BOMEX: An Appraisal of Results

Fleagle, Robert G.

doi:10.1126/science.176.4039.1079

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Martin and Bakan note that "an explanation for the... larger-scale bands is hard to find...," but suggested that they may be related to gravity waves in the frontal inversion layer. Relatively small (in length, at least) rolls were observed in the region of the tropical Atlantic to the east of the island of Barbados [Fleagle, 1972]. These rolls had heights ranging from 0.5 to 2 km and wavelengths ranging from one to several kilometers.…”

Section: Results From the Kontur Experiments Suggested Thatmentioning

confidence: 98%

Mesoscale shallow convection in the atmosphere

Atkinson¹,

Zhang²

1996

Reviews of Geophysics

336

326

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This paper is a review of the observational, experimental, theoretical, and numerical studies of mesoscale shallow convection (MSC) in the atmosphere. Typically, MSC is 1 to 2 km deep, has a horizontal length scale of a few to a few tens of kilometers, and takes distinctive planforms: linear and hexagonal. The former is called a cloud street, roll, or band, while the latter is called mesoscale cellular convection (MCC), comprising three‐dimensional cells. MSC is characterized by its shape, horizontal extent, convective depth, and aspect ratio. The latter is the ratio of the horizontal extent to that in the vertical. For cells the horizontal extent is their diameter, whereas for rolls it is their spacing. Rolls usually align along or at angles of up to 10° from the mean horizontal wind of the convective layer, with lengths from 20 to 200 km, widths from 2 to 10 km, and convective depths from 2 to 3 km. The typical value of aspect ratio ranges from 2 to 20. Rolls may occur over both water surface and land surfaces. Mesoscale convective cells may be divided into two types: open and closed. Open‐cell circulation has downward motion and clear sky in the cell center, surrounded by cloud associated with upward motion. Closed cells have the opposite circulation. Both types of cell have diameters ranging from 10 to 40 km and aspect ratios of 5 to 50, and both occur in a convective layer with a depth of about 1 to 3 km. Both the magnitude and direction of horizontal wind in the convective layer change little with height. MSC results from a complex and incompletely understood mix of processes. These processes are outlined, and their interplay is examined through a review of theoretical and laboratory analyses and numerical modeling of MSC.

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Section: Results From the Kontur Experiments Suggested Thatmentioning

confidence: 98%

Mesoscale shallow convection in the atmosphere

Atkinson¹,

Zhang²

1996

Reviews of Geophysics

336

326

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“…Meteorologists have debated the feasibility of estimating horizontal divergence and vertical velocity from wind measurements for a long time (Panofsky, 1951;Fleagle, 1972 (Gould and Sambuco, 1975).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Momentum, mass, heat, and vorticity balances from oceanic measurements of current and temperature

Bryden¹

1975

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The local dynamics of low-frequency motions in the MODE region are investigated from three arrays of moored measurements of current and temperature. Tests for lowest-order balances of horizontal momentum, mass, heat, and vorticity within estimated errors are carried out.Geostrophic comparisons of four-day averaged observed and geostrophic current differences from the MODE-l array indicate that a geostrophic balance within estimated errors is the lowest-order horizontal momentum balance. The discrepancy between observed and geostrophic current differences has a standard deviation of 1.9 cm/sec which is 26% as large as the standard deviation of the current differences. In the au av mass balance, comparisons of estimates of and from the ax ay-

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“…BOMEX was one of the first "big science" ocean-atmosphere experiments (Kuettner and Holland, 1969). The core objective of BOMEX was to compare vertical fluxes measured on a synoptic-scale over the tropical ocean east of Barbados using budget methods (Fleagle, 1972) wherein radiation measurements would normally be a major activity (Kuettner and Holland, 1969). Yet at that time in atmospheric climate science, aerosols were of minor interest.…”

Section: F Characterizing the Sal: Bomexmentioning

confidence: 99%