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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Warm core ring dynamics derived from satellite imagery

A reinterpretation of the life history of warm core ring 82-b is constructed from drifter trajectories, hydrographic profiles, and satellite-derived sea surface temperature fields. An analysis of the observations strongly suggests this ring is fundamentally a dipole structure for much of its existence. The dipole has unequal strength vortices, with the cyclone being the weaker component. Quantification of the dipole indicates the anticyclonic is oval shaped and rotates at approximately 7.7 deg per day, while the cyclone revolves around the anticyclone at about 14.5 deg per day, yielding an orbit period of approximately 25 days for the cyclone. The elusive part of the dipole explanation is in interpreting its surface signature as a function of time, as the cyclone appears to disappear when in proximity to the steep continental slope. Vortex modeling suggests that when the weaker cyclonic eddy is placed close to a boundary, the cyclone is drawn into a filament as it is advected through the gap between the anticyclone and the boundary. This means the cyclone is either in a filamentation state or undergoing the straining associated with filamentation approximately three fourths of this time, which is in complete agreement with the satellite imagery. In addition, the 82-B dipole configuration is sufficiently robust to survive continuous interaction with the continental slope and the onset of a Gulf Stream interaction. Although only warm core ring 82-B is analyzed in detail (and found to be a vortex pair), dipole configurations are found in the warm core ring 81-F time series as well.

Hooker, Stanford B.↗
NASA NTRS2014

The Use of Red Green Blue Air Mass Imagery to Investigate the Role of Stratospheric Air in a Non-Convective Wind Event

The investigation of non-convective winds associated with passing extratropical cyclones and the formation of the sting jet in North Atlantic cyclones that impact Europe has been gaining interest. Sting jet research has been limited to North Atlantic cyclones that impact Europe because it is known to occur in Shapiro-Keyser cyclones and theory suggests it does not occur in Norwegian type cyclones. The global distribution of sting jet cyclones is unknown and questions remain as to whether cyclones with Shapiro-Keyser characteristics that impact the United States develop features similar to the sting jet. Therefore unique National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) products were used to analyze an event that impacted the Northeast United States on 09 February 2013. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Red Green Blue (RGB) Air Mass imagery and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) ozone data were used in conjunction with NASA's global Modern Era-Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalysis and higher-resolution regional 13-km Rapid Refresh (RAP) data to analyze the role of stratospheric air in producing high winds. The RGB Air Mass imagery and a new AIRS ozone anomaly product were used to confirm the presence of stratospheric air. Plan view and cross sectional plots of wind, potential vorticity, relative humidity, omega, and frontogenesis were used to analyze the relationship between stratospheric air and high surface winds during the event. Additionally, the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model was used to plot trajectories to determine the role of the conveyor belts in producing the high winds. Analyses of new satellite products, such as the RGB Air Mass imagery, show the utility of future GOES-R products in forecasting non-convective wind events.

Berndt, E. B.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Hurricanes and Climate: the U.S. CLIVAR Working Group on Hurricanes

While a quantitative climate theory of tropical cyclone formation remains elusive, considerable progress has been made recently in our ability to simulate tropical cyclone climatologies and understand the relationship between climate and tropical cyclone formation. Climate models are now able to simulate a realistic rate of global tropical cyclone formation, although simulation of the Atlantic tropical cyclone climatology remains challenging unless horizontal resolutions finer than 50 km are employed. The idealized experiments of the Hurricane Working Group of U.S. CLIVAR, combined with results from other model simulations, have suggested relationships between tropical cyclone formation rates and climate variables such as mid-tropospheric vertical velocity. Systematic differences are shown between experiments in which only sea surface temperature is increases versus experiments where only atmospheric carbon dioxide is increased, with the carbon dioxide experiments more likely to demonstrate a decrease in numbers. Further experiments are proposed that may improve our understanding of the relationship between climate and tropical cyclone formation, including experiments with two-way interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere and variations in atmospheric aerosols.

