Identification

Title

Numerical simulations of the post-sunrise reorganization of a nocturnal mesoscale convective system during 13 June IHOP_2002

Abstract

A convection-permitting numerical model is used to simulate the post-sunrise reorganization of a nocturnal mesoscale convective system (MCS) observed over western and central Oklahoma on 13 June 2002 during the International H₂O (IHOP_2002) Field Experiment. The MCS reorganization consists of a transition from NW-SE oriented convective rainbands near sunrise to a single NE-SW oriented convective rainband with trailing stratiform precipitation later in the morning. Results indicate the importance of environmental preconditioning on MCS reorganization. In particular, the development of the NE-SW rainband that redefines the MCS organization is facilitated by a similarly oriented zone of antecedent mesoscale upward motion, which increases the depth of large water vapor mixing ratios. This allows convective updrafts to be fed primarily by moist and conditionally unstable air from 1 to 2.5 km AGL in the NE-SW oriented rainband, which lacks a surface cold pool during its incipient post-sunrise stage. The MCS develops a strong surface cold pool from latent-cooling induced downdrafts by midmorning and evolves into an upshear-tilted squall-type system. These downdrafts and the resulting cold pool are not necessary for the overall reorganization and maintenance of the MCS in this environment where earlier mesoscale ascent has occurred. However, the latent cooling from downdrafts does influence the MCS strength, vertical structure, and horizontal motion by early in the post-sunrise stage. In contrast, surface heating of the preconvective environment has little effect on the strength and structural characteristics of the MCS until midday, by which time the convection has become primarily surface based.

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document

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http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7m32wbr

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

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geoscientificInformation

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title

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publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

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publication

effective date

2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

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Copyright 2011 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be "fair use" under Section 107 or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law (17 USC, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the Society's permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form on servers, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statements, requires written permission or license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policies, available from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or amspubs@ametsoc.org. Permission to place a copy of this work on this server has been provided by the AMS. The AMS does not guarantee that the copy provided here is an accurate copy of the published work.

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OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

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pointOfContact

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