Academic literature on the topic 'Cumulonimbus Towers'

Abstract A nonhydrostatic cloud model is used to examine the thermomechanics of tropical cyclogenesis under realistic meteorological conditions. Observations motivate the focus on the problem of how a midtropospheric cyclonic vortex, a frequent by-product of mesoscale convective systems during summertime conditions over tropical oceans, may be transformed into a surface-concentrated (warm core) tropical depression. As a first step, the vortex transformation is studied in the absence of vertical wind shear or zonal flow. Within the cyclonic vorticity-rich environment of the mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) embryo, the simulations demonstrate that small-scale cumulonimbus towers possessing intense cyclonic vorticity in their cores [vortical hot towers (VHTs)] emerge as the preferred coherent structures. The VHTs acquire their vertical vorticity through a combination of tilting of MCV horizontal vorticity and stretching of MCV and VHT-generated vertical vorticity. Horizontally localized and exhibiting convective lifetimes on the order of 1 h, VHTs overcome the generally adverse effects of downdrafts by consuming convective available potential energy in their local environment, humidifying the middle and upper troposphere, and undergoing diabatic vortex merger with neighboring towers. During metamorphosis, the VHTs vortically prime the mesoscale environment and collectively mimic a quasi-steady diabatic heating rate within the MCV embryo. A quasi-balanced toroidal (transverse) circulation develops on the system scale that converges cyclonic vorticity of the initial MCV and small-scale vorticity anomalies generated by subsequent tower activity. The VHTs are found to accelerate the spinup of near-surface mean tangential winds relative to an approximate axisymmetric model that excises the VHTs. This upscale growth mechanism appears capable of generating a tropical depression vortex on time scales on the order of 1–2 days, for reasonable parameter choices. Further tests of the VHT paradigm are advocated through diagnoses of operational weather prediction models, higher resolution simulations of the current configuration, examination of disruption scenarios for incipient vortices, and a meteorological field experiment.

Downburst is a strong downdraft generated below a cumulonimbus cloud, which hits the ground rapidly and causes significant low-level wind shear. It is a strong destructive regional weather phenomenon, which is the main reason for the transmission towers. In recent years, some scholars have researched the finer wind field characteristics and wind load of downburst by using the method of CFD. But the initial conditions are all assumed due to the small synoptic scale, the short lifecycle and the big measurement difficulty of downburst. So downburst wind load can not be taken into account in structural design. Based on the 3-D convective storm numerical model, by inputting temperature, humidity and wind fields detected in Wuhan radiosonde station at 8pm on July,27th,2007, simulation has been accomplished to understand the characteristics of the wind field in the place where the downburst incurred actually. The result provides model data and parameters for CFD simulation, which has directive significance to concern the high intensity downburst wind load in structure design.

Abstract Aircraft and surface measurements of the boundary layer transport of mass and moisture toward an isolated, heated mountain are presented. The data were collected around the Santa Catalina Mountains in Arizona, 20–30 km in diameter, during the North American monsoon, on days with weak winds and cumulus congestus to cumulonimbus development over the mountain. Flights in the boundary layer around the mountain and surface station data indicate that mountain-scale anabatic surface wind generally develops shortly after sunrise, peaking at ∼1 m s−1 in strength close to solar noon. There is some evidence for a toroidal heat island circulation, with divergence in the upper boundary layer. The aircraft data and mainly the diurnal surface temperature and pressure patterns confirm that this circulation is driven by surface heating over the mountain. Three case studies suggest that growth spurts of orographic cumulus and cumulonimbus are not preceded by enhanced mountain-scale mass convergence near the surface, and that the decay of orographic deep convection is associated with divergence around the mountain.

Abstract. On 22 August 2001 a measurement flight was performed with the German research aircraft FALCON from Sardinia to Crete as part of the Mediterranean Oxidant Study (MINOS). Cruising at 8.2 km, the aircraft was forced to climb to 11.2 km over the southern tip of Italy to stay clear of the anvil of a large cumulonimbus tower. During ascent into the lowermost stratosphere in-situ measurements onboard the FALCON indicated several sharp increases in the concentrations of tropospheric trace gases, e.g. CO, acetone, methanol, benzene and acetonitrile, above the anvil. During one particular event deep in the stratosphere, at O3 concentrations exceeding 200 ppv, CO increased from about 60 to 90 ppv, while the concentration of acetone and methanol increased by more than a factor of 2 (0.7 to 1.8 ppv for acetone; 0.4 to 1.4 ppv for methanol). Enhancements for the short lived species benzene are even higher, increasing from 20 pptv in the stratosphere to approx. 130 pptv. The concentrations during the event were higher than background concentrations in the upper troposphere, indicating that polluted boundary layer air was directly mixed deep into the lowermost stratosphere.

