Cloud draft structure and trace gas transport
- Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville (USA)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (USA)
- Applied Research Corp., Landover, MD (USA)
- Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais, Sao Paulo (Brazil)
- NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (USA)
- NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA (USA)
- Oregon Graduate Center, Beaverton (USA)
Field observations obtained during the second NASA Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment (ABLE 2B), and two-dimensional moist cloud model simulations are used to determine the dominant transport pathways within a continental tropical squall line. A surface-based network triangle provided the focus for a multi-instrumental sampling of the May 6, 1987, squall line which propagated through the central Amazon bas at a rate of 40-50 km h{sup {minus}1}. Extensive use is made of the vertical distribution of specific trace gases that are representative of the prestorm and poststorm environment. One-dimensional photochemical model results suggest the observed poststorm changes in ozone concentration can be attributed to convective transports rather than photochemical production. Two-dimensional cloud model results detail the dynamic and thermodynamic attributes of the simulated squall convection. The well-mixed moist troposphere in which the observed squall system developed may have hindered strong downdraft development. Parcel trajectory analyses are conducted to investigate the flow patterns of convective transports. A significant proportion (> 50%) of the air transported to the anvil region originated at or above 6 km, not from the boundary layer via undilute cores. The presence of a midlevel inflow and a strong melting layer at 5.5 km reduced the vertical development of the core updraft and aided in the maintenance of a rotor circulation. The predicted absence of more than one active cell in the model cloud field, the lack of a well-organized downdraft in the presence of model estimated net upward mass flux, and the initial wind profile suggest the May 6 squall line was unicell in character.
- OSTI ID:
- 6062344
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Geophysical Research; (USA), Vol. 95:D10; ISSN 0148-0227
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BRAZIL
STORMS
FLUID MECHANICS
TROPOSPHERE
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
BOUNDARY LAYERS
CLIMATE MODELS
CLOUDS
CONVECTION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
LONG-RANGE TRANSPORT
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
OZONE
PHOTOCHEMISTRY
POLLUTANTS
SAMPLING
THERMODYNAMICS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
CHEMISTRY
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DISASTERS
ENERGY TRANSFER
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
HEAT TRANSFER
LATIN AMERICA
LAYERS
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICS
SOUTH AMERICA
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