Climate Models↗
DOE OSTI2021

Intense windstorms in the northeastern United States

Abstract. Windstorms are a major natural hazard in many countries. The objective of this study is to identify and characterize intense windstorms during the last 4 decades in the US Northeast and determine both the sources of cyclones responsible for these events and the manner in which those cyclones differ from the cyclone climatology. The windstorm detection is based on the spatial extent of locally extreme wind speeds at 100 m height from the ERA5 reanalysis database. During the top 10 windstorms, wind speeds exceed their local 99.9th percentile over at least one-third of land-based ERA5 grid cells in this high-population-density region of the USA. Maximum sustained wind speeds at 100 m during these windstorms range from 26 to over 43 ms−1, with wind speed return periods exceeding 6.5 to 106 years (considering the top 5 % of grid cells during each storm). Property damage associated with these storms, with inflation adjusted to January 2020, ranges from USD 24 million to over USD 29 billion. Two of these windstorms are linked to decaying tropical cyclones, three are Alberta clippers, and the remaining storms are Colorado lows. Two of the 10 re-intensified off the east coast, leading to development of nor'easters. These windstorms followed frequently observed cyclone tracks but exhibit maximum intensities as measured using 700 hPa relative vorticity and mean sea level pressure that is 5–10 times the mean values for cyclones that followed similar tracks over this 40-year period. The time evolution of wind speeds and concurrent precipitation for those windstorms that occurred after the year 2000 exhibit good agreement with in situ ground-based and remote sensing observations, plus storm damage reports, indicating that the ERA5 reanalysis data have a high degree of fidelity for large, damaging windstorms such as these. A larger pool of the top 50 largest windstorms exhibit evidence of only weak serial clustering, which is in contrast to the relatively strong serial clustering of windstorms in Europe.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2013

Diagnosing Warm Frontal Cloud Formation in a GCM: A Novel Approach Using Conditional Subsetting

This study analyzes characteristics of clouds and vertical motion across extratropical cyclone warm fronts in the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies general circulation model. The validity of the modeled clouds is assessed using a combination of satellite observations from CloudSat, Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E), and the NASA Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalysis. The analysis focuses on developing cyclones, to test the model's ability to generate their initial structure. To begin, the extratropical cyclones and their warm fronts are objectively identified and cyclone-local fields are mapped into a vertical transect centered on the surface warm front. To further isolate specific physics, the cyclones are separated using conditional subsetting based on additional cyclone-local variables, and the differences between the subset means are analyzed. Conditional subsets are created based on 1) the transect clouds and 2) vertical motion; 3) the strength of the temperature gradient along the warm front, as well as the storm-local 4) wind speed and 5) precipitable water (PW). The analysis shows that the model does not generate enough frontal cloud, especially at low altitude. The subsetting results reveal that, compared to the observations, the model exhibits a decoupling between cloud formation at high and low altitudes across warm fronts and a weak sensitivity to moisture. These issues are caused in part by the parameterized convection and assumptions in the stratiform cloud scheme that are valid in the subtropics. On the other hand, the model generates proper covariability of low-altitude vertical motion and cloud at the warm front and a joint dependence of cloudiness on wind and PW.

cyclones↗
NASA NTRS2015

Hazard Assessment from Storm Tides and Rainfall on a Tidal River Estuary

Here, we report on methods and results for a model-based flood hazard assessment we have conducted for the Hudson River from New York City to Troy/Albany at the head of tide. Our recent work showed that neglecting freshwater flows leads to underestimation of peak water levels at up-river sites and neglecting stratification (typical with two-dimensional modeling) leads to underestimation all along the Hudson. As a result, we use a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model and merge streamflows and storm tides from tropical and extratropical cyclones (TCs, ETCs), as well as wet extratropical cyclone (WETC) floods (e.g. freshets, rain-on-snow events). We validate the modeled flood levels and quantify error with comparisons to 76 historical events. A Bayesian statistical method is developed for tropical cyclone streamflows using historical data and consisting in the evaluation of (1) the peak discharge and its pdf as a function of TC characteristics, and (2) the temporal trend of the hydrograph as a function of temporal evolution of the cyclone track, its intensity and the response characteristics of the specific basin. A k-nearest-neighbors method is employed to determine the hydrograph shape. Out of sample validation tests demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. Thus, the combined effects of storm surge and runoff produced by tropical cyclones hitting the New York area can be included in flood hazard assessment. Results for the upper Hudson (Albany) suggest a dominance of WETCs, for the lower Hudson (at New York Harbor) a case where ETCs are dominant for shorter return periods and TCs are more important for longer return periods (over 150 years), and for the middle-Hudson (Poughkeepsie) a mix of all three flood events types is important. However, a possible low-bias for TC flood levels is inferred from a lower importance in the assessment results, versus historical event top-20 lists, and this will be further evaluated as these preliminary methods and results are finalized. Future funded work will quantify the influences of sea level rise and flood adaptation plans (e.g. surge barriers). It would also be valuable to examine how streamflows from tropical cyclones and wet cool-season storms will change, as this factor will dominate at upriver locations.

