Abstract
An observational analysis of the structures and characteristics of a windy atmospheric boundary layer during a cold air outbreak in the South China Sea region is reported in this paper. It is found that the main structures and characteristics are the same as during strong wind episodes with cold air outbreaks on land. The high frequency turbulent fluctuations (period <1 min) are nearly random and isotropic with weak coherency, but the gusty wind disturbances (1 min<period <10 min) are anisotropic with rather strong coherency. However, in the windy atmospheric boundary layer at sea, compared with that over land, there are some pronounced differences: (1) the average horizontal speed is almost independent of height, and the vertical velocity is positive in the lower marine atmospheric boundary layer; (2) the vertical flux of horizontal momentum is nearly independent of height in the low layer indicating the existence of a constant flux layer, unlike during strong wind over the land surface; (3) the kinetic energy and friction velocity of turbulent fluctuations are larger than those of gusty disturbances; (4) due to the independence of horizontal speed to height, the horizontal speed itself (not its vertical gradient used over the land surface) can be used as the key parameter to parameterize the turbulent and gusty characteristics with high accuracy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andreas, E. L., 1992: Sea spray and the turbulent air-sea heat fluxes. J. Geophys. Res., 97, 11 429–11 441, doi: 10.1029/92JC00876.
Andreas, E. L., 1998: A new sea spray generation function for wind speeds up to 32 ms−1. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 28, 2175–2184.
Andreas, E. L., 2010: Spray-Mediated enthalpy flux to the atmosphere and salt flux to the ocean in high winds. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 40, 608–619.
Andreas, E. L., and J. DeCosmo, 1999: Sea spray production and influence on air-sea heat and moisture fluxes over the open ocean. Air-Sea Exchange: Physics, Chemistry and Dynamics, G. L. Geernaert, Ed., Kluwer, 327–362.
Cheng, X. L., Q. C. Zeng, F. Hu, and Z. Peng, 2007: Gustiness and coherent structure of strong wind in the atmospheric boundary layer. Climatic and Environmental Research, 12(3), 227–243. (in Chinese)
Cheng, X. L., Q. C. Zeng, and F. Hu, 2011: Characteristics of gusty wind disturbances and turbulent fluctuations in windy atmospheric boundary layer behind cold fronts. J. Geophys. Res., 116, D06101, doi: 10.1029/2010JD015081.
Cheng, X. L., Q. C. Zeng, and F. Hu, 2012a: Parameterizations of some important characteristics of turbulent fluctuations and gusty wind disturbances in the atmospheric boundary layer. J. Geophys. Res., 117, D08113, doi: 10.1029/2011JD017191.
Cheng, X. L., F. Hu, and Q. C. Zeng, 2012b: Simulation of wind gust structure in the atmospheric boundary layer with Lattice Boltzmann Method. Chinese Science Bulletin, 57, 1196–1203.
Cheng, X. L., Q. C. Zeng, and F. Hu, 2012c: Stochastic modeling the effect of wind gust on dust entrainment during sand storm. Chinese Science Bulletin, 57, 3595–3602, doi: 10.1007/s11434-012-5230-z.
DeCosmo, J., 1991: Air-sea exchange of momentum, heat and water vapor over whitecap sea states. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Wash., Seattle, 212 pp.
Ding, T., W.-H. Qian, and Z.-W. Yan, 2009: Characteristics and changes of cold surge events over China during 1960–2007. Atmos. Oceanic Sci. Lett., 2, 339–344.
Ekman, V. W., 1905: On the influence of the earth’s rotation on ocean-currents. Ark. Mat. Astron. Fys., 2, 1–52.
Fairall, C. W., J. D. Kepert, and G. J. Holland, 1994: The effect of sea spray on surface energy transports over the ocean. The Global Atmosphere and Ocean System, 2, 121–142.
Kaimal, J. C., and J. J. Finnigan, 1994: Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flows: Their Structure and Measurement. Oxford University Press, New York, 289 pp.
Kolmogorov, A. N., 1941: The local structure of turbulence in incompressible viscous fluids at very large Reynolds numbers. Dokl. Akad. Nauk. SSSR, 30, 299–303. Reprinted in Proc. R. Soc. London A, 434, 9–13 (1991).
Kolmogorov, A. N., 1962: A refinement of previous hypotheses concerning the local structure of turbulence in a viscous incompressible fluid at high Reynolds number. J. Fluid Mech., 13, 82–85.
Lumley, J. L., and H. A. Panofsky, 1964: The Structure of Atmospheric Turbulence. Interscience, New York, 239 pp.
Monin, A. S., and A. M. Obukhov, 1954: Basic laws of turbulent mixing in the surface layer of the atmosphere. Tr. Akad. Nauk SSSR Geofiz. Inst, 24, 163–187.
Prandtl, L., 1904: Uber Flussigkeitsbewegung bei sehr kleiner Reibung, Verhandlungen des dritten internationalen Mathematiker-Kongresses, Heidelberg, 489–491, Leipzig. (English trans., 2001: On the motion of fluids with very little friction, in Early Developments of Modern Aerodynamics, J. A. D. Ackroyd, B. P. Axcell, A. I. Ruban, eds., Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK, 77–84.)
Smith, M. H., P. M. Park, and I. E. Consterdine, 1993: Marine aerosol concentrations and estimated fluxes over the sea. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 119, 809–824.
Sorbjan, Z., 1989: Structure of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 317 pp.
Stull, R. B., 1988: An Introduction to Boundary Layer Meteorology. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, Mass, 738 pp.
Sutton, O. G., 1953: Micrometeorology. McGraw-Hill, New York, 333 pp.
Wilczak, J. M., S. P. Oncley, and S. A. Stage, 2001: Sonic anemometer tilt correction algorithms. Bound.-Layer Meteor., 99, 127–150.
Wyngaard, J. C., 2010: Turbulence in the Atmosphere. Cambridge University Press, 393 pp.
Zeng, Q. C., X. L. Cheng, and F. Hu, 2007a: The mechanism of soil erosion and dust emission under the action of nonsteady strong wind with descending motion and gust wind. Climatic and Environmental Research, 12(3), 244–250. (in Chinese)
Zeng, Q. C., F. Hu, and X. L. Cheng, 2007b: The mechanism of dust entrainment by gustwind. Climatic and Environmental Research, 12(3), 251–255. (in Chinese)
Zeng Q.-C., X. L. Cheng, F. Hu, and Z. Peng, 2010: Gustiness and coherent structure of strong wind and their role in the dust emission and entrainment. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 27(1), 1–13, doi: 10.1007/s00376-009-8207-3.
Zeng, X., Q. Zhang, D. Johnson, and W.-K. Tao, 2002: Parameterization of wind gustiness for the computation of ocean surface fluxes at different spatial scales. Mon. Wea. Rev., 130, 2125–2133.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cheng, XL., Huang, J., Wu, L. et al. Structures and characteristics of the windy atmospheric boundary layer in the South China Sea region during cold surges. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 32, 772–782 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-014-4228-7
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-014-4228-7