- Davis, California, United States
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Research Interests: Geology and Energetics
The effects of Saharan dust aerosols and West African precipitation on the seasonally averaged energetics of African easterly waves (AEWs) are examined using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled to an interactive dust model.... more
The effects of Saharan dust aerosols and West African precipitation on the seasonally averaged energetics of African easterly waves (AEWs) are examined using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled to an interactive dust model. Four experiments are conducted: a control for the period July–September 2008, and three other experiments in which the dust emissions and precipitation are reduced separately and in combination. An analysis of the total energy shows the relative importance of the dust and precipitation to the seasonally averaged AEW strength and AEW tracks, which straddle the African easterly jet (AEJ). Changes in the dust amount have a larger effect on the strength of the AEWs than changes in the precipitation amount. The north AEW track is more strongly affected by changes in dust, while the south AEW track is more strongly affected by changes in precipitation. An analysis of the energy conversions aids in identifying the relative importance of the wave–mean flow interaction pathways that connect the dust and precipitation fields to the AEJ–AEW system. The analysis shows that the variability of the AEWs is primarily coupled to the dust- and precipitation-modified variability of the AEJ through wave–mean flow interaction. These results are discussed in light of tropical cyclone development over the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
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Analytical and numerical analyses are used to examine how structural changes to the African easterly jet (AEJ) mediate the effects of Saharan mineral dust aerosols on the linear dynamics of African easterly waves (AEWs). An analytical... more
Analytical and numerical analyses are used to examine how structural changes to the African easterly jet (AEJ) mediate the effects of Saharan mineral dust aerosols on the linear dynamics of African easterly waves (AEWs). An analytical expression for the generation of eddy available potential energy (APE) is derived that exposes how the AEJ and dust combine to affect the energetics of the AEWs. The expression is also used to interpret the numerical results, which are obtained by radiatively coupling a simplified version of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model to a conservation equation for dust. The WRF-Dust model is used to conduct linear simulations based on five observationally consistent zonal-mean AEJs: a reference AEJ and four other AEJs that are obtained by perturbing the maximum meridional and vertical shear. For a dust distribution consistent with summertime observations over North Africa, the numerical simulations show the following: (i) Irrespective of the AEJ structure or the zonal scale of the AEWs, the dust increases the growth rates of the AEWs. (ii) The growth rates of the AEWs are optimized when the ratio of baroclinic to barotropic energy conversions is largest. (iii) When the energy conversions are sufficiently large, the zonal scale of the fastest-growing AEW shortens. The numerical results confirm the analytical analysis, which shows that the dust effects, which are modulated by the Doppler-shifted frequency, are strongest north of the AEJ axis, a region where the dust augments the preexisting meridional temperature gradient.
Research Interests: Geology and Energetics
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Wave trains and coherent structures are among the most dominant features of the large-scale atmospheric circulation. The role of these wave trains and coherent structures in the low-frequency variability of the Earth's... more
Wave trains and coherent structures are among the most dominant features of the large-scale atmospheric circulation. The role of these wave trains and coherent structures in the low-frequency variability of the Earth's general circulation is well understood observationally, but a dynamical connection between the two has yet to be found. The low-frequency variability in a meridionally sheared, zonally varying background
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ABSTRACT The wave drag associated with the damping and breaking of vertically propagating planetary waves in the stratosphere has far-reaching consequences for the global circulation and climate. The planetary wave drag (PWD) exerts... more
ABSTRACT The wave drag associated with the damping and breaking of vertically propagating planetary waves in the stratosphere has far-reaching consequences for the global circulation and climate. The planetary wave drag (PWD) exerts non-local control over the extratropical stratosphere that manifests as a wave-driven equator- to-pole meridional circulation, termed the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC). In the steady state, the BDC can exert "downward control," whereby the body force exerted by the PWD causes a mean meridional circulation and a simultaneous mass adjustment in the surface pressure. Thus any changes in the PWD in the stratosphere will produce a balanced response in the region below. The downward influence exerted by longitudinal variations in stratospheric ozone is examined using a mechanistic chemistry-dynamical model (CDM) of the extratropical atmosphere. The CDM is one-dimensional in height and self-consistently couples dynamics, radiative transfer, and the transport and photochemistry of ozone. The longitudinal variations in ozone induce a zonal-mean body force that affects the residual circulation via the PWD. Under steady-state conditions, for which the "downward control" principle applies, a WKB analysis yields an analytical expression that shows the direct connection between the residual vertical velocity and the transport and photochemistry of ozone. Because the one-dimensional model framework confines the waves to propagate solely in the vertical, a stratospheric reflecting surface is required for the planetary wave-induced ozone heating in the stratosphere to produce non-local changes in that are manifested in the troposphere. These results underscore the importance of longitudinal variations in ozone as a pathway for communicating, via the combined effects of "downward control" and planetary wave reflection, natural and human-caused changes in stratospheric ozone to changes in tropospheric climate.