Hazard assessment↗
DOE OSTI2025

Air-sea interactions yielding rapid Beaufort Sea ice losses during the 2021 ONR THINICE Pilot Field Campaign

Seasonal sea ice coverage has declined in the Pacific Arctic region. Losses of the ice cover have modified the region’s surface heat and momentum fluxes providing weather systems more direct interaction with the upper ocean. For example, recent cyclones that have passed over these waters have initiated multiple air-sea interactions and have impacted mixed layer depth, wave properties, and sea ice mass budgets due to diabatic and/or advective processes. As a United States Office of Naval Research (ONR) Departmental Research initiative, one key component of the ONR THINICE program was to advance knowledge on Arctic cyclone coupling with the ocean surface, its ice cover, and understand how such coupling can lead to rapid ice loss. Leading up to the primary field campaign in August 2022, a pilot field campaign from 19 August to 13 September 2021 focused in Utqiagvik, Alaska and Longyearbyen, Svalbard was carried out. This period was marked by frequent Arctic cyclones, periods of strong low-level winds, and stints of extreme short-term Beaufort Sea ice area losses. Cyclones traversed these waters much more frequently than usual during this 26-day period, but did not exhibit extreme central pressures indicative of high intensity and impactful storms. Using ERA5 atmospheric reanalysis fields, CERES and AIRS surface flux retrievals, and in situ sensor data collected from ice-tethered profilers and ice mass balance buoys, we highlight air-sea-ice interactions in the Beaufort Sea during and between these cyclones leading up to extreme ice loss events. Our case study analysis is aimed at understanding how Arctic cyclones, including air-sea interactions prompted by their passage over the marginal ice zone, influence the end-of-summer ice conditions and ice loss events. This study provides an example where frequent, yet weak storms drive rather large marginal sea-scale losses albeit with heterogenous sea ice effects at local scales.

Ballinger, Thomas [International Arctic Research C↗
NASA NTRS1972

Kinematic reversal schemes for the geomagnetic dipole.

Fluctuations in the distribution of cyclonic convective cells, in the earth's core, can reverse the sign of the geomagnetic field. Two kinematic reversal schemes are discussed. In the first scheme, a field maintained by cyclones concentrated at low latitude is reversed by a burst of cyclones at high latitude. Conversely, in the second scheme, a field maintained predominantly by cyclones in high latitudes is reversed by a fluctuation consisting of a burst of cyclonic convection at low latitude. The precise fluid motions which produce the geomagnetic field are not known. However, it appears that, whatever the details are, a fluctuation in the distribution of cyclonic cells over latitude can cause a geomagnetic reversal.

Levy, E. H.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The effect of latent heat release on synoptic-to-planetary scale wave interactions and implications for satellite observations: Observational study

Researchers have been exploring methods to facilitate the prediction of rapidly intensifying surface cyclones. Recognizing that synoptic-scale systems, such as these cyclones, are less predictable at medium range and beyond than are planetary-scale circulations, researchers propose that the planetary-scale environment for explosive cyclogenesis could be better predicted than the cyclones themselves. Researchers have therefore constructed a planetary-scale climatology of explosive cyclogenesis by compositing together filtered 500 mb height fields (retaining planetary waves only) corresponding to a large sample of rapidly intensifying surface cyclones, stratified geographically and according to the direction of 500 mb geostrophic flow (southwesterly, northwesterly or westerly) over the cyclone center. The composites are calculated from five days preceding to five days following each rapid cyclogenesis event, and have climatology subtracted so that the evolution of planetary-scale anomalies before and after cyclogenesis can be followed. Whether the anomalies are distinct from background variability and thus provide predictive value is now being evaluated. Following explosive cyclogenesis over which the filtered 500 mb flow is southwesterly, there appear in the composites large positive 500 mb height anomalies downstream. In some cases, these anomalies are associated with blocking patterns. Whether the objectively-defined blocking patterns in the data set are preceded by upstream intense surface cyclone activity is being investigated. Finally, the contribution of synoptic-scale processes, notably warm air advection, to planetary-scale height rises during a block formation following an explosive cyclogenesis event is being diagnosed. Researchers hope to eventually evaluate the impact of satellite derived latent heat release upon the warm air advection in this case.

