Boundary-layer friction in midlatitude cyclones

Boundary-layer friction in midlatitude cyclones

Results from an idealized three-dimensional baroclinic life-cycle model are interpreted in a potential vorticity (PV) framework to identify the physical mechanisms by which frictional processes acting in the atmospheric boundary layer modify and reduce the baroclinic development of a midlatitude storm. Considering a life cycle where the only non-conservative process acting is boundary-layer fri...

Boundary-layer friction in midlatitude cyclone

Precipitation and Cloud Structure in Midlatitude Cyclones

Composite mean fields and probability distribution functions (PDFs) of rain rate, cloud type and cover, cloud-top temperature, surface wind velocity, and water vapor path (WVP) are constructed using satellite observations of midlatitude cyclones from four oceanic regions (i.e., the North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic, and South Atlantic). Reanalysis surface pressure fields are used to ...

Surface Friction and Boundary Layer Thickening in Transitional Flow

Estimating the Orientation and Spacing of Midlatitude Linear Convective Boundary Layer Features: Cloud Streets

Linear features in a clear convective boundary layer (CBL) over the North Atlantic Ocean were studied during a weak cold air outbreak using a down-looking airborne lidar. Sequential lidar profiles were placed together and color coded to provide images of aerosol and molecular scattering from below the aircraft to the ocean surface, over a 36-km segment of a flight track approximately 150 km off...