Denby, L orcid.org/0000-0002-7611-9222, Böing, SJ, Parker, DJ orcid.org/0000-0003-2335-8198 et al. (2 more authors) (Cover date: January 2022 Part A) Characterising the shape, size, and orientation of cloud‐feeding coherent boundary‐layer structures. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 148 (742). pp. 499-519. ISSN 0035-9009
Abstract
Two techniques are presented for characterisation of cloud-feeding coherent boundary-layer structures through analysis of large-eddy simulations of shallow cumulus clouds, contrasting conditions with and without ambient shear. The first technique is a generalisation of the two-point correlation function, where the correlation length-scale as well as the orientation can be extracted. The second technique identifies individual coherent structures and decomposes their vertical transport by the shape, size, and orientation of these objects. The bulk-correlation technique is shown to capture the elongation and orientation of coherence by ambient wind, but is unable to characterise individual coherent structures. Using the object-based approach, it is found that the individual structures dominating the vertical flux are plume-like in character (extending from the surface into cloud) rather than thermal-like, show small width/thickness asymmetry, and rise near-vertically in the absence of ambient wind. The planar stretching and tilting of boundary-layer structures caused by the introduction of ambient shear is also quantified, demonstrating the general applicability of the techniques for future study of other boundary-layer patterns.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Meteorological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | coherent structures, convective triggering, methodology, moist convection, structure characterisation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/N013840/1 NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/T003898/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 27 Jan 2022 16:36 |
Last Modified: | 27 Jul 2022 12:21 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/qj.4217 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:182135 |