Colucci, Stephen J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

A Case Study of the Impact of AIRS Temperature Retrievals on Numerical Weather Prediction

Large errors in numerical weather prediction are often associated with explosive cyclogenesis. Most studes focus on the under-forecasting error, i.e. cases of rapidly developing cyclones which are poorly predicted in numerical models. However, the over-forecasting error (i.e., to predict an explosively developing cyclone which does not occur in reality) is a very common error that severely impacts the forecasting skill of all models and may also present economic costs if associated with operational forecasting. Unnecessary precautions taken by marine activities can result in severe economic loss. Moreover, frequent occurrence of over-forecasting can undermine the reliance on operational weather forecasting. Therefore, it is important to understand and reduce the prdctions of extreme weather associated with explosive cyclones which do not actually develop. In this study we choose a very prominent case of over-forecasting error in the northwestern Pacific. A 960 hPa cyclone develops in less than 24 hour in the 5-day forecast, with a deepening rate of about 30 hPa in one day. The cyclone is not versed in the analyses and is thus a case of severe over-forecasting. By assimilating AIRS data, the error is largely eliminated. By following the propagation of the anomaly that generates the spurious cyclone, it is found that a small mid-tropospheric geopotential height negative anomaly over the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the initial conditions, propagates westward, is amplified by orography, and generates a very intense jet streak in the subtropical jet stream, with consequent explosive cyclogenesis over the Pacific. The AIRS assimilation eliminates this anomaly that may have been caused by erroneous upper-air data, and represents the jet stream more correctly. The energy associated with the jet is distributed over a much broader area and as a consequence a multiple, but much more moderate cyclogenesis is observed.

Reale, O.↗
NASA NTRS2008

An Overview of the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD)

Accurate observations of ocean surface vector winds (OSVW) with high spatial and temporal resolution are critically important to improve both our understanding and predictability of tropical cyclones. As the successful NASA QuikSCAT satellite continues to age beyond its planned life span, many members of the tropical cyclone research and operational community recognize the need to develop new observational technologies and strategies to meet the essential need for OSVW information. This concern has been expressed in both the "Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond" developed by the National Research Council Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space and the "Interagency Strategic Research Plan for Tropical Cyclone The Way Ahead" developed by the Joint Action Group for Tropical Cyclone Research (JAG-TCR) sponsored by the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology. One innovative technology development which offers the potential for new, unique remotely sensed observations of tropical cyclone OSVW and precipitation is the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD). This new instrument is passive microwave synthetic thinned aperture radiometer under development at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center that will operate at the C-Band frequencies of 4, 5, 6, and 7 GHz. These frequencies have been successfully demonstrated by the NOAA nadir-staring Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) as useful for monitoring tropical cyclone ocean surface wind speeds and rain rates from low altitude reconnaissance aircraft. The HIRAD design incorporates a unique antenna design as well as several technologies that have been successfully demonstrated by the University of Michigan Lightweight Rain Radiometer sponsored by NASA Earth Science Technology Office Instrument Incubator Program. HIRAD will be a compact, lightweight, low-power instrument with no moving parts that will produce imagery of ocean wind surface wind parameters and rain rate during the strong wind and heavy rain hurricane conditions that hamper the observational capabilities of higher frequency passive microwave radiometers or scatterometers. It will also produce imagery of sea surface temperature under cloudy and lightly precipitating skies eliminating the need for additional thermal infrared imagers. The strategic plan for HIRAD includes a roadmap for ocean surface wind speed and OSVW technology development using flight demonstrations on piloted aircraft, uninhabited aerial vehicle systems, and satellite platforms. The roadmap will include exit opportunities for technology transfer from research to operations based on satisfactory demonstrations. The first aircraft version of HIRAD will be singular polarization sensor designed to observe ocean surface wind speed and rainfall. The second aircraft version of HIRAD will be dual polarization sensor designed to observe OSVW as a prototype for a future satellite sensor.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2009