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Research Interests: Engineering, Physics, Fluid Mechanics, Wave Energy, Modeling, and 15 moreLow Frequency, Instability, Mathematical Sciences, Variability, Topography, Explicit Knowledge, Potential Vorticity, Historic conservation law, Linear Stability, Classical Mechanics, Growth rate, Local stability, Perturbation, Hamiltonian, and Branch point
A theory is developed that describes the effects of topography and potential vorticity (PV) forcing on the dynamics of solitary Rossby waves (SRWs) in zonally varying background flow. The cornerstone of the theory is the background flow,... more
A theory is developed that describes the effects of topography and potential vorticity (PV) forcing on the dynamics of solitary Rossby waves (SRWs) in zonally varying background flow. The cornerstone of the theory is the background flow, which is systematically derived rather than simply being specified as in previous theories. The evolution of the disturbance field is governed by a
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A low‐level barrier jet (LLBJ) formed along the northeast slope of the Tibetan Plateau on March 17, 2010. The LLBJ was accompanied by a major dust event. Numerical simulations conducted with the Weather Research and Forecasting dust... more
A low‐level barrier jet (LLBJ) formed along the northeast slope of the Tibetan Plateau on March 17, 2010. The LLBJ was accompanied by a major dust event. Numerical simulations conducted with the Weather Research and Forecasting dust (WRF‐dust) model show that the formation of the LLBJ was primarily due to mid‐level, southeastward descent of high momentum air, which impinged on the north slope of the Tibetan Plateau, resulting in ageostrophic flow acceleration under geostrophic adjustment. The LLBJ was reinforced by the Bernoulli effect, where the physical barrier associated with the Tibetan Plateau to the southwest and the virtual barrier associated with sloped, packed isentropic surfaces to the northeast combined to constrict the air flow, thus augmenting the acceleration of the air as it entered the Hexi Corridor. The simulations show that the LLBJ, which stayed close to the western entrance of the Hexi Corridor, gradually descended during the daytime until early evening. During t...
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Research Interests: Art and Photography
The relationship between the African easterly jet (AEJ), Saharan mineral dust (SMD) aerosols, and West African precipitation (WAP) is examined using European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts interim reanalysis (ERA-Interim) data,... more
The relationship between the African easterly jet (AEJ), Saharan mineral dust (SMD) aerosols, and West African precipitation (WAP) is examined using European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts interim reanalysis (ERA-Interim) data, the NASA Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), and the NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) for July–September 1998–2017. The spatial orientation and structure of AEJs in different SMD–WAP environments are compared. In dustier years, the AEJ is farther east and stronger, rotates clockwise, and has larger zonal and vertical shears. In wetter years, the AEJ is farther north, has a shorter zonal extent, and has larger meridional shear. These changes to the AEJ are a response to the combined effects of the SMD and WAP on the thermal field, which is confirmed through sensitivity tests carried out with the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled...
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The direct radiative effects of Saharan mineral dust (SMD) aerosols on the nonlinear evolution of the African easterly jet–African easterly wave (AEJ–AEW) system is examined using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled to an... more
The direct radiative effects of Saharan mineral dust (SMD) aerosols on the nonlinear evolution of the African easterly jet–African easterly wave (AEJ–AEW) system is examined using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled to an online dust model. The SMD-modified AEW life cycles are characterized by four stages: enhanced linear growth, weakened nonlinear stabilization, larger peak amplitude, and smaller long-time amplitude. During the linear growth and nonlinear stabilization stages, the SMD increases the generation of eddy available potential energy (APE); this occurs where the maximum in the mean meridional SMD gradient is coincident with the critical surface. As the AEWs evolve beyond the nonlinear stabilization stage, the discrimination between SMD particle sizes due to sedimentation becomes more pronounced; the finer particles meridionally expand, while the coarser particles settle to the surface. The result is a reduction in the eddy APE at the base and the top of the...
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Necessary conditions for radiative–dynamical instability of quasigeostrophic waves induced by trace shortwave radiative absorbers are derived. The analysis pivots on a pseudomomentum conservation equation that is obtained by combining... more
Necessary conditions for radiative–dynamical instability of quasigeostrophic waves induced by trace shortwave radiative absorbers are derived. The analysis pivots on a pseudomomentum conservation equation that is obtained by combining conservation equations for quasigeostrophic potential vorticity, thermodynamic energy, and trace absorber mixing ratio. Under the assumptions that the absorber-induced diabatic heating rate is small and the zonal-mean basic state is hydrodynamically neutral, a perturbation analysis of the pseudomomentum equation yields the conditions for instability. The conditions, which only require knowledge of the zonally averaged background distributions of wind and absorber, expose the physical processes involved in destabilization—processes not exposed in previous analytical and modeling studies of trace absorber-induced instabilities. The simplicity of instability conditions underscores their utility as a tool that is both interpretive and predictive. The condi...
