flux measurements. The VDA approach is tested over the First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Field Experiment (FIFE) site in the summers of 1987 and 1988. The results indicate that the estimated sensible and latent heat fluxes agree fairly well with the corresponding measurements. For FIFE 1987 (1988), the daily sensible and latent heat fluxes estimates have a root-mean-square error of 25.72 W m−2 (27.77 W m−2) and 53.63 W m−2 (48.22 W m−2), respectively. In addition, the ABL height, specific humidity, and potential temperature estimates from the VDA system are in good agreement with those inferred from the radiosondes both in terms of magnitude and diurnal trend.

The Local Biophysical Response to Land-Use Change in HadGEM2-ES

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (22) ◽  
pp. 7611-7627 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Temperature Response ◽  
Bowen Ratio ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Turbulent Heat ◽  
Available Energy ◽  
Turbulent Heat Fluxes ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract The biophysical response to a local change in land use is calculated using the HadGEM2-ES Earth system model. The biophysical temperature response is found to be a small residual of three large opposing flux responses: available energy, sensible heat, and latent heat. Deforestation reduces available energy, which is balanced by a reduction in heat lost via turbulent fluxes. However, the changes in turbulent heat fluxes are not simply a response to the reduction in available energy; rather, they are a direct response to land-use change, caused by reduced roughness length and, in the tropics, an increase in the Bowen ratio. Evaluation against satellite-derived observational datasets shows that in response to deforestation, the model has too much albedo-driven cooling and too little latent-heat-driven warming, leading to a large cooling bias.

Spatial Variation in Turbulent Heat Fluxes in Drake Passage

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1470-1488 ◽  
Author(s):  
ChuanLi Jiang ◽  
Sarah T. Gille ◽  
Janet Sprintall ◽  
Kei Yoshimura ◽  
Masao Kanamitsu
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Drake Passage ◽  
Polar Front ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Turbulent Heat ◽  
Length Scales ◽  
Sea Temperature ◽  
Turbulent Heat Fluxes

High-resolution underway shipboard atmospheric and oceanic observations collected in Drake Passage from 2000 to 2009 are used to examine the spatial scales of turbulent heat fluxes and flux-related state variables. The magnitude of the seasonal cycle of sea surface temperature (SST) south of the Polar Front is found to be twice that north of the front, but the seasonal cycles of the turbulent heat fluxes show no differences on either side of the Polar Front. Frequency spectra of the turbulent heat fluxes and related variables are red, with no identifiable spectral peaks. SST and air temperature are coherent over a range of frequencies corresponding to periods between ~10 h and 2 days, with SST leading air temperature. The spatial decorrelation length scales of the sensible and latent heat fluxes calculated from two-day transects are 65 ± 6 km and 80 ± 6 km, respectively. The scale of the sensible heat flux is consistent with the decorrelation scale for air–sea temperature differences (70 ± 6 km) rather than either SST (153 ± 2 km) or air temperature (138 ± 4 km) alone. These scales are dominated by the Polar Front. When the Polar Front region is excluded, the decorrelation scales are 10–20 km, consistent with the first baroclinic Rossby radius. These eddy scales are often unrepresented in the available gridded heat flux products. The Drake Passage ship measurements are compared with four recently available gridded turbulent heat flux products: the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts high-resolution operational product in support of the Year of Coordinated Observing Modeling and Forcasting Tropical Convection (ECMWF-YOTC), ECMWF interim reanalysis (ERA-Interim), the Drake Passage reanalysis downscaling (DPRD10) regional product, and the objectively analyzed air–sea fluxes (OAFlux). The decorrelation length scales of the air–sea temperature difference, wind speed, and turbulent heat fluxes from these four products are significantly larger than those determined from shipboard measurements.

scholarly journals Influence of SST Anomalies on Winter Turbulent Heat Fluxes in the Eastern Kuroshio–Oyashio Confluence Region

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (24) ◽  
pp. 9349-9358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shusaku Sugimoto
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Surface Wind Speed ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Turbulent Heat ◽  
Confluence Region ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Abstract Variations in the turbulent heat flux (THF; the sum of the sensible and latent heat fluxes) in the eastern Kuroshio–Oyashio confluence region (EKOCR; 36°–40°N, 155°–160°E) were investigated over a period of 27 consecutive winters (December–February) from 1985/86 to 2011/12. The THF was calculated from a bulk formula using daily variables [surface wind speed, surface air specific humidity, surface air temperature, and sea surface temperature (SST)] of the objectively analyzed air–sea fluxes (OAFlux) dataset and bulk coefficients based on the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) bulk flux algorithm 3.0. The winter THF over the EKOCR showed low-frequency variations, with larger THF values in the early 2000s and smaller values in the late 1990s and late 2000s. The heat release in the early 2000s was up to ~40% greater than that in the late 1990s and late 2000s. By performing experiments using combinations of daily raw data values and daily climatological data, the relative contributions of SST, surface air specific humidity, surface air temperature, and surface wind speed were quantitatively assessed in determining the THF over the EKOCR. Results showed that SST predominantly determines the THF: large amounts of heat are released during times of positive SST anomalies. By using Argo float (temperature–salinity) profiles of 2003–12 and a satellite altimetry dataset of 1992–2012, it was found that the warm–salty water transported by an occurrence of the Kuroshio bifurcation was responsible for the generation of positive SST anomalies in the EKOCR.

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