The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD): Instrument Status and Performance Predictions

The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) is an innovative radiometer which offers new and unique remotely sensed observations of both extreme oceanic wind events and strong precipitation. It is based on the airborne Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) [Uhlhorn and Black, 2004]. The HIRAD instrument advances beyond the current nadir viewing SFMR to an equivalent wide-swath SFMR imager using passive microwave synthetic thinned aperture radiometer (STAR) technology [Ruf et al., 1988]. This sensor operates over 4-7 GHz, where the required tropical cyclone remote sensing physics has been validated by both SFMR and WindSat radiometer [Bettenhausen et al., 2006; Brown et al., 2006]. HIRAD incorporates a new and unique array antenna design along with several technologies successfully demonstrated by the Lightweight Rain Radiometer instrument [Ruf et al., 2002; Ruf and Principe, 2003]. HIRAD will be a compact, lightweight, low-power instrument with no moving parts that will produce wide-swath imagery of ocean winds and rain in hurricane conditions. Accurate observations of surface ocean vector winds (OVW) with high spatial and temporal resolution are required for understanding and predicting tropical cyclones. The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) is an innovative architecture which offers new and unique remotely sensed observations of both extreme oceanic wind events and strong precipitation. It is based on the airborne Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR), which is a proven remote sensing technique for observing tropical cyclone (TC) ocean surface wind speeds and rain rates. The proposed HIRAD instrument advances beyond the current nadir viewing SFMR to an equivalent wide-swath SFMR imager using passive microwave synthetic thinned aperture radiometer (STAR) technology combined with a a unique array antenna design. The overarching design concept of HIRAD is to combine the multi-frequency C-band observing strategy of the SFMR with STAR technology to produce a wide-swath imager. Single frequency STAR technology The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) is an innovative radiometer which offers new and unique remotely sensed observations of both extreme oceanic wind events and strong precipitation. It is based on the airborne Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) [Uhlhorn and Black, 2004]. The HIRAD instrument advances beyond the current nadir viewing SFMR to an equivalent wide-swath SFMR imager using passive microwave synthetic thinned aperture radiometer (STAR) technology [Ruf et al., 1988]. This sensor operates over 4-7 GHz, where the required tropical cyclone remote sensing physics has been validated by both SFMR and WindSat radiometer [Bettenhausen et al., 2006; Brown et al., 2006]. HIRAD incorporates a new and unique array antenna design along with several technologies successfully demonstrated by the Lightweight Rain Radiometer instrument [Ruf et al., 2002; Ruf and Principe, 2003]. HIRAD will be a compact, lightweight, low-power instrument with no moving parts that will produce wide-swath imagery of ocean winds and rain in hurricane conditions. Accurate observations of surface ocean vector winds (OVW) with high spatial and temporal resolution are required for understanding and predicting tropical cyclones. The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) is an innovative architecture which offers new and unique remotely sensed observations of both extreme oceanic wind events and strong precipitation. It is based on the airborne Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR), which is a proven remote sensing technique for observing tropical cyclone (TC) ocean surface wind speeds and rain rates. The proposed HIRAD instrument advances beyond the current nadir viewing SFMR to an equivalent wide-swath SFMR imager using passive microwave synthetic thinned aperture radiometer (STAR) technology combined with a a unique array antenna design. The overarching design concept of HIRAD is to combine the multi-frequency C-banbserving strategy of the SFMR with STAR technology to produce a wide-swath imager. Single frequency STAR technology

Ruf, Christopher↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Role of Multiscale Interaction in Tropical Cyclogenesis and Its Predictability in Near-Global Aquaplanet Cloud-Resolving Simulations