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In recent years there has been an increasing effort devoted to understanding the physical and dynamical processes that govern the global-scale circulation of the atmosphere. This effort has been motivated, in part, from: (1) a wealth of... more
In recent years there has been an increasing effort devoted to understanding the physical and dynamical processes that govern the global-scale circulation of the atmosphere. This effort has been motivated, in part, from: (1) a wealth of new satellite data; (2) an urgent need to assess the potential impact of chlorofluorocarbons on our climate; (3) an inadequate understanding of the interactions between the troposphere and stratosphere and the role that such interactions play in short and long-term climate variability; and (4) the realization that addressing changes in our global climate requires understanding the interactions among various components of the earth system. The research currently being carried out represents an effort to address some of these issues by carrying out studies that combine radiation, ozone, seasonal thermal forcing and dynamics. Satellite and ground-based data that is already available is being used to construct basic states for our analytical and numerica...
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The scale-dependent transport of Saharan dust aerosols by African easterly waves (AEWs) is examined analytically and numerically. The analytical analysis shows that the meridional and vertical wave transports of dust are modulated by the... more
The scale-dependent transport of Saharan dust aerosols by African easterly waves (AEWs) is examined analytically and numerically. The analytical analysis shows that the meridional and vertical wave transports of dust are modulated by the Doppler-shifted frequency, ωd, and the wave growth rate, ωi, both of which are functions of the zonal wave scale. The analytical analysis predicts that the AEW dust transports, which are driven by the Reynolds stresses acting on the mean dust gradients, are largest for the twin limits: ωd→0, which corresponds to flow near a critical surface, a local effect; and ωi→0, which corresponds to the slowest growing waves, a global effect. The numerical analysis is carried out with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, which is radiatively coupled to the dust field. The model simulations are based on an AEW spectrum consistent with observations. The simulations agree with the theoretical predictions: the slowest growing waves have the strongest t...
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A theoretical framework is presented that exposes the radiative–dynamical relationships that govern the subcritical destabilization of African easterly waves (AEWs) by Saharan mineral dust (SMD) aerosols. The framework is built on coupled... more
A theoretical framework is presented that exposes the radiative–dynamical relationships that govern the subcritical destabilization of African easterly waves (AEWs) by Saharan mineral dust (SMD) aerosols. The framework is built on coupled equations for quasigeostrophic potential vorticity (PV), temperature, and SMD mixing ratio. A perturbation analysis yields, for a subcritical, but otherwise arbitrary, zonal-mean background state, analytical expressions for the growth rate and frequency of the AEWs. The expressions are functions of the domain-averaged wave activity, which is generated by the direct radiative effects of the SMD. The wave activity is primarily modulated by the Doppler-shifted phase speed and the background gradients in PV and SMD. Using an idealized version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model coupled to an interactive dust model, a linear analysis shows that, for a subcritical African easterly jet (AEJ) and a background SMD distribution that are consi...
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Forced planetary-scale waves generally extend throughout the troposphere and stratosphere and thus provide an important connection between these two regions of the atmosphere. Because these planetary waves originate from mechanical and... more
Forced planetary-scale waves generally extend throughout the troposphere and stratosphere and thus provide an important connection between these two regions of the atmosphere. Because these planetary waves originate from mechanical and thermal forcing in the troposphere, planetary wave energy propagates upward into the stratosphere where momentum deposition via wave damping drives the zonal-mean stratospheric circulation. Here we present striking evidence showing that the interactions between stratospheric ozone and planetary-scale waves affect the wave damping rate and thus the planetary wave structure. In some cases, the changes in planetary wave structure radiates downward into the troposphere. Using analytical (WKB) and one-dimensional numerical modeling approaches, we show that there is an intimate connection between the zonal-mean background flow, ozone field, and forced planetary wave field in the stratosphere, a connection that in some cases leads to significant changes in t...
Theory and modeling are combined to reveal the physical and dynamical processes that control Saharan dust transport by amplifying African easterly waves (AEWs). Two cases are examined: active transport, in which the dust is radiatively... more
Theory and modeling are combined to reveal the physical and dynamical processes that control Saharan dust transport by amplifying African easterly waves (AEWs). Two cases are examined: active transport, in which the dust is radiatively coupled to the circulation; passive transport, in which the dust is radiatively decoupled from the circulation. The theory is built around a dust conservation equation for dust-coupled AEWs in zonal-mean African easterly jets. The theory predicts that, for both the passive and active cases, the dust transports will be largest where the zonal-mean dust gradients are maximized on an AEW critical surface. Whether the dust transports are largest for the radiatively passive or radiatively active case depends on the growth rate of the AEWs, which is modulated by the dust heating. The theoretical predictions are confirmed via experiments carried out with the Weather Research and Forecasting model, which is coupled to a dust conservation equation. The experim...
