Academic literature on the topic 'TWP-ICE'

This paper presents the transient wave packet (TWP) technique as an efficient method for wave–ice interaction experiments. TWPs are deterministic wave groups, where both the amplitude spectrum and the associated phases are tailor-made and manipulated, being well established for efficient wave–structure interaction experiments. One major benefit of TWPs is the possibility to determine the response amplitude operator (RAO) of a structure in a single test run compared to the classical approach by investigating regular waves of different wave lengths. Thus, applying TWPs for wave–ice interaction offers the determination of the RAO of the ice at specific locations. In this context, the determination of RAO means that the ice characteristics in terms of wave damping over a wide frequency range are obtained. Besides this, the wave dispersion of the underlying wave components of the TWP can be additionally investigated between the specific locations with the same single test run. For the purpose of this study, experiments in an ice tank, capable of generating tailored waves, were performed with a solid ice sheet. Besides the generation of one TWP, regular waves of different wave lengths were generated as a reference to validate the TWP results for specific wave periods. It is shown that the TWP technique is not only applicable for wave–ice interaction investigations, but is also an efficient alternative to investigations with regular waves.

Abstract Two field campaigns, the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) and the Tropical Warm Pool–International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE), took place in 2006 near Niamey, Niger, and Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, providing extensive observations of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) near a desert and a tropical coast, respectively. Under the constraint of their observations, three-dimensional cloud-resolving model simulations are carried out and presented in this paper to replicate the basic characteristics of the observed MCSs. All of the modeled MCSs exhibit a distinct structure having deep convective clouds accompanied by stratiform and anvil clouds. In contrast to the approximately 100-km-scale MCSs observed in TWP-ICE, the MCSs in AMMA have been successfully simulated with a scale of about 400 km. These modeled AMMA and TWP-ICE MCSs offer an opportunity to understand the structure and mechanism of MCSs. Comparing the water budgets between AMMA and TWP-ICE MCSs suggests that TWP-ICE convective clouds have stronger ascent while the mesoscale ascent outside convective clouds in AMMA is stronger. A case comparison, with the aid of sensitivity experiments, also suggests that vertical wind shear and ice crystal (or dust aerosol) concentration can significantly impact stratiform and anvil clouds (e.g., their areas) in MCSs. In addition, the obtained water budgets quantitatively describe the transport of water between convective, stratiform, and anvil regions as well as water sources/sinks from microphysical processes, providing information that can be used to help determine parameters in the convective and cloud parameterizations in general circulation models (GCMs).

Abstract The Tropical Pacific Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) took place in Darwin, Australia, in early 2006. C-band radar data were used to characterize tropical anvil (i.e., thick, nonprecipitating cloud associated with deep convection) areal coverage, height, and thickness during the monthlong field campaign. The morphology, evolution, and longevity of the anvil were analyzed, as was the relationship of the anvil to the rest of the precipitating system. The anvil was separated into mixed (i.e., echo base below 6 km) and ice-only categories. The average areal coverage for each anvil type was between 4% and 5% of the radar grid. Ice anvil thickness averaged 2.8 km and mixed anvil thickness averaged 6.7 km. Areal peaks show that mixed anvil typically formed out of the stratiform rain region. Peak production in ice anvil usually followed the mixed anvil peak by 1–3 h. Anvil typically lasted 4–10 h after the initial convective rain area peak. TWP-ICE experienced three distinct regimes: an active monsoon, a dry monsoon, and a break period. During the experiment (except the active monsoon period) there was a strong negative correlation between ice anvil thickness and ice anvil height, a strong positive correlation between ice anvil area and thickness, and a greater variance in ice anvil bottom than ice anvil top. These results have important implications for understanding how anvil affects the tropical atmosphere.