Tropical cyclogenesis (TCG) is a multiscale process that involves interactions between large-scale circulation and small-scale convection. A near-global aquaplanet cloud-resolving model (NGAqua) with 4-km horizontal grid spacing that produces tropical cyclones (TCs) is used to investigate TCG and its predictability. This study analyzes an ensemble of three 20-day NGAqua simulations, with initial white-noise perturbations of low-level humidity. TCs develop spontaneously from the northern edge of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), where large-scale flows and tropical convection provide necessary conditions for barotropic instability. Zonal bands of positive low-level absolute vorticity organize into cyclonic vortices, some of which develop into TCs. A new algorithm is developed to track the cyclonic vortices. A vortex-following framework analysis of the low-level vorticity budget shows that vertical stretching of absolute vorticity due to convective heating contributes positively to the vorticity spinup of the TCs. A case study and composite analyses suggest that sufficient humidity is key for convective development. TCG in these three NGAqua simulations undergoes the same series of interactions. The locations of cyclonic vortices are broadly predetermined by planetary-scale circulation and humidity patterns associated with ITCZ breakdown, which are predictable up to 10 days. Whether and when the cyclonic vortices become TCs depend on the somewhat more random feedback between convection and vorticity.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2014

Evaluation of ERA-interim and MERRA Cloudiness in the Southern Oceans

The Southern Ocean cloud cover modeled by the Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) and Modern- Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalyses are compared against Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) observations. ERA-Interim monthly mean cloud amounts match the observations within 5%, while MERRA significantly underestimates the cloud amount. For a compositing analysis of clouds in warm season extratropical cyclones, both reanalyses show a low bias in cloud cover. They display a larger bias to the west of the cyclones in the region of subsidence behind the cold fronts. This low bias is larger for MERRA than for ERA-Interim. Both MODIS and MISR retrievals indicate that the clouds in this sector are at a low altitude, often composed of liquid, and of a broken nature. The combined CloudSat-Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) cloud profiles confirm these passive observations, but they also reveal that low-level clouds in other parts of the cyclones are also not properly represented in the reanalyses. The two reanalyses are in fairly good agreement for the dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics of the cyclones, suggesting that the cloud, convection, or boundary layer schemes are the problem instead. An examination of the lower-tropospheric stability distribution in the cyclones from both reanalyses suggests that the parameterization of shallow cumulus clouds may contribute in a large part to the problem. However, the differences in the cloud schemes and in particular in the precipitation processes, which may also contribute, cannot be excluded.

bias↗
DOE OSTI2021

Large-Scale Synoptic Systems and Fog During the C-FOG Field Experiment

Abstract The goal of this work is to summarize synoptic meteorological conditions during the Coastal Fog (C-FOG) field project that took place onshore and offshore of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland, from 25 August until 8 October 2018. Visibility was measured at three locations at the Ferryland supersite that are about 1 km from each other, and at two additional sites 66 and 76 km to the north. Supporting meteorological measurements included surface winds, air temperature, humidity, pressure, radiation, cloud-base height, and atmospheric thermodynamic profiles from radiosonde soundings. Statistics are presented for surface measurements during fog events including turbulence kinetic energy, net longwave radiation, visibility, and precipitation. Eleven fog events are observed at Ferryland. Each significant fog event is related to a large-scale cyclonic system. The longest fog event is due to interaction of a northern deep low and a tropical cyclone. Fog occurrence is also examined across Atlantic Canada by including Sable Island, Yarmouth, Halifax, and Sydney. It is concluded that at Ferryland, all significant fog events occur under a cyclonic system while at Sable Island all significant fog events occur under both cyclonic and anticyclonic systems. The fog-formation mechanism involves cloud lowering and stratus broadening or only stratus broadening for the cyclonic systems while for the anticyclonic systems it is stratus broadening or radiation. Although widely cited as the main cause of fog in Atlantic Canada, advection fog is not found to be the primary or sole fog type in the events examined.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1987

Satellite-derived attributes of cloud vortex systems and their application to climate studies

