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Effects of Roll Vortices on Turbulent Fluxes in the Hurricane Boundary Layer

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Abstract

Boundary-layer secondary circulations or ‘roll vortices’ can have a significant influence on the turbulent exchange of momentum, sensible heat and moisture throughout the hurricane boundary layer. In this study, analyses of data from a WP-3D aircraft of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are presented. As part of the Coupled Boundary Layer Air-Sea Transfer (CBLAST)-hurricane experiment sponsored through the Office of Naval Research and NOAA’s annual hurricane research program, flights were conducted to investigate energy exchange across the air–sea interface. We present the first in-situ aircraft-based observations of rolls in the hurricane boundary layer and investigate their influence on energy and momentum exchange. The rolls detected in Hurricane Isidore (year 2002) have a characteristic wavelength of about 900 m, in good agreement with analyses of data from a synthetic aperture radar image captured by the Canadian Space Agency’s RADARSAT satellite in the same storm. Our analyses of the airborne data suggest that roll vortices may be a significant factor modulating the air–sea momentum exchange.

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Author notes

  1. Jun A. Zhang

    Present address: Hurricane Research Division, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Miami, FL, USA

  2. Kristina B. Katsaros

    Present address: , P.O. Box 772, Freeland, WA, 98249, USA

  3. Peter G. Black

    Present address: Science Applications International Corporation at Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Division of Applied Marine Physics, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Jun A. Zhang & William M. Drennan

  2. Hurricane Research Division, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Miami, FL, USA

    Peter G. Black

  3. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Miami, FL, USA

    Kristina B. Katsaros

  4. German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

    Susanne Lehner

  5. Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA

    Jeffrey R. French

Authors
  1. Jun A. Zhang
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  2. Kristina B. Katsaros
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  3. Peter G. Black
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  4. Susanne Lehner
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  5. Jeffrey R. French
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  6. William M. Drennan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to William M. Drennan.

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Zhang, J.A., Katsaros, K.B., Black, P.G. et al. Effects of Roll Vortices on Turbulent Fluxes in the Hurricane Boundary Layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 128, 173–189 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-008-9281-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-008-9281-2

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