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Numerical simulation of air convection in the atmosphere during the invasion of cold air over the Black Sea

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Abstract

The structure of a convective-mechanical planetary boundary layer (PBL) in the atmosphere over the Black Sea in the event of the invasion of cold air has been investigated using a WRF-ARW numerical model of regional atmospheric circulation. The features of the development of the convective PBL, typical of the quasi-stationary (but significantly heterogeneous in space) development of convection have been distinguished. Based on a series of test calculations, a numerical model assuming convective motions in the PBL has been chosen to study the small-scale structure of the PBL. Calculated horizontal scales of convective motions with cloud images from satellites have been compared. The vertical structure of convective motions has been investigated and the essential asymmetry in convective motions has been revealed. Vertical profiles of the velocity field components, as well as components of vertical heat fluxes, have been estimated. In addition, values of the separate components of the kinetic-energy balance equation for convective motions (KE) show that the KE is generated due to buoyancy forces and, to a lesser degree, by the mean velocity shift.

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Correspondence to V. V. Efimov.

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Original Russian Text © V.V. Efimov, D.A. Yarovaya, 2014, published in Izvestiya AN. Fizika Atmosfery i Okeana, 2014, Vol. 50, No. 6, pp. 692–703.

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Efimov, V.V., Yarovaya, D.A. Numerical simulation of air convection in the atmosphere during the invasion of cold air over the Black Sea. Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys. 50, 610–620 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433814060073

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433814060073

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