Abstract. During the 2006 Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) in the Tropics, the 2008 Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC) in the Arctic, and the 2010 Small PARTicles In CirrUS (SPARTICUS) campaign in mid-latitudes, high-resolution images of ice crystals were recorded by a Cloud Particle Imager at temperatures (T) between −87 and 0 °C. The projected maximum dimension (D'), length (L'), and width (W') of pristine columns, plates, and component bullets of bullet rosettes were measured using newly developed software, the Ice Crystal Ruler. The number of bullets in each bullet rosette was also measured. Column crystals were further distinguished as either horizontally oriented columns or columns with other orientations to eliminate any orientation effect on the measured dimensions. Dimensions and aspect ratios (AR, dimension of major axis divided by dimension of minor axis) of crystals were determined as functions of temperature, geophysical location, and type of cirrus. Dimensions of crystals generally increased as temperature increased. Columns and bullets had larger dimensions (i.e., W') of the minor axis (i.e., a axis) for a given dimension (i.e., D' or L') of the major axis (i.e., c axis), and thus smaller AR, as T increased, whereas this trend did not occur for plate crystals. The average number of branches in bullet rosettes was 5.50±1.35 during three campaigns and 6.32±1.34 (5.46±1.34; 4.95±1.01) during TWP-ICE (SPARTICUS; ISDAC). The AR of bullets increased with the number of branches in bullet rosettes. Most dimensions of crystals and ARs of columnar crystals measured during SPARTICUS were larger than those measured during TWP-ICE and ISDAC at −67 < T < −35 °C and at −40 < T < −15 °C, respectively. The relative occurrence of varying pristine habits depended strongly on cirrus type (i.e., anvil or non-anvil clouds), with plates especially occurring more frequently in anvils. The L–W relationships of columns derived using current data exhibited a strong dependence on temperature; similar relationship determined in previous studies were within the range of the current data.

Abstract. During the 2006 Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) in the tropics, the 2008 Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC) in the Arctic, and the 2010 Small PARTicles In CirrUS (SPARTICUS) campaign at mid-latitudes, high-resolution images of ice crystals were recorded by a Cloud Particle Imager at temperatures (T) between −87 and 0 °C. The projected maximum dimension (D'), length (L'), and width (W') of pristine columns, plates, and component bullets of bullet rosettes were measured using newly developed software, the Ice Crystal Ruler. The number of bullets in each bullet rosette was also measured. Column crystals were further distinguished as either horizontally oriented columns or columns with other orientations to eliminate any orientation effect on the measured dimensions. The dimensions and aspect ratios (AR, the dimension of the major axis divided by the dimension of the minor axis) of crystals were determined as functions of temperature, geophysical location, and type of cirrus. Dimensions of crystals generally increased with temperature. Columns and bullets had larger dimensions (i.e., W') of the minor axis (i.e., a axis) for a given dimension (i.e., D' orL') of the major axis (i.e., c axis), and thus smaller AR, as T increased, whereas this trend did not occur for plate crystals. The average number of branches in bullet rosettes was 5.50 ± 1.35 during three campaigns and 6.32 ± 1.34 (5.46 ± 1.34; 4.95 ± 1.01) during TWP-ICE (SPARTICUS; ISDAC). The AR of bullets increased with the number of branches in bullet rosettes. Most dimensions of crystals and ARs of columnar crystals measured during SPARTICUS were larger than those measured during TWP-ICE and ISDAC at −67 < T < -35 °C and at −40 < T < −15 °C, respectively. The relative occurrence of varying pristine habits depended strongly on cirrus type (i.e., anvil or non-anvil clouds), with plates especially occurring more frequently in anvils. The L–W relationships of columns derived using current data exhibited a strong dependence on temperature; similar relationships determined in previous studies were within the range of the current data.

Scale-aware parameterizations of subgrid scale physics are essentials for multiscale atmospheric modeling. A single-ice (SI) microphysics scheme and Gaussian probability-density-function (Gauss-PDF) macrophysics scheme were implemented in the single-column Global-to-Regional Integrated forecast System model (SGRIST) and they were tested using the Tropical Warm Pool-International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains Experiment in 1997 (ARM97). Their performance was evaluated against observations and other reference schemes. The new schemes simulated reasonable precipitation with proper fluctuations and peaks, ice, and liquid water contents, especially in lower levels below 650 hPa during the wet period in the TWP-ICE. The root mean square error (RMSE) of the simulated cloud fraction was below 200 hPa was 0.10/0.08 in the wet/dry period, which showed an obvious improvement when compared to that, i.e., 0.11/0.11 of original scheme. Accumulated ice water content below the melting level decreased by 21.57% in the SI. The well-matched average liquid water content displayed between the new scheme and observations, which was two times larger than those with the referencing scheme. In the ARM97 simulations, the SI scheme produced considerable ice water content, especially when convection was active. Low-level cloud fraction and precipitation extremes were improved using the Gauss-PDF scheme, which displayed the RMSE of cloud fraction of 0.02, being only half of the original schemes. The study indicates that the SI and Gauss-PDF schemes are promising approaches to simplify the microphysics process and improve the low-level cloud modeling.