Abstract. On 22 August 2001 a measurement flight was performed with the German research aircraft FALCON from Sardinia to Crete as part of the Mediterranean Oxidant Study (MINOS). Cruising at 8.2 km, the aircraft was forced to climb to 11.2 km over the southern tip of Italy to stay clear of the anvil of a large cumulonimbus tower. During ascent into the lowermost stratosphere in-situ measurements onboard the FALCON indicated several sharp increases in the concentrations of tropospheric trace gases, e.g. CO, acetone, methanol, benzene and acetonitrile, above the anvil. During one particular event deep in the stratosphere, at O3 concentrations exceeding 200 ppv, CO increased from about 60 to 90 ppv, while the concentration of acetone and methanol increased by more than a factor of 2 (0.7 to 1.8 ppv for acetone; 0.4 to 1.4 ppv for methanol). Enhancements for the short lived species benzene are even higher, increasing from 20 pptv in the stratosphere to approx. 130 pptv. The concentrations during the event were higher than background concentrations in the upper troposphere, indicating that polluted boundary layer air was directly mixed into the lowermost stratosphere.

AbstractIn aviation meteorology, METAR messages are used to disseminate the existence of cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds. METAR messages are traditionally constructed manually from human observations, but there is a growing trend toward automation of this process. At the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), METAR messages incorporate an operational automatic detection of Cb based solely on weather radar data, when manual observations are not available. However, the verification of this automatic Cb detection is challenging, as good ground truth data are not often available; even human observations are not perfect as Cb clouds can be obscured by other clouds, for example. Therefore, statistical estimation of the relevant verification measures from imperfect observations using latent class analysis (LCA) was explored. In addition to radar-based products and human observations, the convective rainfall rate from EUMETSAT’s Nowcasting Satellite Application Facility and lightning products from the Finnish lightning network were used for determining the existence of Cb clouds. Results suggest that LCA gives reasonable estimates of verification measures and, based on these estimates, the Cb detection system at FMI gives results comparable to human observations.

Some results of activities on improving weather conditions (weather protection) in megacities by cloud seeding are presented. The main tasks of the activities were to dissipate clouds and reduce or stop precipitation in the protected area during political, cultural, and sport events. In accordance to the methodological guidelines, four seeding methods are recommended depending on synoptic conditions: the dissipation of stratiform cloudiness; the initiation of premature precipitation on the windward side of the protected area by cloud seeding to form the precipitation “shadow”; the intense seeding (“overseeding”) of precipitation-forming clouds moving toward the protected area to reduce the efficiency of precipitation formation in them; the dissipation of deep cumulonimbus clouds by the dynamic method. To perform weather protection operations, up to 12 aircraft equipped with measuring equipment necessary for seeding, the “ground-air-ground” data communication system, and cloud seeding means were used. Liquid nitrogen, solid carbon dioxide, silver iodide, and coarse powder were used as reagents for cloud seeding. Ground-based automated weather radar systems were used to control aviation operations and to monitor the results of the seeding. The results of more than 100 large-scale operations on the creation of favorable weather conditions performed in various regions of Russia and neighboring countries indicate the efficiency of the methods and technical means of cloud seeding developed in the USSR and Russia for the artificial precipitation control.

Abstract. The representation of unresolved clouds in radiation schemes of coarse-resolution weather and climate models has progressed noticeably over the past years. Nevertheless, a lot of room remains for improvement, as the current picture is by no means complete. The main objective of the present study is to advance the cloud–radiation interaction parameterization, focusing on the issues related to model misrepresentation of cloud horizontal inhomogeneity. This subject is addressed with the Tripleclouds radiative solver, the fundamental feature of which is the inclusion of the optically thicker and thinner cloud fraction. The research challenge is to optimally set the pair of cloud condensates characterizing the two cloudy regions and the corresponding geometrical split of layer cloudiness. A diverse cloud field data set was collected for the analysis, comprising case studies of stratocumulus, cirrus and cumulonimbus. The primary goal is to assess the validity of the global cloud variability estimate along with various condensate distribution assumptions. More sophisticated parameterizations are subsequently explored, optimizing the treatment of overcast as well as extremely heterogeneous cloudiness. The radiative diagnostics including atmospheric heating rate and net surface flux are consistently studied using the Tripleclouds method, evaluated against a three-dimensional radiation computation. The performance of Tripleclouds mostly significantly surpasses the calculation on horizontally homogeneous cloudiness. The effect of horizontal photon transport is further quantified. The overall conclusions are intrinsically different for each particular cloud type, encouraging endeavors to enhance the use of cloud-regime-dependent methodologies in next-generation atmospheric models. This study, highlighting the Tripleclouds potential for three essential cloud types, signifies the need for more research examining a broader spectrum of cloud morphologies.

