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Airborne Investigation Of Arctic Boundary-Layer Fronts Over The Marginal Ice Zone Of The Davis Strait

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Abstract

Three aircraft-based studies of boundary-layer fronts (BLFs) werecarried out during the experiment KABEG in April 1997near the sea-ice edge over the Davis Strait. The zone of strongestcross-front horizontal gradients showed a typical length scaleof 20 km, while the along-front scale was observed to beseveral hundreds of kilometres.The observed BLFs were stronger than the few previously reportedcases. Horizontal gradients of potential temperature and specifichumidity ranged up to 3 K or 0.25 g kg-1over 20 km, respectively.Low-level winds were around 15 m s-1 parallel to the ice edge.The capping inversion sloped from between250 and 400 m over sea ice to between 400 and 700 m over ocean.

For two BLF cases turbulent fluxes and energy budgets are calculated.Turbulent energy fluxes show a factor 2 to 3 contrast acrossthe ice edge and range from 15 to 50 W m-2 over sea iceand from 50 to 100 W m-1 over open ocean.The mean boundary-layer energy budgets are dominated bycold, dry horizontal advection, which is exceededby vertical heat flux convergence.The momentum budgets are dominated by pressure gradient force,Coriolis force and momentum flux divergence.

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  1. Meteorologisches Institut der Universität Bonn (MIUB), Auf dem Hügel 20, 53121, Bonn, Germany

    C. Drüe & G. Heinemann

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  1. C. Drüe
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  2. G. Heinemann
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Drüe, C., Heinemann, G. Airborne Investigation Of Arctic Boundary-Layer Fronts Over The Marginal Ice Zone Of The Davis Strait. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 101, 261–292 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019223513815

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