Relation of sea-air interface energy fluxes to convective activity in the tropical Atlantic Ocean

Warsh, K. L.

doi:10.1029/jc078i003p00504

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

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Heat fluxes and roll circulations over the western Gulf Stream during an intense cold-air outbreak

Chou

Ferguson

1991

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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Turbulence and heat fluxes in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) far the roll vortex regime, observed during the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment (GALE) over the western Gulf Stream, have been studied. The spqctral analysis suggests that cloud streets (roll vortices) are vertically organized convection in the MABL having the same roll scale for both the cloud layer and subcloud layer, and that the roll spacing is about three times the MABL depth. The roll circu~tions contribute signi~cantly to the sensible (temperature) and latent heat (moisture) fluxes with importance increasing upward. Near the MABL top, these fluxes are primarily due to roll vortices which transfer both sensible heat and moisture upward in the lower half of the convective MABL. Near the MABL top, the roll circulations transfer sensible heat downward and moisture upward in the clear thermalstreet region, but roll vortices influenced by evaporative cooling can transfer sensible heat upward and moisture downward in the cloud-street region. Near the cloud-top, the upward buoyancy Rux due to evaporative cooling is highly related to the roll circulations near the inversion.For the lower half of the MABL, the normalized temperature flux decreases upward more rapidly than the humidity flux, which is mainly because Potential temperature (8) increases slightly upward while humidity (q) decreases slightly upward above the unstable surface layer. The gradient production (associated with the 6 gradient) is a source for the temperature flux in the unstable surface layer but changes to a sink in the mixed layer, while the gradient production (associated with the q gradient) acts as a source for the humidity ilux in both the unstable surface and mixed layers. The results suggest that the entrainment at the MABL top might affect the budgets of temperature and humidity fluxes in the lower MABL, but not in the unstable surface layer.

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