{"title":"Polarimetric Tornado Detection","authors":"A. Ryzhkov, T. Schuur, D. Burgess, D. Zrnic","doi":"10.1175/JAM2235.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2235.1","url":null,"abstract":"Polarimetric radars are shown to be capable of tornado detection through the recognition of tornadic debris signatures that are characterized by the anomalously low cross-correlation coefficient hv and differential reflectivity ZDR. This capability is demonstrated for three significant tornadic storms that struck the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, metropolitan area. The first tornadic debris signature, based on the measurements with the National Severe Storms Laboratory’s Cimarron polarimetric radar, was reported for a storm on 3 May 1999. Similar signatures were identified for two significant tornadic events during the Joint Polarization Experiment (JPOLE) in May 2003. The data from these storms were collected with a polarimetric prototype of the Next-Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD). In addition to a small-scale debris signature, larger-scale polarimetric signatures that might be relevant to tornadogenesis were persistently observed in tornadic supercells. The latter signatures are likely associated with lofted light debris (leaves, grass, dust, etc.) in the inflow region and intense size sorting of hydrometeors in the presence of strong wind shear and circulation.","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"38 1","pages":"557-570"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86834847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Variability of Drop Size Distributions: Noise and Noise Filtering in Disdrometric Data","authors":"Gyuwon Lee, I. Zawadzki","doi":"10.1175/JAM2222.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2222.1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Disdrometric measurements are affected by the spurious variability due to drop sorting, small sampling volume, and instrumental noise. As a result, analysis methods that use least squares regression to derive rainfall rate–radar reflectivity (R–Z) relationships or studies of drop size distributions can lead to erroneous conclusions. This paper explores the importance of this variability and develops a new approach, referred to as the sequential intensity filtering technique (SIFT), that minimizes the effect of the spurious variability on disdrometric data. A simple correction for drop sorting in stratiform rain illustrates that it generates a significant amount of spurious variability and is prominent in small drops. SIFT filters out this spurious variability while maintaining the physical variability, as evidenced by stable R–Z relationships that are independent of averaging size and by a drastic decrease of the scatter in R–Z plots. The presence of scatter causes various regression methods to y...","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"51 1","pages":"634-652"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73398565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spatial and Temporal Structure of the Urban Heat Island in Seoul","authors":"Yeon‐Hee Kim, Jong‐Jin Baik","doi":"10.1175/JAM2226.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2226.1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The spatial and temporal structure of the urban heat island in Seoul, Korea, is investigated using near-surface temperature data measured at 31 automatic weather stations (AWSs) in the Seoul metropolitan area for the 1-yr period from March 2001 to February 2002. The urban heat island in Seoul deviates considerably from an idealized, concentric heat island structure, mainly because of the location of the main commercial and industrial sectors and the local topography. Relatively warm regions extend in the east–west direction and relatively cold regions are located near the northern and southern mountains. Several warm cores are observed whose intensity, size, and location are found to vary seasonally and diurnally. Similar to previous studies, the urban heat island in Seoul is stronger in the nighttime than in the daytime and decreases with increasing wind speed and cloud cover, but it is least developed in summer. The average maximum urban heat island intensity is 2.2°C over the 1-yr period and i...","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"1 1","pages":"591-605"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87674475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Climatology of Mountain Venting–Induced Elevated Moisture Layers in the Lee of the Alps","authors":"S. Henne, M. Furger, A. Prevot","doi":"10.1175/JAM2217.