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) visible and infrared mosaics are analyzed in conjunction with synoptic meteorological observations of sea level pressure (SLP) and upper-air height to derive composite patterns of cyclonic cloud vortices for the Northern Hemisphere. The patterns reveal variations in the structure and implied dynamics of cyclonic systems at different stages of development that include: (1) increasing vertical symmetry of the lower-level and upper-air circulations and (2) decreasing lower-tropospheric thicknesses and temperature advection, associated with increasing age of the vortex. Cloud vortices are more intense in winter than in summer and typically reach maximum intensity in the short-lived prespiral signature stage. There are major structural differences among frontal wave, polar air, and 'instant occlusion' cyclogenesis types. Cyclones in the dissipation stage may reintensify (deepen), as denoted by the appearance in the imagery of an asymmetric cloud band or a tightened spiral vortex. The satellite-derived statistics on cloud vortex intensity, which are seasonal- and latitude- as well as type-dependent, are applied to a preliminary examination of the synoptic manifestations of seasonal climate variability. An apparently close relationship is found, for two winter and spring seasons, between Northern Hemisphere cyclonic activity and variations in cryosphere variables, particularly the extent of Arctic sea ice. The results may indicate that increased snow and ice extent accompany a southward displacement of cyclonic activity and/or a predominance of deeper systems. However, there is also a strong regional dependence to the ice-synoptics feedback. This study demonstrates the utility of high resolution meteorological satellite imagery for studies of climate variations (climate dynamics).

Carleton, Andrew M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Simulation of the Genesis of Hurricane Javier (2004) in the Eastern Pacific

NASA is preparing for the Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) field experiment in July 2005, a joint effort with NOAA to study tropical cloud systems and tropical cyclone genesis in the Eastern Pacific. A major thrust of the TCSP program is the improvement of the understanding and prediction of tropical cyclone genesis, intensity, motion, rainfall potential, and landfall impacts using remote sensing and in-situ data, as well as numerical modeling, particularly as they relate to the three phases of water. The Eastern Pacific has the highest frequency of genesis events per unit area of any region worldwide. African easterly waves, mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), and orographic effects are thought to play roles in the genesis of tropical cyclones there. The general consensus is that tropical depressions form in association with one or more mid-level, mesoscale cyclonic vortices that are generated within the stratiform region of the MCS precursors. To create the warm core tropical depression vortex, however, the midlevel cyclonic circulation must somehow extend down to the surface and the tangential winds must attain sufficient strength (-10 m s- ) to enable the wind-induced surface heat exchange to increase the potential energy of the boundary layer air.

Braun, Scott↗
NASA NTRS2010

Coarse, Intermediate and High Resolution Numerical Simulations of the Transition of a Tropical Wave Critical Layer to a Tropical Storm

Recent work has hypothesized that tropical cyclones in the deep Atlantic and eastern Pacific basins develop from within the cyclonic Kelvin cat's eye of a tropical easterly wave critical layer located equatorward of the easterly jet axis. The cyclonic critical layer is thought to be important to tropical cyclogenesis because its cat's eye provides (i) a region of cyclonic vorticity and weak deformation by the resolved flow, (ii) containment of moisture entrained by the developing flow and/or lofted by deep convection therein, (iii) confinement of mesoscale vortex aggregation, (iv) a predominantly convective type of heating profile, and (v) maintenance or enhancement of the parent wave until the developing proto-vortex becomes a self-sustaining entity and emerges from the wave as a tropical depression. This genesis sequence and the overarching framework for describing how such hybrid wave-vortex structures become tropical depressions/storms is likened to the development of a marsupial infant in its mother's pouch, and for this reason has been dubbed the "marsupial paradigm". Here we conduct the first multi-scale test of the marsupial paradigm in an idealized setting by revisiting the Kurihara and Tuleya problem examining the transformation of an easterly wave-like disturbance into a tropical storm vortex using the WRF model. An analysis of the evolving winds, equivalent potential temperature, and relative vertical vorticity is presented from coarse (28 km), intermediate (9 km) and high resolution (3.1 km) simulations. The results are found to support key elements of the marsupial paradigm by demonstrating the existence of rotationally dominant region with minimal strain/shear deformation near the center of the critical layer pouch that contains strong cyclonic vorticity and high saturation fraction. This localized region within the pouch serves as the "attractor" for an upscale "bottom up" development process while the wave pouch and proto-vortex move together.

Montgomery, M. T.↗