Abstract Nested cloud-system-resolving model simulations of tropical convective clouds observed during the recent Tropical Warm Pool-International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) are conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The WRF model is configured with a highest-resolving domain that uses 1.3-km grid spacing and is centered over Darwin, Australia. The performance of the model in simulating two different convective regimes observed during TWP-ICE is considered. The first regime is characteristic of the active monsoon, which features widespread cloud cover that is similar to maritime convection. The second regime is a monsoon break, which contains intense localized systems that are representative of diurnally forced continental convection. Many aspects of the model performance are considered, including their sensitivity to physical parameterizations and initialization time, and the spatial statistics of rainfall accumulations and the rain-rate distribution. While the simulations highlight many challenges and difficulties in correctly modeling the convection in the two regimes, they show that provided the mesoscale environment is adequately reproduced by the model, the statistics of the simulated rainfall agrees reasonably well with the observations.

Optically very thin ice clouds from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) and ground-based Raman lidars (RL) at the atmospheric radiation measurement (ARM) sites of the Southern Great Plains (SGP) and Tropical Western Pacific (TWP) are analyzed. The optically very thin ice clouds, with ice cloud column optical depths below 0.01, are about 23% of the transparent ice-cloudy profiles from the RL, compared to 4–7% from CALIPSO. The majority (66–76%) of optically very thin ice clouds from the RLs are found to be adjacent to ice clouds with ice cloud column optical depths greater than 0.01. The temporal structure of RL-observed optically very thin ice clouds indicates a clear sky–cloud continuum. Global cloudiness estimates from CALIPSO observations leveraged with high-sensitivity RL observations suggest that CALIPSO may underestimate the global cloud fraction when considering optically very thin ice clouds.

Abstract Orographic forcing can stabilize mixed-phase clouds (MPCs), which are thermodynamically unstable owing to the different saturation vapor pressure over liquid water and ice. This study presents simulations of MPCs in orographically complex terrain over the Alpine ridge with the regional model COSMO using a horizontal resolution of 1 km. Two case studies provide insights into the formation of Alpine MPCs. Trajectory studies show that the majority of the air parcels lifted by more than 600 m are predominantly in the liquid phase even if they originate from glaciated clouds. The interplay between lifted and advected air parcels is crucial for the occurrence of MPCs. Within a sensitivity study, the orography is reduced to 80%, which changed both the total barrier height and steepness. The changes in total water path (TWP), liquid water path (LWP), and ice water path (IWP) vary in sign and strength as the affected precipitation does. LWP can experience changes up to 500% resulting in a transformation from an ice-dominated MPC to a liquid-dominated MPC. In further simulations with increased steepness and maintained surface height at Jungfraujoch, TWP experiences a reduction between 25% and 40% during different time periods, which results in reduced precipitation by around 30%. An accurate representation of the steepness and the height of mountains in models is crucial for the formation and development of MPCs.

The Tropical Pacific Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) took place in Darwin, Australia in early 2006. C-band radar data from this experiment were used to characterize tropical anvil areal coverage, height, and thickness during the month-long field campaign. The morphology, evolution, and longevity of the anvil were analyzed as well as the relationship of the anvil to the rest of the precipitating system. In addition, idealized in-cloud radiative heating profiles were created based on the anvil observations. The anvil was separated into mixed (i.e., echo base below 6 km) and ice only categories. The experiment areal average coverage for both types of anvil was between 4-5% of the radar grid. Ice anvil thickness averaged 2.8 km and mixed anvil thickness averaged 6.7 km. No consistent diurnal signal was seen in the anvil, implying that the life cycle of the parent convection was of first order importance in determining the anvil height, thickness, and area. Areal peaks show that mixed anvil typically formed out of the stratiform region. Peak production in ice anvil usually followed the mixed anvil peak by 1-3 hr. Anvil typically lasted 4-10 hr after the initial convective rain area peak. The TWP-ICE experienced three distinct regimes: the active monsoon, dry monsoon, and break periods. During the entire experiment (except the active monsoon period) there was a strong negative correlation between ice anvil thickness and ice anvil height, a strong positive correlation between ice anvil area and thickness, and a greater variance in ice anvil bottom than ice anvil top. Anvil produced during the active regime had the most dramatic in-cloud radiative response with a maximum cooling of 0.45° K day-1 at 12 km, a maximum heating of 3° K day-1 at 9 km, and a secondary maximum heating of 1.2° K day-1 at 5 km.

