The mesoscale kinetic energy spectrum of a baroclinic life cycle

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

Volumn 66, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 883-901

  Waite, Michael L ^a,b   Snyder, Chris ^a  

^a NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BAROCLINIC; BAROCLINIC WAVES; ENERGY CASCADE; FULL SPECTRUM; INERTIA-GRAVITY WAVES; KINETIC ENERGY SPECTRA; LINEAR INSTABILITIES; LOWER STRATOSPHERE; MESOSCALE; MESOSCALE SPECTRA; NONLINEAR EVOLUTIONS; NUMERICAL SIMULATION; POWER LAW; ROTATIONAL KINETIC ENERGY; UPPER TROPOSPHERE; VERTICAL PRESSURE; VERTICAL RESOLUTION;

ATMOSPHERICS; COMPUTER SIMULATION; ELECTRON ENERGY LOSS SPECTROSCOPY; GRAVITATIONAL EFFECTS; GRAVITY WAVES; HYDRODYNAMICS; KINETIC ENERGY; LIFE CYCLE; POWER SPECTRUM; SPECTROSCOPY; SULFUR COMPOUNDS; TROPOSPHERE; WAVE ENERGY CONVERSION; WAVES;

ATMOSPHERIC SPECTRA;

BAROCLINIC MOTION; BAROCLINIC WAVE; GRAVITY WAVE; KINETIC ENERGY; MESOSCALE METEOROLOGY; NUMERICAL MODEL; POWER LAW; STRATOSPHERE; TROPOSPHERE; WAVE PROPAGATION;

EID: 69849101580     PISSN: 00224928     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1175/2008JAS2829.1     Document Type: Article

References (58)

