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Regions of severe turbulence contained within synoptic-scale cyclones are disruptive to commercial aviation operations. In our research we use commercial aircraft turbulence observations and nested-grid model simulations to examine a [...]

Turbulence associated with thunderstorms constitutes a hazard to commercial aviation. Fortunately, active thunderstorm regions are typically avoidable through the use of onboard radar and other hazard-identification technologies (e.g., lightning-identification networks, [...]

This study documents the precipitation and kinematic structure of a mature, eastward propagating, oceanic squall line system observed by instrumented aircraft during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). Doppler radar and low-level in situ observations are used to show the evolution of the convection from an initially linear NNW-SSE-oriented convective line to a highly bow-shaped structure with an embedded low- to midlevel counterclockwise rotating vortex on its northern flank. In addition to previously documented features of squall lines such as highly upshear-tilted convection on its leading edge, a channel of strong front-to-rear flow that ascended with height over a 'rear-inflow' that descended toward the convective line, and a pronounced low-level cold pool apparently fed from convective and mesoscale downdrafts from the convective line; rearward, the observations of this system showed distinct multiple maxima in updraft strength with height and reflectivity bands extending rearward transverse to the principal convective line. Vertical motions within the active convective region of the squall line system were determined using a new approach that utilized near-simultaneous observations by the Doppler radars on two aircraft with up to four Doppler radial velocity estimates at echo top. Echo-top vertical motion can then be derived directly, which obviates the traditional dual-Doppler assumption of no vertical velocity at the top boundary and results in a more accurate estimate of tropospheric vertical velocity through downward integration of horizontal divergence. Low-level flight-level observations of temperature, wind speed, and dew point collected rearward of the squall line are used to estimate bulk fluxes of dry and moist static energy. The strong near-surface fluxes, due to the warm sea and high winds, combined with estimates of mesoscale advection, are used to estimate boundary layer recovery time; they indicate that the boundary layer could recover from the effects of the cold dome within about 3 h of first cold air injection if the observed near-surface winds were maintained. However, the injection and spreading of air from above leads to cooling at a fixed spot [approximately]20 km rearward of the convective line (surface [[Theta].sub.e] minimum point), suggesting that the cold pool could be still intensifying at the time of observation. Recovery time at a point is probably similar to that measured in previous studies.

Mechanisms responsible for meso- and convective-scale organization within a large tropical squall line that occurred on 22 February 1993 during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment are investigated using a three-dimensional numerical cloud model. The squall line occurred in an environment typical of fast-moving tropical squall lines, characterized by moderate convective available potential energy and moderate-to-strong vertical shear beneath a low-level jet with weak reverse vertical shear above. A well-simulated aspect of the observed squall line is the evolution of a portion of its leading convective zone from a quasi-linear to a three-dimensional bow-shaped structure over a 2-h period. This transition is accompanied by the development of both a prominent mesoscale vortex along the northern edge of the 40-60-km long bow-shaped feature and elongated bands of weaker reflectivity situated rearward and oriented transverse to the leading edge, within enhanced front-to-rear system relative midlevel flow, near the southern end of the bow. The vertical wind shear that arises from the convectively induced mesoscale flow within the squall-line system is found to be a critical factor influencing 1) the development of the vortex and 2) through its associated vertical pressure gradients, the pronounced along-line variability of the convective updraft and precipitation structure. The environmental wind profile is also critical to system organization since the orientation of its vertical shear (in layers both above and below the environmental jet height) relative to the local orientation of the incipient storm-induced subcloud cold pool directly influences the onset of the convectively induced mesoscale flow.

