ISSN:
1573-1472
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract A case study of Kelvin-Helmholtz waves which were observed by two aircraft in a warm off-shore stable boundary-layer flow over the North Sea is presented. During the one-hour flight mission within an area of 40 × 40 km2, the waves were intermittent both in space and time. They were centered around two levels, at 90 and 330m, where inflection points in the mean profile of the cross-wave wind component occurred together with Richardson numbers smaller than the critical value of 0.25. Observed wave amplitudes were on the order of 0.1 K for the potential temperature, 0.15ms-1 for the vertical wind component, 0.3ms-1 for the cross-wave wind component and 0.15ms-1 for the along-wave wind component. Horizontally averaged vertical wave transports were down-gradient. Based on the observed wind and temperature profiles, wave simulations with a linear model are performed. Different diffusion coefficient estimates are tested. The model produces two types of Kelvin-Helmholtz waves with maximum amplitudes at the above mentioned two heights. The modeled wavelengths are about 30% shorter than the observed ones. Adjusting the modeled to the observed temperature variations, the modeled vertical wind variance and the vertical transports agree well with the observations, whereas the modeled horizontal wind variances are smaller than the observed ones.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00117295
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