| 1. |
- Ranjha, Muhammad Raza, 1984-
(författare)
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Global Climatology and Regional Modeling of Coastal Low-Level Jets
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Localized coast-parallel wind-speed maxima at low altitude, known as coastal low-level jets (CLLJs) have important ramifications to the coastal climate and a number of human activities. This thesis documents the existence of the CLLJs around the globe including their mesoscale structure, dynamics and spatio-temporal variability.A CLLJ-detection algorithm is presented, which identifies their occurrence and can distinguish between CLLJs and other types of low-level wind maxima. The method is based on vertical profiles of wind speed and temperature, and is applied to the ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset to obtain a 31-year-CLLJ climatology. Coastal jets are found to exist on many continents, including the previously undocumented CLLJs along the coasts of Oman and Iberian Peninsula. The study highlights a pronounced seasonality among the CLLJ regions and links to large-scale flow. The Oman coastal jet exhibits the globally highest CLLJ frequency (~70%).The thesis also includes detailed analysis of the Oman and Iberian CLLJs using high-resolution regional modeling by dynamical downscaling. The Oman CLLJ is located close to the coast, at low altitude and is forced primarily by the coastal baroclinicity, unlike the previously known Somali-Jet, driven by the Asian summer-monsoon circulation. Although on a large-scale, the Oman CLLJ and the Somali jet appear to merge, the high-resolution simulations clearly illustrate that these are two distinctive phenomena with different forcing. The 20-year-climatology of the Iberian CLLJ reveals a strong seasonality with large inter-annual variations within spring, summer and autumn seasons while the maximum CLLJ frequency is found during the summer. Regional modeling studies were able to resolve detailed mesoscale structure of CLLJs, not visible from the coarse resolution reanalysis climatology. It is concluded that 6-km horizontal resolution can reproduce most of the small-scale features in a reasonable manner.
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| 2. |
- Lindvall, Jenny, 1981-
(författare)
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The Representation of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Processes in Global Climate Models
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The atmospheric boundary layer is the lowest part of the atmosphere, which is in direct contact with the surface. It is here, in this turbulent layer, that the exchange of heat, moisture and momentum between the surface and the atmosphere takes place. This thesis examines how well the boundary layer is described in global climate models with particular focus on the representation of the diurnal cycle. Two versions of the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) that employ different turbulence parameterizations are evaluated in the same model framework. It is found that both overestimate the amplitude of the diurnal cycles of near-surface variables compared to observations from flux tower sites. The 10-m wind is much lower in CAM5 than in CAM4 due to the Turbulent Mountain Stress (TMS) parameterization of subgrid orography in CAM5. Additionally, the diurnal temperature range (DTR) is studied in a large set of models participating in the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). The model discrepancies are large both in simulations of the present day and in projections of the future. A correlative approach is used to assess which parameters are important for the model differences in DTR. No single parameter is found to be responsible, but clouds play an important role in all seasons and so do the evaporative fraction in summer. The diurnal cycles of these CMIP5 models are also evaluated against flux tower observations. The diurnal cycle of temperature is well captured, while most variables show a large inter-model spread. A subset of the models are analyzed deeper regarding their vertical boundary layer structure for a flux site in Oklahoma. A substantial warm summer bias is revealed in the models. Finally, the impact of TMS and changes in the vertical diffusion in CAM5 is studied. It is found that, although the inclusion of TMS leads to an improved large-scale circulation, the wind turning becomes too strong, which adds to the overestimation of the ageostrophic flow in the boundary layer. Instead, increasing the diffusivity in stable conditions tends to both degrade the large-scale circulation and cause an underestimated wind turning in the boundary layer.