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2217.1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Elevated moisture layers in the lower free troposphere (2000–6000 m MSL) in the lee of the Alps were investigated. Specific humidity was analyzed within a Lagrangian concept for fair-weather days during a 12-yr period at the windward and the leeward sides of the Alps for the sounding sites of Payerne, Switzerland, and Milan, Italy. During daytime fair-weather conditions (different criteria), specific humidity increased significantly in air masses that advected from Payerne to Milan in a layer ranging from ∼2500 to 4000 m MSL. The maximum relative increase of specific humidity in this layer was ∼0.3, meaning that ∼30% of the air in this layer originated from the Alpine atmospheric boundary layer. On average, ∼30% of the mass of the Alpine boundary layer was vented to altitudes higher than 2500 m MSL per hour during the daytime. The total precipitable water within a layer reaching from 2500 to 3500 m MSL increased by ∼1.3 mm. Similar elevated layers were observed for different selection methods of ...","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"45 1","pages":"620-633"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76316943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Study of Planar Ice Crystal Orientations in Ice Clouds from Scanning Polarization Lidar Observations","authors":"V. Noel, K. Sassen","doi":"10.1175/JAM2223.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2223.1","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents a study of the orientation of ice crystals in cirrus and midlevel clouds, based on the analysis of several cases of scanning polarization lidar observations. The maximum angle that crystals deviate from the horizontal plane is inferred at consecutive altitude levels by fitting angle-dependent measurements of the linear depolarization ratio and backscattered intensities to a theoretical model with a Gaussian distribution of tilt angles. The average deviation angle is linked to the angular variation of backscatter. A rare observation of so-called Parry-oriented columns is also given to highlight the different backscattering behavior with lidar angle. For planar crystals, two orientation modes are found that depend on cloud temperature. High-level cold (30°C) clouds show a maximum deviation angle of 1.0°, whereas for warmer (20°C) midlevel clouds this angle averages 2.0°. This difference is caused by variations in particle shape and fall attitude that depend on temperature, likely involving a transition from simple plates to more widely fluttering dendrites at the warmer temperatures. Polarization lidar scans are clearly uniquely suited for the study of ice crystal orientations in clouds.","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"42 1","pages":"653-664"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79310114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Calhoun, F. Gouveia, J. Shinn, S. Chan, D. Stevens, R. Lee, J. M. Leone
{"title":"Flow around a complex building: Experimental and large-eddy simulation comparisons","authors":"R. Calhoun, F. Gouveia, J. Shinn, S. Chan, D. Stevens, R. Lee, J. M. Leone","doi":"10.1175/JAM2219.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2219.1","url":null,"abstract":"A field program to study atmospheric releases around a complex building was performed in the summers of 1999 and 2000. The focus of this paper is to compare field data with a large-eddy simulation (LES) code to assess the ability of the LES approach to yield additional insight into atmospheric release scenarios. In particular, transient aspects of the velocity and concentration signals are studied. The simulation utilized the finite-element method with a high-fidelity representation of the complex building. Trees were represented with a canopy term in the momentum equation. Inflow and outflow conditions were used. The upwind velocity was constructed from a logarithmic law fitted to velocities obtained on two levels from a tower equipped with a 2D sonic anemometer. A number of different kinds of comparisons of the transient velocity and concentration signals are presented—direct signal versus time, spectral, Reynolds stresses, turbulent kinetic energy signals, and autocorrelations. It is concluded that the LES approach does provide additional insight, but the authors argue that the proper use of LES should include consideration of cost and may require an increased connection to field sensors; that is, higher-resolution boundary and initial conditions need to be provided to realize the full potential of LES.","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"42 1","pages":"571-590"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73861796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Gebremichael, W. Krajewski, M. Morrissey, G. Huffman, R. Adler
{"title":"A Detailed Evaluation of GPCP 1° Daily Rainfall Estimates over the Mississippi River Basin","authors":"M. Gebremichael, W. Krajewski, M. Morrissey, G. Huffman, R. Adler","doi":"10.1175/JAM2233.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2233.1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study provides an intensive evaluation of the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) 1° daily (1DD) rainfall products over the Mississippi River basin, which covers 435 1° latitude × 1° longitude grids for the period of January 1997–December 2000 using radar-based precipitation estimates. The authors’ evaluation criteria include unconditional continuous, conditional (quasi) continuous, and categorical statistics, and their analyses cover annual and seasonal time periods. The authors present spatial maps that reflect the results for the 1° grids and a summary of the results for three selected regions. They also develop a statistical framework that partitions the GPCP–radar difference statistics into GPCP error and radar error statistics. They further partition the GPCP error statistics into sampling error and retrieval error statistics and estimate the sampling error statistics using a data-based resampling experiment. Highlights of the results include the following: 1) the GPCP 1DD ...","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"43 1","pages":"665-681"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84777833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joseph C. Chang, S. Hanna, Z. Boybeyi, P. Franzese