1. Bartello, P., 1995: Geostrophic adjustment and inverse cascades in rotating stratified turbulence. J. Atmos. Sci., 52, 4410-4428.
2. Boer, G. J., and T. G. Shepherd, 1983: Large-scale two-dimensional turbulence in the atmosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 40, 164-184.
3. Brethouwer, G., P. Billant, E. Lindborg, and J.-M. Chomaz, 2007: Scaling analysis and simulation of strongly stratified turbulent flows. J. Fluid Mech., 585, 343-368.
4. Bühler, O., and M. E. McIntyre, 2005: Wave capture and wave - vortex duality. J. Fluid Mech., 534, 67-95.
5. Bush, A. B. G., and W. R. Peltier, 1994: Tropopause folds and synoptic-scale baroclinic wave life cycles. J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 1581-1604.
6. Charney, J. G., 1971: Geostrophic turbulence. J. Atmos. Sci., 28, 1087-1095.
7. Cho, J. Y. N., R. E. Newell, and J. D. Barrick, 1999: Horizontal wavenumber spectra of winds, temperature, and trace gases during the Pacific Exploratory Missions: 2. Gravity waves, quasi-two-dimensional turbulence, and vortical modes. J. Geophys. Res., 104, 16 297-16 308.
8. Dewan, E. M., 1979: Stratospheric wave spectra resembling turbulence. Science, 204, 832-835.
9. Dewan, E. M., 1997: Saturated-cascade similitude theory of gravity wave spectra. J. Geophys. Res., 102, 29 799-29 817.
10. Fritts, D. C., and G. D. Nastrom, 1992: Sources of mesoscale variability of gravity waves. Part II: Frontal, convective, and jet stream excitation. J. Atmos. Sci., 49, 111-127.
11. -5/3 law inertial range in mesoscale two-dimensional turbulence. J. Atmos. Sci., 36, 1950-1954.
12. Gage, K. S., and G. D. Nastrom, 1986: Theoretical interpretation of atmospheric wavenumber spectra of wind and temperature observed by commercial aircraft during GASP. J. Atmos. Sci., 43, 729-740.
13. Hamilton, K., Y. O. Takahashi, and W. Ohfuchi, 2008: Mesoscale spectrum of atmospheric motions investigated in a very fine resolution global general circulation model. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D18110, doi:10.1029/2008JD009785.
14. Herring, J. R., and O. Métais, 1989: Numerical experiments in forced stably stratified turbulence. J. Fluid Mech., 202, 97-115.
15. 3 energy spectra in stratified turbulence. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L05809, doi:10.1029/2005GL024996.
16. Kolmogorov, A. N., 1941: The local structure of turbulence in incompressible viscous fluid for very large Reynolds number. Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 30, 301-305.
17. Koshyk, J. N., and K. Hamilton, 2001: The horizontal kinetic energy spectrum and spectral budget simulated by a high-resolution troposphere - stratosphere - mesosphere GCM. J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 329-348.
18. Kraichnan, R. H., 1967: Inertial ranges in two-dimensional turbulence. Phys. Fluids, 10, 1417-1423.
19. Lelong, M.-P., and J. J. Riley, 1991: Internal wave - vortical mode interactions in strongly stratified flows. J. Fluid Mech., 232, 1-19.
20. Lesieur, M., 1997: Turbulence in Fluids. 3rd ed. Kluwer, 515 pp.
21. Lilly, D. K., 1983: Stratified turbulence and the mesoscale variability of the atmosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 40, 749-761.
22. Lilly, D. K., G. Bassett, K. Droegemeier, and P. Bartello, 1998: Stratified turbulence in the atmospheric mesoscale. Theor. Comput. Fluid Dyn., 11, 139-153.
23. Lindborg, E., 1999: Can the atmospheric kinetic energy spectrum be explained by two-dimensional turbulence? J. Fluid Mech., 388, 259-288.
24. Lindborg, E., 2006: The energy cascade in a strongly stratified fluid. J. Fluid Mech., 550, 207-242.
25. Lindborg, E., 2007: Horizontal wavenumber spectra of vertical vorticity and horizontal divergence in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 1017-1025.
26. Lindborg, E., and J. Y. N. Cho, 2001: Horizontal velocity structure functions in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. 2. Theoretical considerations. J. Geophys. Res., 106, 10 233-10 241.
27. Lumley, J. L., 1964: The spectrum of nearly inertial turbulence in a stably stratified fluid. J. Atmos. Sci., 21, 99-102.
28. McWilliams, J. C., J. B. Weiss, and I. Yavneh, 1994: Anisotropy and coherent vortex structures in planetary turbulence. Science, 264, 410-413.
29. Methven, J., and B. Hoskins, 1998: Spirals in potential vorticity. Part I: Measures of structure. J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 2053-2066.
30. Nastrom, G. D., and K. S. Gage, 1985: A climatology of atmospheric wavenumber spectra observed by commercial aircraft. J. Atmos. Sci., 42, 950-960.
