Threshold of wave generation on Titan’s lakes and seas: Effect of viscosity and implications for Cassini observations   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Ralph D. Lorenz  Claire Newman  Jonathan I. Lunine 《Icarus》2010,207(2):932-937

Motivated by radar and near-infrared data indicating that Titan’s polar lakes are extremely smooth, we consider the conditions under which a lake surface will be ruffled by wind to form capillary waves. We evaluate laboratory data on wind generation and derive, without scaling for surface tension effects, a threshold for pure methane/ethane of ∼0.5-1 m/s. However, we compute the physical properties of predicted Titan lake compositions using the National Institute for Standards Technology (NIST) code and note that dissolved amounts of C3 and C4 compounds are likely to make Titan lakes much more viscous than pure ethane or methane, even without allowing for suspended particulates which would increase the viscosity further. Wind tunnel experiments show a strong dependence of capillary wave growth on liquid viscosity, and this effect may explain the apparent absence so far of waves, contrary to prior expectations that generation of gravity waves by wind should be easy on Titan. On the other hand, we note that winds over Titan lakes predicted with the TitanWRF Global Circulation Model indicate radar observations so far have in any case been when winds have been low (∼0.5-0.7 m/s), possibly below the wave generation threshold, while peak winds during summer may reach 1-2 m/s. Thus observations of Titan’s northern lakes during the coming years by the Cassini Solstice mission offer the highest probability of observing wind-roughening of lake surfaces, while observations of Ontario Lacus in the south will likely continue to show it to be flat and smooth.  相似文献   

Convective instability in the martian middle atmosphere     

N.G. Heavens  M.I. Richardson  W.G. Lawson  D.J. McCleese  A. Kleinböhl  W.A. Abdou 《Icarus》2010,208(2):574-589

Dry convective instabilities in Mars’s middle atmosphere are detected and mapped using temperature retrievals from Mars Climate Sounder observations spanning 1.5 martian years. The instabilities are moderately frequent in the winter extratropics. The frequency and strength of middle atmospheric convective instability in the northern extratropics is significantly higher in MY 28 than in MY 29. This may have coupled with changes to the northern hemisphere mid-latitude and tropical middle atmospheric temperatures and contributed to the development of the 2007 global dust storm. We interpret these instabilities to be the result of gravity waves saturating within regions of low stability created by the thermal tides. Gravity wave saturation in the winter extratropics has been proposed to provide the momentum lacking in general circulation models to produce the strong dynamically-maintained temperature maximum at 1-2 Pa over the winter pole, so these observations could be a partial control on modeling experiments.  相似文献   

Westward rotation of the atmospheric angular momentum vector of Titan by thermal tides     

Tetsuya Tokano 《Planetary and Space Science》2010,58(5):814-829

The orientation of the atmospheric angular momentum vector of Titan and its temporal variation predicted by a general circulation model are analysed and interpreted. The atmospheric angular momentum vector is tilted by a few degrees from the polar axis and the vector rotates (precesses) westward with a constant period of 1 Titan day. The fast westward rotation is likely to be caused by migrating diurnal thermal tides. The tilt is almost cancelled out in the troposphere by the wavenumber 2 pattern of Saturn's gravitational tide, but is more pronounced in the stratosphere, where thermal tides are significant. The predicted tilt angle and the equatorial angular momentum vary with season and maximize when the hemispheric asymmetry of the axial angular momentum or superrotation attains its peak.  相似文献   

1998年夏季中国暴雨洪涝灾害的气象水文特征   总被引：28，自引：7，他引：28       下载免费PDF全文

张顺利  陶诗言等 《应用气象学报》2001,12(4):442-457

文章分析了1998年夏季我国长江、嫩江、珠江流域发生的严重洪涝灾害的气象、水文特征及其成因。6月中、下旬珠江、长江、嫩江流域出现了持续性强降水, 局部地区下了大暴雨; 7月下旬长江流域出现了“二度梅”, 湖南、湖北和江西省普降暴雨; 8月上半月嫩江流域再次出现持续性强降水。频繁的强降水使长江、嫩江、华南西江等干、支流水位迅猛上涨, 支流河水不断涌入干流, 使得干流洪峰迭起。雨水和洪峰迭加, 引发了百年一遇的大洪水。1998年7月副热带高压南落是造成长江流域“二度梅”的主要原因。副热带高压、南海季风涌、中高纬冷空气和从青藏高原东移的中尺度对流系统 (MCS) 等4个因子的最佳组配, 有利于长江流域出现持续性强降水。  相似文献   

