The formation of a diurnal thermocline in the ocean mixed layer under a stabilizing buoyancy flux was simulated successfully by large-eddy simulation, reproducing various features consistent with ...observation. The analysis of the simulation result revealed that the formation of a diurnal thermocline passes through two different phases: the formation of a thermocline (formation stage) and increasing thickness of the thermocline thereafter (growth stage). Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) flux dominates TKE production within the mixed layer, but turbulence maintained by shear production at the thermocline causes stratification below the mixed layer. In addition, once the thermocline is formed, both the gradient and flux Richardson numbers maintain constant values at the thermocline. It was also found that a diurnal thermocline cannot be formed in the absence of both wave breaking and Langmuir circulation. Furthermore, the effects of stratification on turbulence were investigated based on the time series of various physical variables of turbulence at the diurnal thermocline and within the mixed layer, and the mechanism for diurnal thermocline formation is discussed.
To quantify the turbulent transport at gray zone length scales between 1 and 10 km the Lagrangian evolution of the CONSTRAIN cold air outbreak (CAO) case was simulated with seven large eddy models. ...The case is characterized by rather large latent and sensible heat fluxes, and a rapid deepening rate of the boundary layer. In some models the entrainment velocity exceeds 4 cm/s. A significant fraction of this growth is attributed to a strong longwave radiative cooling of the inversion layer. The evolution and the timing of the breakup of the stratocumulus cloud deck differ significantly among the models. Sensitivity experiments demonstrate that a decrease in the prescribed cloud droplet number concentration, and the inclusion of ice microphysics, both act to speed up the thinning of the stratocumulus by enhancing the production of precipitation. In all models the formation of mesoscale fluctuations is clearly evident in the cloud fields but also in the horizontal wind velocity. Resolved vertical fluxes remain important for scales up to 10 km. The simulation results show that the resolved vertical velocity variance gradually diminishes with a coarsening of the horizontal mesh, but the total vertical fluxes of heat, moisture, and momentum are only weakly affected. This is a promising result as it demonstrates the potential use of a mesh size dependent turbulent length scale for convective boundary layers at gray zone model resolutions.
This study conducted large-eddy simulations (LES) of fully developed turbulent flow within and above explicitly resolved buildings in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan. The more than 100 LES results, each ...covering a 1,000
1,000 m
area with 2-m resolution, provide a database of the horizontally-averaged turbulent statistics and surface drag corresponding to various urban morphologies. The vertical profiles of horizontally-averaged wind velocity mostly follow a logarithmic law even for districts with high-rise buildings, allowing estimates of aerodynamic parameters such as displacement height and roughness length using the von Karman constant
0.4. As an alternative derivation of the aerodynamic parameters, a regression of roughness length and variable Karman constant was also attempted, using a displacement height physically determined as the central height of drag action. Although both the regression methods worked, the former gives larger (smaller) values of displacement height (roughness length) by 20–25 % than the latter. The LES database clearly illustrates the essential difference in bulk flow properties between real urban surfaces and simplified arrays. The vertical profiles of horizontally-averaged momentum flux were influenced by the maximum building height and the standard deviation of building height, as well as conventional geometric parameters such as the average building height, frontal area index, and plane area index. On the basis of these investigations, a new aerodynamic parametrization of roughness length and displacement height in terms of the five geometric parameters described above was empirically proposed. The new parametrizations work well for both real urban morphologies and simplified model geometries.
We investigated the impact of roll convection on the convective boundary layer and vertical transports in different cold air outbreak (CAO) scenarios using large eddy simulations (LES). The ...organization of convection into rolls was triggered by upstream heterogeneities in the surface temperature, representing ice and water. By changing the sea ice distribution in our LES, we were able to simulate a roll and a nonroll case for each scenario. Furthermore, the roll wavelength was varied by changing the scale of the heterogeneity. The characteristics of the simulated rolls and cloud streets, such as aspect ratios, orientation of the roll axes, and downstream extensions of single rolls agreed closely with observations in CAO situations. The vertical turbulent fluxes, calculated for each simulation, were decomposed into contributions from rolls and from unorganized turbulence. Even though our results confirmed that rolls triggered by upstream heterogeneities can substantially contribute to vertical turbulent fluxes, the total fluxes were not affected by the rolls.
Key PointsParameter study on roll convection in cold air outbreaks using LESFor each scenario a roll and a nonroll case was simulatedRolls contribute to vertical transports, but total transports were not affected
A new turbulence parametrization is developed for a non‐eddy‐resolving microscale model to study the effects of leads (elongated open‐water channels in sea ice) of different width on the polar ...atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). Lead‐dominated sea ice regions are characterized by large horizontal inhomogeneities of the surface temperature causing strong convection. Therefore, the new parametrization is based on a previous formulation where inhomogeneous conditions of dry convection over leads and nonlocal effects on heat fluxes had already been taken into account for a fixed lead width. A nonlocal lead width dependent approach is applied now for both heat fluxes and momentum fluxes in the convective region. Microscale model results obtained with the new, the previous nonlocal, and a local parametrization are shown, where 10 idealized cases of a lead‐perpendicular, near‐neutral ABL‐flow below a strong capping inversion are considered. Furthermore, time‐averaged large eddy simulation (LES) results of those cases are considered for analyzing the integrated effects of the dry convection on ABL characteristics. Microscale model results obtained with the new nonlocal parametrization agree well with the LES for variable lead widths and different atmospheric forcing although there is a room for further improvement. Furthermore, several features obtained with a local closure clearly disagree with LES. Thus, the microscale study also points to difficulties that might occur in mesoscale studies over regions where leads dominate the flow regime when local closures are applied.
Key Points
Improved parametrization of inhomogeneous turbulent convection over sea ice leads of variable width for non‐eddy‐resolving atmospheric model
Simulated lead effects on atmospheric boundary layer obtained with new nonlocal scheme agree well with large eddy simulation
Results obtained with local scheme show potential difficulties for mesoscale atmospheric studies in lead‐dominated sea ice regions
In the early 1980s, Germany started a new era of modern Antarctic research. The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) was founded and important research ...platforms such as the German permanent station in Antarctica, today called Neumayer III, and the research icebreaker
Polarstern
were installed. The research primarily focused on the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. In parallel, the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) started a priority program ‘Antarctic Research’ (since 2003 called SPP-1158) to foster and intensify the cooperation between scientists from different German universities and the AWI as well as other institutes involved in polar research. Here, we review the main findings in meteorology and oceanography of the last decade, funded by the priority program. The paper presents field observations and modelling efforts, extending from the stratosphere to the deep ocean. The research spans a large range of temporal and spatial scales, including the interaction of both climate components. In particular, radiative processes, the interaction of the changing ozone layer with large-scale atmospheric circulations, and changes in the sea ice cover are discussed. Climate and weather forecast models provide an insight into the water cycle and the climate change signals associated with synoptic cyclones. Investigations of the atmospheric boundary layer focus on the interaction between atmosphere, sea ice and ocean in the vicinity of polynyas and leads. The chapters dedicated to polar oceanography review the interaction between the ocean and ice shelves with regard to the freshwater input and discuss the changes in water mass characteristics, ventilation and formation rates, crucial for the deepest limb of the global, climate-relevant meridional overturning circulation. They also highlight the associated storage of anthropogenic carbon as well as the cycling of carbon, nutrients and trace metals in the ocean with special emphasis on the Weddell Sea.
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