A collection of case studies is used to elucidate the influence of environmental soundings on the structure and evolution of the convection in the mesoscale convective systems sampled by the turboprop aircraft in the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE). The soundings were constructed primarily from aircraft data below 5-6 km and primarily from radiosonde data at higher altitudes. The well-documented role of the vertical shear of the horizontal wind in determining the mesoscale structure of tropical convection is confirmed and extended. As noted by earlier investigators, nearly all convective bands occurring in environments with appreciable shear below a low-level wind maximum are oriented nearly normal to the shear beneath the wind maximum and propagate in the direction of the low-level shear at a speed close to the wind maximum; when there is appreciable shear at middle levels (800-400 mb), convective bands form parallel to the shear. With appreciable shear at both levels, the lower-level shear determines the orientation of the primary convective bands. If the midlevel shear is opposite the low-level shear, secondary bands parallel to the midlevel shear will extend rearward from the primary band in later stages of its evolution; if the midlevel shear is 90 degrees to the low-level shear, the primary band will retain its two-dimensional mesoscale structure. Convection has no obvious mesoscale organization on days with little shear or days with widespread convection. Environmental temperatures and humidities have no obvious effect on the mesoscale convective pattern, but they affect COARE convection in other ways. The high tops of COARE convection are related to high parcel equilibrium levels, which approach 100 mb in some cases. Convective available potential energies are larger than those in the GARP (Global Atmospheric Research Program) Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE) mainly because of the higher equilibrium levels. The buoyancy integrated over the lowest 500 mb is similar for the two experiments. Convective inihibitions are small, enabling convection to propagate with only weak forcing. Comparison of slow-moving shear-parallel bands in COARE and GATE suggests that lower relative humidities between the top of the mixed layer and 500 mb can shorten their lifetimes significantly. COARE mesoscale organization and evolution differs from what was observed in GATE. Less-organized convection is more common in COARE. Of the convective bands observed, a greater fraction in COARE are faster-moving, shear-perpendicular squall lines. GATE slow-moving lines tend to be longer lived than those for COARE. The differences are probably traceable to differences in environmental shear and relative humidity, respectively.

Herein, the parcel buoyancy minimum ( Bmin) defined in Part I of this two-part paper is used to examine physical processes influencing thermodynamic destabilization in environments of mature simulated mesoscale convective systems (MCSs). These convection-permitting simulations consist of twelve 24-h forecasts during two 6-day periods characterized by two different commonly occurring warm-season weather regimes that support MCSs over the central United States. A composite analysis of 22 MCS environments is performed where cases are stratified into surface-based (SB), elevated squall (ES), and elevated nonsquall (ENS) categories. A gradual reduction of lower-tropospheric Bmin to values indicative of small convection inhibition, occurring over horizontal scales >100 km from the MCS leading edge, is a common aspect of each category. These negative buoyancy decreases are most pronounced for the ES and ENS environments, in which convective available potential energy (CAPE) is greatest for air parcels originating above the surface. The implication is that the vertical structure of the mesoscale environment plays a key role in the evolution and sustenance of convection long after convection initiation and internal MCS circulations develop, particularly in elevated systems. Budgets of Bmin forcing are computed for the nocturnally maturing ES and ENS composites. Though warm advection occurs through the entire 1.5-km-deep layer comprising the vertical intersection of the largest environmental CAPE and smallest environmental Bmin magnitude, the net effect of terms involving vertical motion dominate the destabilization in both composites. These effects include humidity increases in air parcels due to vertical moisture advection and the adiabatic cooling of the environment above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method based on parcel theory is developed to quantify mesoscale physical processes responsible for the removal of inhibition energy for convection initiation (CI). Convection-permitting simulations of three mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) initiating in differing environments are then used to demonstrate the method and gain insights on different ways that mesoscale thermodynamic destabilization can occur. Central to the method is a thermodynamic quantity Bmin, which is the buoyancy minimum experienced by an air parcel lifted from a specified height. For the cases studied, vertical profiles of Bmin using air parcels originating at different heights are qualitatively similar to corresponding profiles of convective inhibition (CIN). Though it provides less complete information than CIN, an advantage of using Bmin is that it does not require vertical integration, which simplifies budget calculations that enable attribution of the thermodynamic destabilization to specific physical processes. For a specified air parcel, Bmin budgets require knowledge of atmospheric forcing at only the parcel origination level and some approximate level where Bmin occurs. In a case of simulated daytime surface-based CI, destabilization in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) results from a combination of surface fluxes and upward motion above the PBL. Upward motion effects dominate the destabilizing effects of horizontal advections in two different simulated elevated CI cases, where the destabilizing layer occurs from 1 to 2.5 km AGL. In an elevated case with strong warm advection, changes to the parcel at its origination level dominate the reduction of negative buoyancy, whereas for a case lacking warm advection, adiabatic temperature changes to the environment near the location of Bmin dominate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]