The importance of moisture distribution for the growth and energetics of mid-latitude systems     

V. Pavan  N. Hall  M. Blackburn 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(2):242-256

A primitive equation model is used to study the sensitivity of baroclinic wave life cycles to the initial latitude-height distribution of humidity. Diabatic heating is parametrized only as a consequence of condensation in regions of large-scale ascent. Experiments are performed in which the initial relative humidity is a simple function of model level, and in some cases latitude bands are specified which are initially relatively dry. It is found that the presence of moisture can either increase or decrease the peak eddy kinetic energy of the developing wave, depending on the initial moisture distribution. A relative abundance of moisture at mid-latitudes tends to weaken the wave, while a relative abundance at low latitudes tends to strengthen it. This sensitivity exists because competing processes are at work. These processes are described in terms of energy box diagnostics. The most realistic case lies on the cusp of this sensitivity. Further physical parametrizations are then added, including surface fluxes and upright moist convection. These have the effect of increasing wave amplitude, but the sensitivity to initial conditions of relative humidity remains. Finally, control and doubled CO₂ life cycles are performed, with initial conditions taken from the time-mean zonal-mean output of equilibrium GCM experiments. The attenuation of the wave resulting from reduced baroclinicity is more pronounced than any effect due to changes in initial moisture.  相似文献   

The role of dynamics in total ozone deviations from their long-term mean over the Northern Hemisphere     

K. Petzoldt 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(2):231-241

Total ozone anomalies (deviation from the long-term mean) are created by anomalous circulation patterns. The dynamically produced ozone anomalies can be estimated from known circulation parameters in the layer between the tropopause and the middle stratosphere by means of statistics. Satellite observations of ozone anomalies can be compared with those expected from dynamics. Residual negative anomalies may be due to chemical ozone destruction. The statistics are derived from a 14 year data set of TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer January 1979-Dec. 1992) and corresponding 300 hPa geopotential (for the tropopause height) together with 30 hPa temperature (for stratospheric waves) at 60°N. The correlation coefficient for the linear multiple regression between total ozone (dependent variable) and the dynamical parameters (independent variables) is 0.88 for the zonal deviations in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere. Zonal means are also significantly dependent on circulation parameters, besides showing the known negative trend function of total ozone observed by TOMS. The significant linear trend for 60°N is 3 DU/year in the winter months taking into account the dependence on the dynamics between the tropopause region and the mid-stratosphere. The highest correlation coefficient for the monthly mean total ozone anomalies is reached in November with 0.94.  相似文献   

On the application of the classic Kessler and Berry schemes in Large Eddy Simulation models with a particular emphasis on cloud autoconversion, the onset time of precipitation and droplet evaporation     

S. Ghosh  P. R. Jonas 《Annales Geophysicae》1998,16(5):628-637

Many Large Eddy Simulation (LES) models use the classic Kessler parameterisation either as it is or in a modified form to model the process of cloud water autoconversion into precipitation. The Kessler scheme, being linear, is particularly useful and is computationally straightforward to implement. However, a major limitation with this scheme lies in its inability to predict different autoconversion rates for maritime and continental clouds. In contrast, the Berry formulation overcomes this difficulty, although it is cubic. Due to their different forms, it is difficult to match the two solutions to each other. In this paper we single out the processes of cloud conversion and accretion operating in a deep model cloud and neglect the advection terms for simplicity. This facilitates exact analytical integration and we are able to derive new expressions for the time of onset of precipitation using both the Kessler and Berry formulations. We then discuss the conditions when the two schemes are equivalent. Finally, we also critically examine the process of droplet evaporation within the framework of the classic Kessler scheme. We improve the existing parameterisation with an accurate estimation of the diffusional mass transport of water vapour. We then demonstrate the overall robustness of our calculations by comparing our results with the experimental observations of Beard and Pruppacher, and find excellent agreement.  相似文献   

