Mechanisms of severe turbulence during aircraft circumnavigation: A case study

IF 4.4 2区地球科学 Q1 METEOROLOGY & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES

Atmospheric Research Pub Date : 2025-08-25 DOI:10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108445

Kuo Zhou , Lingkun Ran , Lei Chen , Mingyu Zhu , Haiwen Liu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

On July 10, 2023, at 08:53 UTC, the CA1524 flight from Shanghai to Beijing encountered severe turbulence while circumventing a convective system. A large-eddy simulation (LES) of this turbulence event was conducted using radar observation data. The LES with a 100 m horizontal grid spacing successfully reproduced the temporal and spatial characteristics of the severe turbulence, including the intensity distribution of vertical velocity within the turbulence region. The simulation results revealed that the turbulence was closely associated with a sudden intensification of vertical motion within a local cloud cluster. Analysis of the vertical motion equation demonstrated that atmospheric buoyancy was the primary driver of the localized vertical motion enhancement. The turbulence region featured an upward-extending moist tongue, where converging water vapor condensed into cloud droplets, releasing latent heat and warming the surrounding air. This thermal effect further amplified atmospheric buoyancy, promoting the intensification of local vertical motion. The enhanced vertical motion, combined with downstream mountain waves, jointly facilitated the development of turbulence within the cloud cluster. These findings highlight that the upward-extending moist tongue represents a significant hazard that should be considered during aircraft circumnavigation of severe convection.

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飞机环球航行中剧烈乱流的机制：个案研究

2023年7月10日08:53，CA1524航班从上海飞往北京，在绕行对流系统时遇到严重湍流。利用雷达观测资料对该湍流事件进行了大涡模拟。水平网格间距为100 m的LES成功再现了强湍流的时空特征，包括湍流区域内垂直速度的强度分布。模拟结果表明，湍流与局地云团内垂直运动的突然加强密切相关。垂直运动方程分析表明，大气浮力是局部垂直运动增强的主要驱动因素。紊流区域的特点是一个向上延伸的湿舌，在那里聚集的水蒸气凝结成云滴，释放潜热，使周围的空气变暖。这种热效应进一步放大了大气浮力，促进了局部垂直运动的加剧。增强的垂直运动与下游山波相结合，共同促进了云团内部湍流的发展。这些发现强调，在强对流的飞机环球航行中，向上延伸的湿舌是一个应该考虑的重大危险。

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来源期刊

Atmospheric Research 地学-气象与大气科学

CiteScore

9.40

自引率

10.90%

发文量

460

审稿时长

47 days

期刊介绍： The journal publishes scientific papers (research papers, review articles, letters and notes) dealing with the part of the atmosphere where meteorological events occur. Attention is given to all processes extending from the earth surface to the tropopause, but special emphasis continues to be devoted to the physics of clouds, mesoscale meteorology and air pollution, i.e. atmospheric aerosols; microphysical processes; cloud dynamics and thermodynamics; numerical simulation, climatology, climate change and weather modification.