31. Nastrom, G. D., T. E. Van Zandt, and J. M. Warnock, 1997: Vertical wave-number spectra of wind and temperature from high-resolution balloon soundings over Illinois. J. Geophys. Res., 102, 6685-6701.
32. O'Sullivan, D., and T. J. Dunkerton, 1995: Generation of inertia - gravity waves in a simulated life cycle of baroclinic instability. J. Atmos. Sci., 52, 3695-3716.
33. Plougonven, R., and C. Snyder, 2005: Gravity waves excited by jets: Propagation versus generation. Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L18802, doi:10.1029/2005GL023730.
34. Plougonven, R., and C. Snyder, 2007: Inertia - gravity waves spontaneously generated by jets and fronts. Part I: Different baroclinic life cycles. J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 2502-2520.
35. Polavarapu, S. M., and W. R. Peltier, 1990: The structure and nonlinear evolution of synoptic-scale cyclones: Life cycle simulations with a cloud-scale model. J. Atmos. Sci., 47, 2645-2673.
36. Ramamurthy, M. K., R. M. Rauber, B. P. Collins, and N. K. Malhotra, 1993: A comparative study of large-amplitude gravity-wave events. Mon. Wea. Rev., 121, 2951-2974.
37. Riley, J. J., and M.-P. Lelong, 2000: Fluid motions in the presence of strong stable stratification. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech., 32, 613-657.
38. Riley, J. J., and S. M. de Bruyn Kops, 2003: Dynamics of turbulence strongly influenced by buoyancy. Phys. Fluids, 15, 2047-2059.
39. Rotunno, R., W. C. Skamarock, and C. Snyder, 1994: An analysis of frontogenesis in numerical simulations of baroclinic waves. J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 3373-3398.
40. Shutts, G., 2005: A kinetic energy backscatter algorithm for use in ensemble prediction systems. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 131, 3079-3102.
41. Skamarock, W. C., 2004: Evaluating mesoscale NWP models using kinetic energy spectra. Mon. Wea. Rev., 132, 3019-3032.
42. Skamarock, W. C., and J. B. Klemp, 2008: A time-split nonhydrostatic atmospheric model for weather research and forecasting applications. J. Comput. Phys., 227, 3465-3485.
43. Skamarock, W. C., J. B. Klemp, J. Dudhia, D. O. Gill, D. M. Barker, W. Wang, and J. G. Powers, 2005: A description of the Advanced Research WRF Version 2. NCAR Tech. Note NCAR/TN-468+STR, 88 pp.
44. Snyder, C., W. C. Skamarock, and R. Rotunno, 1991: A comparison of primitive-equation and semigeostrophic simulations of baroclinic waves. J. Atmos. Sci., 48, 2179-2194.
45. Snyder, C., W. C. Skamarock, and R. Rotunno, 1993: Frontal dynamics near and following frontal collapse. J. Atmos. Sci., 50, 3194-3211.
46. Snyder, C., D. J. Muraki, R. Plougonven, and F. Zhang, 2007: Inertia - gravity waves generated within a dipole vortex. J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 4417-4431.
47. Takahashi, Y. O., K. Hamilton, and W. Ohfuchi, 2006: Explicit global simulation of the mesoscale spectrum of atmospheric motions. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L12812, doi:10.1029/2006GL026429.
48. Thorncroft, C. D., B. J. Hoskins, and M. E. McIntyre, 1993: Two paradigms of baroclinic-wave life-cycle behaviour. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 119, 17-55.
49. Tulloch, R., and K. S. Smith, 2006: A theory for the atmospheric energy spectrum: Depth-limited temperature anomalies at the tropopause. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 103, 14 690-14 694.
50. 3 energy spectrum of atmospheric turbulence: Quasigeostrophic two-level model simulation. J. Atmos. Sci., 60, 824-835.
51. Uccellini, L. W., and S. E. Koch, 1987: The synoptic setting and possible source mechanisms for mesoscale gravity wave events. Mon. Wea. Rev., 115, 721-729.
52. VanZandt, T. E., 1982: A universal spectrum of buoyancy waves in the atmosphere. Geophys. Res. Lett., 9, 575-578.
53. Viudez, A., 2007: The origin of the stationary frontal wave packet spontaneously generated in rotating stratified vortex dipoles. J. Fluid Mech., 593, 359-383.
54. Waite, M. L., and P. Bartello, 2004: Stratified turbulence dominated by vortical motion. J. Fluid Mech., 517, 281-308.
55. Waite, M. L., and P. Bartello, 2006a: Stratified turbulence generated by internal gravity waves. J. Fluid Mech., 546, 313-339.
56. Waite, M. L., and P. Bartello, 2006b: The transition from geostrophic to stratified turbulence. J. Fluid Mech., 568, 89-108.
57. Wicker, L. J., and W. C. Skamarock, 2002: Time-splitting methods for elastic models using forward time schemes. Mon. Wea. Rev., 130, 2088-2097.
58. Zhang, F., 2004: Generation of mesoscale gravity waves in upper-tropospheric jet-front systems. J. Atmos. Sci., 61, 440-457.