Everett C. Nickerson

The Numerical Simulation of Clouds, Rains and Airflow over the Vosges and Black Forest Mountains: A Meso-β Model with Parameterized Microphysics

Abstract A three-dimensional meso-β model with parameterized microphysics is presented. The model is capable of simulating orographically forced clouds, rain, and airflow. Tests using a two-dimensional version confirm the ability of the model to replicate the linear and nonlinear mountain wave simulations of previous authors. The model is applied to the Rhine valley and surrounding mountainous areas, the Vosges in France and the Black Forest in Germany. Model-predicted rainfall over the mountainous areas is in good agreement with observations in both magnitude and location; however, an absence of model-predicted cloud cover over the Rhine valley suggests the need for an improved mesoscale initialization procedure.

The Role of Surface Friction in Downslope Windstorms

Abstract Numerical simulations of the 11 January 1972 windstorm in Boulder, Colorado, were carded out using a hydrostatic model with a turbulent kinetic energy parameterization to investigate the role of fictional effects in the development of nonlinear mountain waves. Sensitivity tests to the roughness length specification and to the turbulent mixing and dissipation length formulations show that surface friction delays the onset of the strong surface winds and also prevents the downstream propagation of the zone of maximum windspeed. Shear production within convectively stable regions is the dominant mechanism for the production of the turbulent kinetic energy. Moreover, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that a hydrostatic amplification mechanism is capable of accounting for the development of strong downslope winds.

Surface Layer and Energy Budget Parameterizations for Mesoscale Models

Abstract A transcendental equation is presented for the Monin-Obukhov length L based upon (i) the Businger-Dyer surface layer formulations, (ii) parameterizations of the moisture flux, ground storage, and radiation terms in the surface energy budget; and (iii) the wind and temperature at 10 m above a surface characterized by a roughness length zo. The surface temperature, friction velocity and sensible heat flux are obtained from the computed value of L.

Impact of cloud dynamics on tropospheric chemistry: Advances in modeling the interactions between microphysical and chemical processes

A chemical module describing the tropospheric photochemistry of ozone precursors in both gaseous and aqueous phases for a remote continental atmosphere has been developed within the framework of a two-dimensional cloud model. Dynamical, microphysical and chemical processes are fully interacting in order to study the influence of clouds on ozone chemistry and to quantify the relative importance of the different processes on the budget and evolution of 12 chemical species. Whereas the concentrations of highly soluble species are strongly affected by evaporation and sedimentation, less soluble species are affected primarily by accretion. The model reproduces previously observed chemical phenomena such as the enrichment of formic acid at the top of the cloud.

Numerical Simulation of Orographic Enhancement of Rain with a Mesoscale Model

Abstract Orographic precipitation enhancement associated with the feeder mechanism proposed by Bergeron has been simulated using a two dimensions model based upon primitive equations including detailed parameter microphysics. A case-by-case comparison is made between model results and each of 14 well-documented precipitation episodes in southern Wales. The model reproduces the observed strong dependence of the precipitation enhancement on the low-level wind speed, as well as the weak dependence on the upwind precipitation rate. Model results also demonstrate that a satisfactory treatment of orographically enhanced precipitation requires the linking of the dynamical, thermodynamical and microphysical processes.

A Comparative Study of Various Parameterizations of the Planetary Boundary Layer in a Numerical Mesoscale Model

Abstract Various parameterizations of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) currently used in three-dimensional (3D) mesoscale models are compared with a more complex scheme including a turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) equation. In the first set of simulations made with a ID model against the classical Wangara data, the mean wind, temperature and moisture calculated in the PBL are nearly insensitive to the choice of the parameterization. In the second set of simulations, the TKE parameterization is used in a 3D mesoscale model to simulate sea breeze flows over south Florida. A comparison is presented with previous simulations of Pielke, and Pielke and Mahrer, for the mean flow, and with the third-order turbulence closure model of Briere for the turbulent variables, including a discussion of the turbulent energy budget, The analysis of the results obtained with the TKE scheme shows that the predicted turbulent fields are qualitatively realistic and interact significantly with the sea breeze circulation. Finally...

Project aguila: In situ measurements of Mexico City air pollution by a research aircraft

Abstract Measurements of aerosol concentrations, chemical species and meteorological quantities in the air above Mexico City were obtained from an instrumented research aircraft. Concentrations of particles in the size range between 0.12 and 3.12 μm were nearly invariant with height, and typical values were of the order of 5000 cm−3. However, particles smaller than 0.12 μm were confined to the lowest few hundred meters of the atmosphere until the morning temperature inversion dissipated, after which time those particles, together with newly formed particles created by secondary processes, mixed to a greater height above the city. Total particle concentrations near the surface attained values in excess of 60,000 cm−3. An examination of the corresponding profiles of SO2 suggests that combustion processes are likely sources for the additional small particles.

On the Existence of Atmospheric Vortices Downwind of Hawaii during the HAMEC Project

Abstract Aircraft observations west of the island of Hawaii in June 1980 during the Hawaii Mesoscale Energy and Climate (HAMEC) Project have provided the first in situ measurements of airflow within atmospheric vortices downwind of a tall island. A band of low-level westerly winds was observed to extend more than 150 km west of the island along the axis line separating cyclonic vortices to the north of that line from anticyclonic vortices to the south. The theoretical downstream propagation speed of those vortices is obtained from the solution to a quadratic equation, and while previous satellite studies of atmospheric vortices used the larger root (i.e., ∼80% of the ambient flow), the present data are consistent with the smaller root ∼20%). The turbulent Reynolds number for the flow is 140, and the corresponding vortex shedding time is 32 h.

The transport and redistribution of atmospheric gases in regions of frontal rain

Gases emitted in the planetary boundary layer can be transported very efficiently to the free troposphere through vertical motion along a frontal surface. A mesoscale numerical model was used to simulate the vertical transport of a tracer by clouds during frontogenesis in a moist atmosphere (an evolving Eady wave) in order to illustrate such vertical transport conditions. It is shown that the efficient vertical transport of a tracer occurs only when clouds are present, either when a surface or an in-situ source is considered. Insoluble, partially soluble, and soluble tracers are studied in order to determine the relative importance of vertical transport and scavenging on their redistribution.

Impact of two microphysical schemes upon gas scavenging and deposition in a mesoscale meteorological model

Abstract Two widely used microphysical schemes are compared to evaluate their possible impact on wet deposition mechanisms. They are based upon different spectral distributions for raindrops (Marshall-Palmer and lognormal distributions) and use different formulations for the autoconversion and evaporation process, as well as for the fall velocity of raindrops. A comparative study of these two schemes is carried out for a two-dimensional mountain wave simulation in a mesoscale meteorological model. Differences in the spatial and temporal evolution of microphysical fields are investigated. The two schemes are compared for simple chemical scenarios: gas dissolution in cloud and rain, gas scavenging by raindrops, and wet deposition. Results contrast the differing behavior of the two schemes in describing processes such as the direct scavenging of gases by raindrops and the release of chemical species back into the atmosphere because of below-cloud evaporation of rain.