{"title":"Use of Salt Lake City URBAN 2000 Field Data to Evaluate the Urban Hazard Prediction Assessment Capability (HPAC) Dispersion Model","authors":"Joseph C. Chang, S. Hanna, Z. Boybeyi, P. Franzese","doi":"10.1175/JAM2205.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2205.1","url":null,"abstract":"After the terrorist incidents on 11 September 2001, there is a greatly heightened concern about the potential impacts of acts of terrorism involving the atmospheric release of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) materials in urban areas. In response to the need for an urban CBRN model, the Urban Hazard Prediction Assessment Capability (Urban HPAC) transport and dispersion model has been developed. Because HPAC is widely used by the Department of Defense community for planning, training, and operational and tactical purposes, it is of great importance that the new model be adequately evaluated with urban datasets to demonstrate its accuracy. This paper describes evaluations of Urban HPAC using the “URBAN 2000” urban tracer and meteorological field experiment data from Salt Lake City, Utah. Four Urban HPAC model configuration options and five plausible meteorological input data options—ranging from data-sparse to data-rich scenarios—were considered in the study, thus leading to a total of 20 possible model combinations. For the maximum concentrations along each sampling arc for each intensive operating period (IOP), the 20 Urban HPAC model combinations gave consistent mean overpredictions of about 50%, with a range over the 20 model combinations from no overprediction to a factor-of-4 overprediction in the mean. The median of the random scatter for the 20 model combinations was about a factor of 3 of the mean, with a range over the 20 model combinations between a factor of about 2 and 9. These performance measures satisfy previously established acceptance criteria for dispersion models.","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"20 1","pages":"485-501"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85113141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Bulk Microphysics Parameterization with Multiple Ice Precipitation Categories","authors":"J. Straka, E. Mansell","doi":"10.1175/JAM2211.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2211.1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A single-moment bulk microphysics scheme with multiple ice precipitation categories is described. It has 2 liquid hydrometeor categories (cloud droplets and rain) and 10 ice categories that are characterized by habit, size, and density—two ice crystal habits (column and plate), rimed cloud ice, snow (ice crystal aggregates), three categories of graupel with different densities and intercepts, frozen drops, small hail, and large hail. The concept of riming history is implemented for conversions among the graupel and frozen drops categories. The multiple precipitation ice categories allow a range of particle densities and fall velocities for simulating a variety of convective storms with minimal parameter tuning. The scheme is applied to two cases—an idealized continental multicell storm that demonstrates the ice precipitation process, and a small Florida maritime storm in which the warm rain process is important.","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"1 1","pages":"445-466"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76018331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Total surface area estimates for individual ice particles and particle populations","authors":"C. Schmitt, A. Heymsfield","doi":"10.1175/JAM2209.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2209.1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Representations for the surface area of ice particles in terms of the projected area have been developed using two different methods. The first method uses ice particles that are imaged in situ and geometric calculations that are based on the outline of the two-dimensional image of the particle. The second method uses computer-generated ice particle shapes and calculates the total surface area analytically. The results of the second method compare reasonably well with the results of the first method. Surface area estimates for individual particles were combined with particle size distribution and projected area measurements from the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers (CRYSTAL)–Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (FACE) field project to give total surface area estimates for observed ice particle populations. Population surface area estimates were also made from balloon-borne replicator data collected during the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Regi...","PeriodicalId":15026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Meteorology","volume":"6 1","pages":"467-474"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73262409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}