AbstractThis study is based on the analysis of 10 years of data for radar reflectivity factor Ze as derived from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) measurements. The vertical structure of active convective clouds at the PR pixel scale has been extracted by defining two types of convective cells. The first one is cumulonimbus tower (CbT), which contains Ze ≥ 20 dBZ at 12-km altitude and is at least 9 km deep. The other is intense convective cloud (ICC), which belongs to the top 5% of the population of the Ze distribution at a prescribed reference height. Here two reference heights (3 and 8 km) have been chosen. Regional differences in the vertical structure of convective cells have been explored by considering 16 locations distributed across the tropics and two locations in the subtropics. The choice of oceanic locations is based on the sea surface temperature; that of the land locations is based on propensity for intense convection. One of the main findings of the study is the close similarity in the average vertical profiles of CbTs and ICCs in the mid- and lower troposphere across the ocean basins whereas differences over land areas are larger and depend on the selected reference height. The foothills of the western Himalaya, southeastern South America, and the Indo-Gangetic Plain contain the most intense CbTs; equatorial Africa, the foothills of the western Himalaya, and equatorial South America contain the most intense ICCs. Close similarity among the oceanic profiles suggests that the development of vigorous convective cells over warm oceans is similar and that understanding gained in one region is extendable to other areas.

Very small fractional area (0.1%) occupied by the cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds belies their importance in Earths hydrological cycle and climate. For example, Riehl and Malkus (1958) estimated that the vertical transport of energy needed for the global energy balance can be accomplished by 1500 to 5000 active, undiluted Cb clouds (i.e., hot towers). Cb clouds feed hydrometeors to the anvil cloud region in mesoscale convective system (MCS). Applications such as the estimation of the vertical profile of latent heating, cumulus parameterizations, satellite rainfall retrievals, inferring the probability of lightening, etc., require information on the vertical distribution of hydrometeors in convective clouds (e.g., Xu and Zipser, 2012). Knowledge of the vertical structure of Cb clouds near individual cloud scale becomes necessary for validating cloud resolving model results. However, information on the vertical structure of convective clouds at horizontal scales comparable to that of a deep convective cloud is not available over most regions in the tropics. The PR provides an unprecedented long time series of data on the 3D structure of precipitating clouds in the tropics. The TRMM PR equivalent radar reflectivity factor (Ze) data product 2A25 version 6 is the main data used in the study. The present thesis work primarily focuses on the properties of convective clouds at the PR pixel scale. TRMM, operational since December 1997, is a non-sunsynchronous satellite with 350 inclination and samples the tropics several times a day (e.g., Kummerow et al., 1998, 2000). The PR works in Ku band (13.8 GHz or 2.2 cm wavelength), and its scan, consisting of 49 beams, had a width of 215 km when launched and _250 km after August 2001. The beam width is 0.710; nearby beams are separated by 0.710, giving a maximum scan angle of 170 (Kummerow et al., 1998). There are 80 levels in the vertical, each having 250 m resolution with the lowest level being the Earths ellipsoid. The height corresponding to different vertical levels in the 2A25 data set is the distance measured along the PR beam. Hence, corrections to pixel heights along different beams have been applied. Present thesis presents the vertical structure of radar reflectivity factor in tall cumulonimbus towers (CbTs) and intense convective clouds (ICCs) embedded in the South Asian monsoon systems and other tropical deep cloud systems. CbT is defined referring to a reflectivity threshold of 20 dBZ at 12 km altitude and is at least 9 km thick. ICCs are constructed referring to reflectivity thresholds at 8 km and 3 km altitudes. Cloud properties reported here are based on 10 year climatology. It is observed that the frequency of occurrence of CbTs is highest over the foothills of Himalayas, plains of northern India and Bangladesh, and minimum over the Arabian Sea and equatorial Indian Ocean west of 900E. The regional differences depend on the reference height selected, namely, small in the case of CbTs and prominent in 6􀀀13 km height range for ICCs. Land cells are more intense than the oceanic ones for convective cells defined using the reflectivity threshold at 3 km, whereas land versus ocean contrasts are not observed in the case of CbTs. Compared to cumulonimbus clouds elsewhere in the tropics, the South Asian counterparts have higher reflectivity values above 11 km altitude. One of the main findings of the present thesis is the close similarity in the average vertical profiles of CbTs and ICCs in the mid and lower troposphere across the ocean basins, while differences over land areas are larger and depend on the reference height selected. Foothills of the Western Himalayas, southeast South America and Indo-Gangetic Plain contain the most intense CbTs, while equatorial Africa, foothills of the Western Himalayas and equatorial South America contain the most intense ICCs. Close similarity among the oceanic cells suggests that the development of vigorous convective cells over warm oceans is similar and understanding gained in one region is extendable to other areas. South Asia contains several areas where the seasonal summer monsoon rainfall is influenced by the orography. One of the fundamental questions concerning the orographic rainfall is the nature of the associated precipitating clouds in the absence of synoptic forcing. It is believed that these are shallow and mid-level clouds, however, there is not much information in the literature on their vertical structure. Chapter 4 explores the vertical structure of active shallow (SC) and mid-level clouds (MLC) in Southeast Asia which are associated with the orographic features. Shallow and mid-level clouds have been defined such that their tops lie below 4.5 km and between 4.5 and 8 km, respectively. Only those TRMM PR passes are considered for active shallow and mid level cloud, which consists less than 5% deep cloud (_ 8 Km), compared to shallow cloud (_ 4.5 km) and mid level cloud (4.5 and _ 8 km). The reflectivity and height thresholds with constraint on percentage of deep clouds, ensure that we only captures the intense and isolated shallow and mid level clouds, away from deep cloud. The Western Ghats contains the highest fraction of the shallow clouds followed by the adjacent eastern Arabian Sea, while the Khasi hills in Meghalaya and Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia contain the least fraction of them. Average vertical profiles of shallow clouds are similar in different mountainous areas while that of mid-level clouds show some differences. Below 3 km, cloud liquid water content of the mid-level clouds is the highest over the Western Ghats and the eastern Arabian Sea. The average cloud liquid water content increases by 0.19 gm m􀀀3 for SCs between 3 km and 1.5 km, while the corresponding increase for MLCs is around 0.08 gm m􀀀3. MCS has a life cycle consisting of formative, intensifying, mature and dissipating stages. From the maximum projection of reflectivity on longitude and latitude plane from the 3D reflectivity fields, CS is defined as the common area of connected pixels with Ze _ 17 dBZ and polarized corrected temperature (PCT) _ 250 K, with atleast 500 km2. A CS is considered in subsequent analysis if its area detected in the Ze projection is at least 50% of its area seen in the PCT imagery. An algorithm is applied to obtain the phase of evolution. The algorithm is based on the average vertical profile of CSs and the reflectivity peak altitude (Hmax). An index namely reflectivity difference (RD) and Hmax is used to identify the phases of evolution. A close similarity has been observed during different phases in average vertical profiles as well as in CFAD. Growing or intensifying stage consists the highest reflectivity below the 2 km altitude. Mature phase does not show the much variation in Ze below the freezing level, whereas in the decaying stage, shows the largest regional differences in this layer of the atmosphere. Melting band signature is most pronounced in the decaying stage. Fraction of convective area decreases as CSs go through its life cycle, except over Atlantic Ocean during winter.