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| 3. |
- Lundén, Jenny, 1971-
(författare)
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Atmospheric DMS in the High Arctic
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the Arctic summer when the anthropogenic influence is limited, the natural marine source of sulfur in the form of gas-phase dimethyl sulfide viz. DMS(g), is of great importance for cloud formation. The harsh environment of the Arctic makes it difficult to perform in situ measurements of DMS(g) and hence regional model simulations can serve as a complement to increase our understanding of DMS related processes in the Arctic. In this thesis a regional scale meteorological forecast model, extended with DMS(g) calculations, is used to provide a consistent three-dimensional time evolving picture of DMS(g) over the pack-ice region. The analysis focus on meteorological aspects on the horizontal and vertical distribution of DMS(g). Our results show that the amount of DMS(g) over an oceanic source region alone does not determine concentration found over the pack-ice, the prevailing wind also exerts a large influence on the horizontal DMS(g) distribution. The modeled DMS(g) concentrations are advected in plumes in over the pack-ice, which, in combination with the photo-chemical decay, explain the large observed temporal variability of DMS(g) over the pack-ice. The modeled vertical structure show episodes with DMS(g) maxima well above the local boundary layer. Also shown is that DMS(g) maxima can be formed adjacent to frontal zones. In the presence of turbulence DMS(g) can be mixed downwards into the local boundary layer and aid growth to local particles and hence contribute to cloud formation in the boundary layer.
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| 4. |
- Bengtsson, Lisa, 1981-
(författare)
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On the Convective-Scale Predictability of the Atmosphere
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A well-represented description of convection in weather and climate models is essential since convective clouds strongly influence the climate system. Convective processes interact with radiation, redistribute sensible and latent heat and momentum, and impact hydrological processes through precipitation. Depending on the models’ horizontal resolution, the representation of convection may look very different. However, the convective scales not resolved by the model are traditionally parameterized by an ensemble of non-interacting convective plumes within some area of uniform forcing, representing the “large scale”. A bulk representation of the mass-flux associated with the individual plumes in the defined area provide the statistical effect of moist convection on the atmosphere. Studying the characteristics of the ECMWF ensemble prediction system it is found that the control forecast of the ensemble system is not variable enough in order to yield a sufficient spread using an initial perturbation technique alone. Such insufficient variability may be addressed in the parameterizations of, for instance, cumulus convection where the sub-grid variability in space and time is traditionally neglected. Furthermore, horizontal transport due to gravity waves can act to organize deep convection into larger scale structures which can contribute to an upscale energy cascade. However, horizontal advection and numerical diffusion are the only ways through which adjacent model grid-boxes interact in the models. The impact of flow dependent horizontal diffusion on resolved deep convection is studied, and the organization of convective clusters is found very sensitive to the method of imposing horizontal diffusion. However, using numerical diffusion in order to represent lateral effects is undesirable. To address the above issues, a scheme using cellular automata in order to introduce lateral communication, memory and a stochastic representation of the statistical effects of cumulus convection is implemented in two numerical weather models. The behaviour of the scheme is studied in cases of organized convective squall-lines, and initial model runs show promising improvements.
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| 5. |
- Mortin, Jonas, 1981-
(författare)
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On the Arctic Seasonal Cycle
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The seasonal cycle of snow and sea ice is a fundamental feature of the Arctic climate system. In the Northern Hemisphere, about 55 million km2 of sea ice and snow undergo complete melt and freeze processes every year. Because snow and sea ice are much brighter (higher albedo) than the underlying surface, their presence reduces absorption of incoming solar energy at high latitudes. Therefore, changes of the sea-ice and snow cover have a large impact on the Arctic climate and possibly at lower latitudes. One of the most important determining factors of the seasonal snow and sea-ice cover is the timing of the seasonal melt-freeze transitions. Hence, in order to better understand Arctic climate variability, it is key to continuously monitor these transitions.This thesis presents an algorithm for obtaining melt-freeze transitions using scatterometers over both the land and sea-ice domains. These satellite-borne instruments emit radiation at microwave wavelengths and measure the returned signal. Several scatterometers are employed: QuikSCAT (1999–2009), ASCAT (2009–present), and OSCAT (2009–present). QuikSCAT and OSCAT operate at Ku-band (λ=2.2 cm) and ASCAT at C-band (λ=5.7 cm), resulting in slightly different surface interactions. This thesis discusses these dissimilarities over the Arctic sea-ice domain, and juxtaposes the time series of seasonal melt-freeze transitions from the three scatterometers and compares them with other, independent datasets.The interactions of snow and sea ice with other components of the Arctic climate system are complex. Models are commonly employed to disentangle these interactions. But this hinges upon robust and well-formulated models, reached by perpetual testing against observations. This thesis also presents an evaluation of how well eleven state-of-the-art global climate models reproduce the Arctic sea-ice cover and the summer length—given by the melt-freeze transitions—using surface observations of air temperature.
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