Vertical velocities associated with gravity waves measured in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere with the EISCAT VHF radar     

N. J. Mitchell  V. St. C. Howells 《Annales Geophysicae》1998,16(10):1367-1379

The EISCAT VHF radar (69.4°N, 19.1°E) has been used to record vertical winds at mesopause heights on a total of 31 days between June 1990 and January 1993. The data reveal a motion field dominated by quasi-monochromatic gravity waves with representative apparent periods of 30–40 min, amplitudes of up to 2.5 m s^–1 and large vertical wavelength. In some instances waves appear to be ducted. Vertical profiles of the vertical-velocity variance display a variety of forms, with little indication of systematic wave growth with height. Daily mean variance profiles evaluated for consecutive days of recording show that the general shape of the variance profiles persists over several days. The mean variance evaluated over a 10 km height range has values from 1.2 m²s^–2 to 6.5 m²s^–2 and suggests a semi-annual seasonal cycle with equinoctial minima and solsticial maxima. The mean vertical wavenumber spectrum evaluated at heights up to 86 km has a slope (spectral index) of -1.36 ± 0.2, consistent with observations at lower heights but disagreeing with the predictions of a number of saturation theories advanced to explain gravity-wave spectra. The spectral slopes evaluated for individual days have a range of values, and steeper slopes are observed in summer than in winter. The spectra also appear to be generally steeper on days with lower mean vertical-velocity variance.  相似文献   

Development of a chemistry module for GCMs: first results of a multiannual integration     

B. Steil  M. Dameris  C. Brühl  P. J. Crutzen  V. Grewe  M. Ponater  R. Sausen 《Annales Geophysicae》1998,16(2):205-228

The comprehensive chemistry module CHEM has been developed for application in general circulation models (GCMs) describing tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry, including photochemical reactions and heterogeneous reactions on sulphate aerosols and polar stratospheric clouds. It has been coupled to the spectral atmospheric GCM ECHAM3. The model configuration used in the current study has been run in an –off-line mode, i.e. the calculated chemical species do not affect the radiative forcing of the dynamic fields. First results of a 15-year model integration indicate that the model ECHAM3/CHEM runs are numerically efficient and stable, i.e. that no model drift can be detected in dynamic and chemical parameters. The model reproduces the main features regarding ozone, in particular intra- and interannual variability. The ozone columns are somewhat higher than observed (approximately 10%), while the amplitude of the annual cycle is in agreement with observations. A comparison with HALOE data reveals, however, a serious model deficiency regarding lower-stratosphere dynamics at high latitudes. Contrary to what is concluded by observations, the lower stratosphere is characterized by slight upward motions in the polar regions, so that some of the mentioned good agreements must be considered as fortuitous. Nevertheless, ECHAM3/CHEM well describes the chemical processes leading to ozone reduction. It has been shown that the mean fraction of the northern hemisphere, which is covered by polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) as well as the temporal appearance of PSCs in the model, is in fair agreement with observations. The model results show an activation of chlorine inside the polar vortex which is stronger in the southern than in the northern winter hemisphere, yielding an ozone hole over the Antarctic; this hole, however, is also caused to a substantial degree by the dynamics. Interhemispheric differences concerning reformation of chlorine reservoir species HCl and ClONO₂ in spring have also been well reproduced by the model.  相似文献   

Spectral characteristics of spring arctic mesosphere dynamics     

C. M. Hall  A. H. Manson  C. E. Meek 《Annales Geophysicae》1998,16(12):1607-1618

The spring of 1997 has represented a stable period of operation for the joint University of Tromsø/University of Saskatchewan MF radar, being between refurbishment and upgrades. We examine the horizontal winds from the February to June inclusive and also include estimates of energy dissipation rates derived from signal fading times and presented as upper limits on the turbulent energy dissipation rate, . Here we address the periodicity in the dynamics of the upper mesosphere for time scales from hours to one month. Thus, we are able to examine the changes in the spectral signature of the mesospheric dynamics during the transition from winter to summer states.  相似文献