This book, based on the life and work of Joanne (Gerould) Simpson (1923–2010), charts the history of women in meteorology and the history of tropical meteorology in the context of her long and productive career as pioneer scientist, project leader, and mentor. In 1943 women had no status in meteorology, tropical weather was largely aer incognita, and Joanne Gerould, a new graduate student at the University of Chicago, had just set her sights on understanding the behavior of clouds. Establishing her career in an era of overwhelming marginalization of women in science was no easy matter, and Joanne (who published under three married names and raised three children) had to fight every step of the way. Under the mentorship of Herbert Riehl, she received a PhD degree from Chicago in 1949. Later, while working at Woods Hole, she collaborated with Riehl on their revolutionary and controversial “hot tower” hypothesis that cumulonimbus clouds were the driving force in the tropical atmosphere, providing energy to power the Hadley circulation, the trade winds, and by implication, the global circulation. The mechanism of hot towers alludes to the incessant battle between buoyancy and entrainment in tropical convection, valorizing those clouds that successfully break through the trade wind inversion to soar to the top of the troposphere. The metaphor of hot towers points to the incessant battles Joanne waged between her sky-high aspirations and the dark psychological and institutional forces dragging her down. Yet she prevailed, reaching the pinnacle of personal and professional accomplishment, especially in her years at NASA, as she conditioned the atmosphere for further breakthroughs for women in science. She is best remembered as a pioneer woman scientist, the best tropical scientist of her generation.

Downburst is an anti-tornado system with a slow rotating column of air slowly descending towards the ground which occurs due to the sudden downfall of air and precipitation generated from the cumulonimbus cloud. This natural event produces a strong downdraft which induces an outburst of damaging winds on or near the ground. This radially divergent wind with high velocity transpires when descending air strikes the ground which can cause immense damage to the ground mounted objects and structures. This paper discusses the wind flow characteristics of downbursts produced in the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Dome at Western University, Canada. Downdraft diameter and speed were varied to produce several downbursts like flow. Point measurements using Cobra probes and surface measurements using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) were performed to analyze the wind flow field in detail. Instantaneous downburst wind speeds were decomposed into slowly varying mean and residual fluctuations for different averaging time. Velocity profile with height from WindEEE was compared with previous experiments and full scale data.