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An analytical analysis is combined with numerical modeling simulations in order to expose the physical and dynamical processes that control the zonal-mean transport of Saharan mineral dust aerosols during the incipient growth phase of... more
An analytical analysis is combined with numerical modeling simulations in order to expose the physical and dynamical processes that control the zonal-mean transport of Saharan mineral dust aerosols during the incipient growth phase of African easterly waves. The analytical analysis provides the theoretical basis for understanding and predicting how the waves and background flow combine to affect the zonal-mean eddy transports of dust. The analytically derived transport equations―which are valid for any wave field, irrespective of its spatial or temporal scale―predict that the eddy transports of dust are largest where the maximum in the background dust gradients coincide with a critical surface, i.e., where the Doppler-shifted frequency of the wave field vanishes. Linear simulations of the eddy dust transports are conducted using a mechanistic version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled to an interactive dust model. The simulations show that the eddy dust tran...
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The direct radiative effects of Saharan mineral dust aerosols on the linear dynamics of African easterly waves (AEWs) are examined analytically and numerically. The analytical analysis combines the thermody-namic equation with a dust... more
The direct radiative effects of Saharan mineral dust aerosols on the linear dynamics of African easterly waves (AEWs) are examined analytically and numerically. The analytical analysis combines the thermody-namic equation with a dust continuity equation to form an expression for the dust-modified generation of eddy available potential energy GE. The dust-modified GE is a function of the transmissivity and spatial gradients of the dust, which are modulated by the Doppler-shifted frequency. The expression for GE predicts that for a fixed dust distribution, the wave response will be largest in regions where the dust gradients are maximized and the Doppler-shifted frequency vanishes. The numerical analysis uses the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model coupled to an online dust model to calculate the linear dynamics of AEWs. Zonally averaged basic states for wind, temperature, and dust are chosen consistent with summertime conditions over North Africa. For the fastest-growing AEW, the dust increases the growth rate from ;15% to 90% for aerosol optical depths ranging from t 5 1.0 to t 5 2.5. A local energetics analysis shows that for t 5 1.0, the dust increases the maximum barotropic and baroclinic energy conversions by ;50% and ;100%, respectively. The maxima in the generation and conversions of energy are collocated and occur where the meridional dust gradient is maximized near the critical surface—that is, where the Doppler-shifted frequency is small, in agreement with the prediction from the analytical analysis.
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The weakly nonlinear dynamics of long waves embedded in marginally stable shear flows that vary in the streamwise direction are shown to be governed by a variable-coefficient Boussinesq equation. Depending on the local stability... more
The weakly nonlinear dynamics of long waves embedded in marginally stable shear flows that vary in the streamwise direction are shown to be governed by a variable-coefficient Boussinesq equation. Depending on the local stability characteristics of the flow, new nonmodal or modal instabilities may emerge that serve as natural mechanisms for achieving amplitude thresholds necessary for weakly nonlinear instability and the transition to fully finite-amplitude states.
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Wave trains and coherent structures are among the most dominant features of the large-scale atmospheric circulation. The role of these wave trains and coherent structures in the low-frequency variability of the Earth's general circulation... more
Wave trains and coherent structures are among the most dominant features of the large-scale atmospheric circulation. The role of these wave trains and coherent structures in the low-frequency variability of the Earth's general circulation is well understood observationally, but a dynamical connection between the two has yet to be found. The low-frequency variability in a meridionally sheared, zonally varying background flow is examined using a non-divergent barotropic model on a midlatitude β-plane. In the long, low-frequency limit this model yields a variable-coefficient, Kortweg-deVries (K-dV) equation. The disturbance field governed by this K-dV equation is comprised of both oscillatory Rossby wave packets (ORWPs) and solitary Rossby waves (SRWs). The ORWPs are the atmospheric analogs of low-frequency wave trains and the SRWs are the analogs of coherent structures. The zonally varying background flow has the profound effect of inducing the transformation of wave trains into coherent structures and vice versa. We find that as a wave train propagates through a zonally isolated jet flow that it may organize itself into a coherent structure. The reverse transformation is also possible; the coherent structure may breakdown into a wave train. This organization of wave trains into coherent structures and the breakdown of coherent structures into wave trains is fundamentally due to the effect of the zonally isolated jet flow on the balance between linear dispersion and wave amplitude.