Weather radar capabilities have improved dramatically over the last 50 years. Following World War II, surplus military radars were turned to the study of weather. Since then, they have evolved to the modern standard of rainfall estimations available to the general public in real time. Forecasters rely on weather radars not only for routine forecasting, but also for tracking rapidly evolving, potentially hazardous, severe weather events. These storms have the potential to cause flash floods and hence loss of crops, livestock, and human life. Most weather radars estimate rainfall by converting the measured reflectivity to a rainrate via an empirical relationship (Z-R relationship). There are limitations in the accuracy of the rainfall estimates derived from these scanning radars. Variations in the raindrop size distribution (DSD), that is, the spread of sizes of raindrops falling at a given location, affect the measured reflectivity, and thus the rain rate estimate. The DSD can vary both temporally and spatially, and also with latitude. Investigation of the DSD and its evolution can be used to investigate the effectiveness of Z-R relationships in varied meteorological conditions and locations. Well-established techniques exist for retrieving the DSD using vertically pointing VHF Doppler radars. These radars can simultaneously detect a clear-air echo due to fluctuations in temperature and humidity, and a precipitation echo. Mean vertical air motion and spectral width are estimated from the clear air spectrum, and used to correct the precipitation spectrum through a deconvolution procedure. The corrected precipitation spectrum is then converted to a size spectrum, and the DSD calculated. The DSD and associated integral parameters such as rainrate and liquid water content can then be used to infer the microphysical processes dominating the cloud and precipitation structure. This knowledge can then be used to investigate various Z-R relationships. This thesis presents DSD retrievals from VHF profilers located in Adelaide and Darwin. Each profiler is installed within the footprint of a scanning weather radar, allowing direct comparison of the same air space. These radars provide a unique opportunity to study the evolution of the DSD with the profiler, and use this to investigate variations in time and height of the Z-R relationship. The locations of the radars also permits investigation of the differing nature of DSD evolution in the tropics compared to the mid-latitudes. The TWP-ICE field campaign was conducted in Darwin and surrounding areas in January and February 2006. The campaign involved many instruments, both insitu and remote sensing, including a fleet of aircraft and ship. The University of Adelaide Atmospheric Physics Group installed a VHF wind profiler operating at 54.1 MHz near Darwin airport for the experiment. This radar sampled the same air space as a C-band polarimetric scanning radar (CPol), which performed horizontal scans at increasing elevations, along with vertical scans over the profiler site every 10 minutes. Results from 8 events, differing in age, type, dominant microphysical process and seasonal regime are presented in this thesis. A VHF profiler permanently located near Adelaide airport provides an observational capability similar to Darwin, but in the mid-latitudes where the processes dictating rainfall are vastly different. This radar also operates at 54.1 MHz, and is installed within the footprint of an operational weather watch radar. Pseudo vertical scans can be constructed from the successive horizontal scans allowing direct comparisons. This profiler is the first generation of the profiler in Darwin. It is not as powerful and cannot detect low intensity rainfall. Due to this and the drought South Australia experienced between 2006 and 2008, data from Adelaide are limited. Two events are presented. Seasonal trends in the tropics, that is break conditions as opposed to the monsoon, are compared and contrasted. These trends are then compared to the limited Adelaide data. By analysing the evolution in both time and height of the DSD, and the dependence on season and latitudinal location, this thesis leads to a better understanding of the microphysical processes dictating rainfall in the tropics and mid-latitudes.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Chemistry and Physics, 2010