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Morel, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Morel, P..

Scale dependence of the 200-mb divergence inferred from EOLE data.

The EOLE experiment with 480 constant-volume balloons distributed over the Southern Hemisphere approximately at the 200-mb level, has provided a unique, highly accurate set of tracer trajectories in the general westerly circulation. The trajectories of neighboring balloons are analyzed to estimate the horizontal divergence from the Lagrangian derivative of the area of one cluster. The variance of the divergence estimates results from two almost comparable effects: the true divergence of the horizontal flow and eddy diffusion due to small-scale, two-dimensional turbulence. Taking this into account, the rms divergence is found to be of the order of 0.00001 per sec and decreases logarithmically with cluster size. This scale dependence is shown to be consistent with the quasi-geostrophic turbulence model of the general circulation in midlatitudes.

Morel, P.

The Eole experiment - Early results and current objectives.

The Eole experiment with 480 constant level balloons released in the Southern Hemisphere is described. Each balloon, floating freely at approximately the 200-mb level, is a precise tracer of the horizontal motion of air masses, the accuracy of which is limited only by the laminated structure of the stratospheric flow, within an rms uncertainty of 1.5 m/sec. The balloons were found after 2 months to distribute at random over the whole hemisphere outside the tropics, irrespective of their original launching site. Early results of Eulerian and Lagrangian averages of the Eole wind data are given for describing the mean 200-mb zonal and meridional circulations.

Morel, P.

The EOLE experiment: Early results and current objectives

The EOLE experiment with 480 constant level balloons released in the Southern Hemisphere is described. Each balloon floating freely at approximately the 200 mb level, is a precise tracer of the horizontal motion of air masses, the accuracy of which is limited only by the laminated structure of the stratospheric flow, within an RMS uncertainty of 1.5 m/sec. The balloons were found after 2 months to distribute at random over the whole hemisphere outside the tropics, irrespective of their original launching site. Early results of Eulerian and Lagrangian averages of the EOLE wind data are given for describing the mean 200 mb zonal and meridional circulations. The effect of the small scale eddies of two-dimensional turbulence has been studied with respect to the relative eddy diffusion of pairs of balloons and the relative dispersion of triangular clusters. New estimates of the RMS divergence of the 200 mb flow are given, together with their scale dependence which was found to be a logarithmic law.

Morel, P.

The Eole weather satellite

Eole experiment - weather satellite used to follow ceiling balloons with radioelectric responder

METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE