Mesoscale

The Mid-Mediterranean Jet has been considered to be, since the 1990s, a more or less continuous surface current meandering across most of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea, generating a series of eddies. This relatively recent view of the current, which was not found in earlier circulation diagrams and does not have any theoretical support, emerges more or less from simple statistics applied to any kind of in situ data. Here we use a relatively large set of surface drifter trajectories, which provide reasonable sampling of the area of interest, to show how mesoscale anticyclonic eddies generated elsewhere with specific diameters, locations and displacements, can provide a misleading picture by suggesting the occurrence of a mid basin jet which is actually nothing more than a data analysis artefact.

Evolution of sea fog has been investigated using three-dimensional Mesoscale Model 5 (MM5) simulations. The study focused on widespread fog-cloud layers advected along the California coastal waters during 14-16 April 1999. According to analysis of the simulated trajectories, the intensity of air mass modification during this advection significantly depended on whether there were clouds along the trajectories and whether the modification took place over the land or ocean. The air mass, with its trajectory endpoint in the area where the fog was observed and simulated, gradually cooled despite the gradual increase in sea-surface temperature along the trajectory. Modelling results identified cloud-top cooling as a major determinant of marine-layer cooling and turbulence generation along the trajectories. Scale analysis showed that the radiative cooling term in the thermodynamic equation overpowered surface sensible and latent heat fluxes, and entrainment terms in cases of the transformation of marine clouds along the trajectories. Transformation of air masses along the trajectories without clouds and associated cloud-top cooling led to fog-free conditions at the endpoints of the trajectories over the ocean. The final impact on cloud-fog transition was determined by the interaction of synoptic and boundary-layer processes. Dissipation of sea fog was a consequence of a complex interplay between advection, synoptic evolution, and development of local circulations. Movement of the high-pressure system over land induced weakening of the along-shore advection and synoptic-pressure gradients, and allowed development of offshore flows that facilitated fog dissipation.

This work describes the results of research into a source-oriented pollen concentration forecasting technique. Tests were conducted using the National Center for Atmospheric Research/ Penn State Fifth Generation Mesoscale Model (MM5), the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT_4) Model combined with the locations of oak trees and their aerial coverage from biogenic emissions land cover database version 3.1 (BELD3). Daily forecasts of pollen concentrations via MM5 and HYSPLIT_4 were made with 30-min increments and tested against 30-min oak pollen data collected by the St. Louis County Department of Health in Clayton, Missouri, for the month of April 2000.

In this study, the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5) with three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) is utilized to investigate influences of GPS occultation refractivity on simulations of typhoons past Taiwan. Two recent cases were simulated, including Typhoon Nari in September 2001 and Typhoon Nakri in July 2002. The GPS observation data are taken from the Challenging Minisatellite Payload for Geophysical Research and Application (CHAMP) and Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas-C (SAC-C) satellites that provide several retrieved refractivity profiles in the simulated domain near the initialization time. Through 3DVAR, the observed refractivity can be quickly ingested into the model initial conditions to recover the information over the ocean. The initial moisture increments from ingested GPS refractivity soundings exhibit a maximum magnitude of about 1.5 g kg−1 associated with temperature incr...

Concrete is considered as a 3-phase composite material; mortar matrix, aggregates, and interfacial transmission zone (ITZ). In order to investigate the contribution of each phase to the strength and damage response of concrete, 2-D and 3-D meso-scale simulations based on a coupled plasticity-damage model are carried out. The aggregates are modeled as a linear-elastic material, whereas the mortar matrix and ITZ are modeled using a coupled plasticity-damage model with different tensile and compressive mechanical behavior. Aggregate shape, distribution, and volume fraction are considered as simulated variables. The effect of the ITZ thickness and the strength of the ITZ and mortar matrix are also evaluated. It is shown that the behavior of concrete is merely dependent on the aggregate distribution and the strength of the mortar matrix, but dependent on aggregate shape, size, and volume fraction, and the thickness and strength of the ITZ.

A synthesis of Doppler lidar measurements with conventional meteorological data, including automatic weather stations and radiosondes, leads to the conclusion that the cold front in the Wipp Valley was an atmospheric density current characterized by an elevated head, a front-relative feeder flow and a typical propagation speed of 7 m s −1 . The foehn flow on top of the density current caused strong wind shear and triggered shear-flow instability that led to the formation of a turbulent wake behind the head. As the density current propagated towards the Brenner Pass, it slowed down. The shape of the frontal surface varied in time. Its inclination of about 10 • -20 • is steeper than previously reported for the Inn Valley but is consistent with other observations of atmospheric density currents. Citation: Gohm A, Mayr GJ, Darby LS, Banta RM. 2010. Evolution and structure of a cold front in an Alpine valley as revealed by a Doppler lidar. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 136: 962-977.

Dynamical aspects of the life cycle of the winter storm 'Lothar' (24-26 December 1999) are investigated with the aid of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analysis data and mesoscale model simulations. Neither of these datasets capture the full amplitude of the observed extreme pressure fall and surface wind speeds, but they do help identify a range of key dynamical and physical features that characterize the development of this unusual event. The analysis and interpretation is primarily based upon the evolution of the lower-and upper-level potential vorticity (PV) eld complemented by three-dimensional trajectory calculations.

This paper presents a range of applications of the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), a comprehensive mesoscale meteorological modeling system. Applications discussed in this paper include large eddy simulations (LES) and simulations of thunderstorms, cumulus fields, mesoscale convective systems, mid-latitude cirrus clouds, winter storms, mechanically-and thermally-forced mesoscale systems, and mesoscale atmospheric dispersion. A summary of current RAMS options is also presented. Improvements to RAMS currently underway include refinements to the cloud radiation, cloud microphysics, cumulus, and surface soil/vegetative parameterization schemes, the parallelization of the code, development of a more versatile visualization capability, and research into meso-~-scale cumulus parameterization.

Fire Island, New York, is a 50-kilometer-long barrier island that has remained positionally stable without any formation of breach inlets for nearly 200 years. Some researchers have attributed its stability to a major supply of sand moving onshore from relatively deep water (i.e., >10 m depths). Others have demonstrated via sediment budgets that the principal sand sources at decadal to century time scales are littoral sediments derived from eroding beaches, bluffs, and cannibalization of inlet shoals in shallower depths (i.e., <10 m). Published sediment budgets indicate that the quantity in question is of the order 10 5 m 3 /yr. The possibility that this deep-water source of sand is significant, active, and persistent at decadal to century time scales has led to reluctance to mine deep-water shoals for beach nourishment of Fire Island. Herein, the authors review five factors related to the potential for a significant deep-water sand source in this setting: (1) spatial and temporal frames of reference necessary for this flux of sand; (2) studies of scour and sediment transport over offshore features; (3) sediment size distribution across the foreshore; (4) depth of closure (DOC); and (5) contribution of abandoned inlet shoals. The authors conclude that evidence for an onshore flux of sediment (i.e., order of 10 5 m 3 /yr) is lacking and suggest that reluctance to mine the offshore for beach nourishment is unfounded.

The field of interactive music systems (IMSs), beginning in the 1980s, is still relatively young and fast moving. The field of music theory-analysis, during the same period (since 1980), has undergone a major transformation in terms of technological innovations, flexibility, and breadth. The two fields have not really caught up with each other. It will be interesting to see what arises as they do — especially as both fields have become more concerned with the role of the body and embodied cognition. Framed in terms of contrasting epistemological orientations, this essay considers some relevant developments in IMSs, music cognition, and music theory and analysis, leading up to the present.  The most popular approaches to music cognition and to IMS design are rationalist (Ashby 2010), exploiting the ‘correct’ embodiments of music (Godøy 2004, Leman 2007, Paine 2009) based on affordances (Gibson 1977, Kelso 1998). This essay, however, advocates a pragmatist (Ashby 2010) approach inspired by music analysis and exploiting the potential of kinesthetic learning (associative learning). Prompted by a progressive approach to music analysis, theory, perception, and cognition (Dubiel 1999, Mailman 2007), interactive music technology can also be constructive, flexible, and progressive, by exploiting kinesthetic learning from immersion in new and unusual motion-to-sound mappings derived from dynamic formal processes in analysed music. In this way, immersive interactive systems offer an opportunity systematically to learn new associations based on principles theorised in response to analysis. Experience of these systems essentially ‘rewires the brain’, thereby exemplifying what Korsyn (2004) has attributed to Lewin’s (1986, 1987) approach to music perception: the ironist approach, as formulated by Rorty (1989). Thus a pragmatist ironist experimental (PIE) approach is articulated. Rather than committing to any particular ways music is already embodied, this approach acknowledges the flexible nature of embodied musical experience. It forges and uses interactive music technologies continually to redescribe and therefore reform how music is embodied, thereby disembodying to re-embody music, expanding how music is heard, contemplated and experienced.

The mitigation of the heat island effect can be achieved by the use of cool materials that are characterized by high solar reflectance and infrared emittance values. Several types of cool materials have been tested and their optical and thermal properties reveal that these materials can be classified as "cool" with the ability to maintain lower surface temperatures. Cool materials can be used on buildings and other surfaces of the urban environment. Based on these results, a modeling study was undertaken to assess the urban heat island effect over Athens, Greece, a densely populated city, by trying to analyze the impacts of large-scale increases in surface albedo on ambient temperature. Numerical simulations were performed by the "urbanized" version of the nonhydrostatic fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5, version 3-6-1). Two scenarios of modified albedo were studied: a moderate and an extreme increase in albedo scenario. It was found that large-scale increases in albedo could lower ambient air temperatures by 2°C. Furthermore, the impact of high albedo measures on heat island magnitude was estimated by creating a spatial representation of the urban heat island effect over the modeled area. The results of this study can help to promote the adoption of high albedo measures in building energy codes and urban planning regulations.

Given the significant rise of the utilization of wind energy the accurate assessment of the wind potential is becoming increasingly important. Direct applications of wind assessment techniques include the creation of wind maps on a local scale (typically 5-20 km) and the micrositing of wind turbines, the estimation of vertical wind speed variations, prospecting on a regional scale (>100 km), estimation of the long-term wind resource at a given site, and forecasting. The measurement of wind speed and direction still widely relies on cup anemometers, though sonic anemometers are becoming increasingly popular. Moreover, remote sensing by Doppler techniques using the backscattering of either sonic beams (SODAR) or light (LIDAR) allowing for vertical profiling well beyond hub height are quickly moving into the mainstream. Local wind maps are based on the predicted modification of the regional wind flow pattern by the local atmospheric boundary layer which in turn depends on both topographic and roughness features and the measured wind rose obtained from one or several measurement towers within the boundaries of the planned development site. Initial models were based on linearized versions of the Navier-Stokes equations, whereas more recently full CFD models have been applied to wind farm micrositing. Linear models tend to perform well for terrain slopes lower than about 25% and have the advantage of short execution times. Long-term performance is frequently estimated from correlations with nearby reference stations with concurrent information and continuous time series over a period of at least 10 years. Simple methods consider only point-to-point linear correlations; more advanced methods like multiple regression techniques and methods based on the theory of distributions will be discussed. Both for early prospecting in regions where only scarce or unreliable reference

The intraseasonal variability associated with mesoscale eddies in the Sulawesi Sea simulated in a high resolution ocean general circulation model is described in detail. The cyclonic eddies, with a diameter of about 400 kin, are generated at the entrance of the Sulawesi Sea between the Mindanao and the Halmahera Islands with 40 days interval. They are associated with a high speed (> 20 cm/s) down to 1000 m level. The anticlockwise circulation in the Sulawesi Sea, reported so far in both models and observations, may be a long time-averaged image of the above energetic eddies. The intraseasonal eddies significantly affect the volume transport through passages in the northern part of the Indonesian archipelago. The intraseasonal transport variation, however, is highly damped within the Indonesian seas in the present model.

Large scale heterogeneity is a major problem when shock properties of concrete materials shall be derived efficiently. A mesomechanical method proposed earlier [Riedel W. Beton unter dynamischen Lasten: Meso-und makromechanische Modelle und ihre Parameter, Ed.: Fraunhofer-Institut fu¨r Kurzzeitdynamik, Ernst-Mach-Institut EMI. Freiburg/Brsg.: Fraunhofer IRB Verlag; 2004. p. 117-43. ISBN: 3-8167-6340-5 /http://www.irbdirekt.de/irbbuch/S; Thoma K, Riedel W, Hiermaier S. Mesomechanical modeling of concrete shock response, experiments and linking to macromechanics by numerical analysis. In: Proceedings of European conference on computational mechanics, Mu¨nchen, Germany, September 1999 (CD-ROM).], combining plate impact experiments on the constituents 'cement' and 'aggregate' together with simulations of the concrete mesostructure, is extended in this work. Hereby, the parameters describing macroscopic stress wave propagation are analysed in direct simulations of the discontinuous composite of aggregate, mortar and pores. This allows the replacement of an important number of experiments on large samples with inevitable scattering by a reduced set of smaller standard tests together with simulations. The basics and the validation of this methodology are demonstrated in the acoustic regime and compared to available shock experiments for a wide pressure range. The present paper describes the enlargement of the pressure range for the derived equation of state properties. Therefore, the concrete mortar has been impact tested in shock reverberation configuration leading to reflected pressures up to 18 GPa. The shock and equation of state properties are derived for two 35 MPa conventional strength mixtures and a 135 MPa high strength concrete. The results are compared to available literature sources. r

and 50 m depth) located on 21 inshoreeoffshore transects between the FrencheSpanish border and the mouth of the Rhône River were sampled during the 1998 Fall. Their polychaete fauna was analyzed to: (1) describe the distribution pattern of polychaete assemblages at the scale of the whole Gulf of Lions, (2) identify the relationships between these assemblages and the main environmental parameters, (3) establish a link between these assemblages and the benthic communities already described for Northwestern Mediterranean, and (4) assess recent historical changes in trends in densities and a diversity between assemblages. Three polychaete assemblages were identified using cluster analysis and associated procedures. These assemblages were tightly associated with depth and sediment granulometry as indicated by the concordance between their spatial distributions and the sedimentary map of the Gulf of Lions. Assemblage I contained most of the 10 and 20 m deep stations and was associated with littoral fine sands. Assemblage I was found all over the Gulf of Lions and was characterized by high abundance and high biomass due to the presence of large numbers of the serpulid Ditrupa arietina. Assemblage II was mostly composed of 30 m deep stations and was associated with littoral sandy mud. Assemblage II was dominated by the lumbrinerid Lumbrineris latreilli. It was composed of two sub-assemblages (IIa and IIb) in relation with sediment granulometry. Sub-assemblage IIb was associated with finer sediment than sub-assemblage IIa. Sub-assemblage IIa was only found in the Southern part of the Gulf of Lions, whereas sub-assemblage IIb was mostly found in the Northern part of the Gulf of Lions. This pattern is probably indicative of the sedimentation of fine particles originating from the Rhône River at intermediate depth as suggested by: (1) the sedimentary map of the Gulf of Lions, and (2) the outputs of recent models of sediment transport in the Gulf of Lions. Assemblage III was composed of 40 and 50 m deep stations; it was associated with terrigeneous coastal mud and found all over Gulf of Lions. Assemblage III was dominated by the sternaspid Sternaspis scutata. These three assemblages were tightly related with the benthic communities already described independently by Picard . Recherches qualitatives sur les biocénoses marines des substrats meubles dragables de la région marseillaise. Recueil des Travaux de la Station Marine d'Endoume 52, 1e160] and Guille . Bionomie benthique du plateau continental de la côte catalane française. II e Les communautés de la macrofaune. Vie et Milieu 21, 149e280] based on samples collected along the Provençal and the French Catalan rocky coasts, respectively. Unfortunately, no quantitative data were available to compare the a-diversity of the three newly defined assemblages with historical data collected by these two authors. We therefore compared our diversity measurements with the data collected by Desbruyères et al. [Desbruyères, D., Guille, A., Ramos, J.M., 1972/73. Bionomie du plateau continental de la côte catalane espagnole. Vie et Milieu 23, 335e363] in the Bay of Rosas (Spanish Catalan coast). Due to differences in the sampling effort between the two studies, this comparison was restricted to trends between assemblages. Our results show maximal densities and minimal a-diversity in the Littoral Fine Sand assemblage, which was not the case in Desbruyères et al. [Desbruyères, D., Guille, A., Ramos, J. M., 1972/73. Bionomie du plateau continental de la côte catalane espagnole. Vie et Milieu 23, 335e363]. Major temporal changes obviously reflect the increases of Ditrupa arietina (in the Littoral Fine Sands assemblage), and to a lesser extent Lumbrineris latreilli (in the Littoral Sandy Mud assemblage).

Twenty-eight predecessor rain events (PREs) that occurred over the United States east of the Rockies during 1995–2008 are examined from a synoptic climatology and case study perspective. PREs are coherent mesoscale regions of heavy rainfall, with rainfall rates ≥100 mm (24 h)−1, that can occur approximately 1000 km poleward of recurving tropical cyclones (TCs). PREs occur most commonly in August and September, and approximately 36 h prior to the arrival of the main rain shield associated with the TC. A distinguishing feature of PREs is that they are sustained by deep tropical moisture that is transported poleward directly from the TC. PREs are high-impact weather events that can often result in significant inland flooding, either from the PRE itself or from the subsequent arrival of the main rain shield associated with the TC that falls onto soils already saturated by the PRE. The composite analysis shows that on the synoptic-scale, PREs form in the equatorward jet-entrance region o...

This paper presents a range of applications of the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), a comprehensive mesoscale meteorological modeling system. Applications discussed in this paper include large eddy simulations (LES) and simulations of thunderstorms, cumulus fields, mesoscale convective systems, mid-latitude cirrus clouds, winter storms, mechanically-and thermally-forced mesoscale systems, and mesoscale atmospheric dispersion. A summary of current RAMS options is also presented. Improvements to RAMS currently underway include refinements to the cloud radiation, cloud microphysics, cumulus, and surface soil/vegetative parameterization schemes, the parallelization of the code, development of a more versatile visualization capability, and research into meso-~-scale cumulus parameterization.

The microscopic spatial kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method has been employed extensively in materials modeling. In this review paper, we focus on different traditional and multiscale KMC algorithms, challenges associated with their implementation, and methods developed to overcome these challenges. In the first part of the paper, we compare the implementation and computational cost of the null-event and rejection-free microscopic KMC algorithms. A firmer and more general foundation of the null-event KMC algorithm is presented. Statistical equivalence between the null-event and rejection-free KMC algorithms is also demonstrated. Implementation and efficiency of various search and update algorithms, which are at the heart of all spatial KMC simulations, are outlined and compared via numerical examples. In the second half of the paper, we review various spatial and temporal multiscale KMC methods, namely, the coarse-grained Monte Carlo (CGMC), the stochastic singular perturbation approximation, and the τ -leap methods, introduced recently to overcome the disparity of length and time scales and the one-at-a time execution of events. The concepts of the CGMC and the τ -leap methods, stochastic closures, multigrid methods, error associated with coarse-graining, a posteriori error estimates for generating spatially adaptive coarse-grained lattices, and computational speed-up upon coarse-graining are illustrated through simple examples from crystal growth, defect dynamics, adsorption-desorption, surface diffusion, and phase transitions.

The present study investigates the initiation of precipitating deep convection in an ensemble of convection-resolving mesoscale models. Results of eight different model runs from five non-hydrostatic models are compared for a case of the Convective and Orographically-induced Precipitation Study (COPS). An isolated convective cell initiated east of the Black Forest crest in southwest Germany, although convective available potential energy was only moderate and convective inhibition was high. Measurements revealed that, due to the absence of synoptic forcing, convection was initiated by local processes related to the orography. In particular, the lifting by low-level convergence in the planetary boundary layer is assumed to be the dominant process on that day. The models used different configurations as well as different initial and boundary conditions. By comparing the different model performance with each other and with measurements, the processes which need to be well represented to initiate convection at the right place and time are discussed. Besides an accurate specification of the thermodynamic and kinematic fields, the results highlight the role of boundary-layer convergence features for quantitative precipitation forecasts in mountainous terrain.

1] Aspects of the circulation of the Sicily channel region are studied with a highresolution, primitive equation, sigma coordinate model. This work is an attempt to study the process governing the purely baroclinic dynamics and its sensitivity to seasonal stratification, thus no atmospheric forcing is used. Two numerical experiments are analyzed using, as initial conditions, diagnostic velocity fields derived from the winter and summer climatological hydrologies. The quasi-steady state is characterized by circulation patterns, in the depth range of the Modified Atlantic Water (MAW) and the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW), strongly controlled by mesoscale eddies and topography. Seasonal difference is found in the surface current which exhibits the major variability on the African side, downstream of Adventure Bank and the Ionian Slope where the absolute maximum occurs. The intermediate circulation instead does not show relevant seasonal differences. LIW enters through the two passages south of Malta Plateau and preferentially flows along the Sicilian shelf edge exiting over the northern sill. Its pathway is strongly controlled by subsurface cyclonic and anticyclonic cells. The results are in good agreement with observations. An energy diagnostics is applied to model results and sheds important light on dynamical characteristics of the mesoscale eddy field and indicates seasonal differences in the energetic exchange with the mean flow. The analysis of the mean (MKE) and eddy (EKE) kinetic energy, the transfer terms between energy compartments and the eddy momentum flux divergence indicates how eddies are strongly energetic in summer and exchange energy more efficiently with the mean flow. In the quasi-steady state MAW volume transport and MKE and EKE fluctuations are strongly correlated. This result suggests that mesoscale motions can control up to 40% of volume transport variability.

1] We model the atmospheric response to a chaos-forming event at Juventae Chasma, north of Valles Marineris, Mars, using the Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (MRAMS). Interactions between lake-driven convergence, topography, and the regional wind field steer lake-induced precipitation to the southwest. Mean snowfall reaches a maximum of 0.9 mm/h water equivalent (peak snowfall 1.7 mm/h water equivalent) on the SW rim of the chasm. More than 80% of vapor released by the lake is trapped in or next to the lake as snow. Radiative effects of the thick cloud cover raise mean plateau surface temperature by up to 18 K locally. We find that the area of maximum modeled precipitation corresponds to the mapped Juventae plateau channel networks. At Echus Chasma, modeled precipitation maxima also correspond to mapped plateau channel networks. This is consistent with the earlier suggestion that Valles Marineris plateau layered deposits and interbedded channel networks result from localized precipitation. However, snowpack thermal modeling shows temperatures below freezing for the 12 mbar CO 2 atmosphere used in our MRAMS simulations. This is true even for the most favorable orbital conditions, and whether or not the greenhouse effect of the lake storm is included. Moderately higher CO 2 pressures, or non-CO 2 greenhouse forcing, is very likely required for melting and plateau channel network formation under a faint young Sun. Required warming is ≤10 K: global temperatures need not be higher than today. In these localized precipitation scenarios, the rest of the planet remains dry.

Following the meteorological evaluation in Part I, this Part II paper presents the statistical evaluation of air quality predictions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)'s Community Multi-Scale Air Quality (Models-3/CMAQ) model for the four simulated months in the base year 2005. The surface predictions were evaluated using the Air Pollution Index (API) data published by the China Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) for 31 capital cities and daily fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 , particles with aerodiameter less than or equal to 2.5 mm) observations of an individual site in Tsinghua University (THU). To overcome the shortage in surface observations, satellite data are used to assess the column predictions including tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) column abundance and aerosol optical depth (AOD). The result shows that CMAQ gives reasonably good predictions for the air quality.

A high-resolution ocean general circulation model is developed to simulate connections between the Kuroshio path variations and mesoscale eddy activities as realistically as possible. The climatological mean of the modeled Kuroshio takes a nearshore nonlarge meander path. It is found that the model is capable of simulating two types of nonlarge meander state and a possible version of the large meander state. The offshore nonlarge meander is generated through interaction between the Kuroshio and an anticyclonic eddy. The large meander occurs just after significant intensification of the anticyclonic Kuroshio recirculation; successive intrusion of anticyclonic eddies from the upstream region is responsible for this process. Those anticyclonic eddies are advected by the Kuroshio from the region northeast of Luzon Island and increase the upstream Kuroshio volume transport on an interannual time scale. The cyclonic eddies propagating from the Kuroshio Extension region, on the other hand, weaken the Kuroshio meander after the merger. The Kuroshio path variations south of Japan thus seem to be closely related to eddy activities in the subtropical gyre system.

The synoptic and mesoscale conditions associated with waterspout occurrence in the Adriatic, Ionian and Aegean Sea are examined in an attempt to quantitatively assess the meteorological environment favourable to the development of waterspouts. For this study, synoptic circulation patterns have been examined for 28 waterspout events in the central-eastern Mediterranean. The waterspouts were reported within the summer and fall of 2002, from July to November, a period of unusually high whirlwind activity. The Adriatic was most active during July, August and September and the Ionian and Aegean during September, October and November. Of the examined waterspout cases, 13 out of the total of 28 were found to be fair-weather waterspouts, while 15 represent tornadic events. For waterspout days, the frequency and distribution of four basic synoptic types, namely, southwest flow (SW), long-wave trough (LW), closed low (CLOSED) and shortwave trough (SWT), were investigated. The particular synoptic features that contributed to the development of waterspout activity were examined, based on five selected waterspout case studies. The mesoscale environment was explored using thermodynamic indices, moisture and wind parameters as derived by operational soundings from the nearest sites (preferably upwind) and closest in time to the waterspout occurrences. The results present an analysis of waterspout types in conjunction to thermodynamic and wind parameters for the purpose of determining synoptic patterns and mesoscale conditions most relevant to waterspout occurrences in these sea areas of the Mediterranean.

1] The offshore propagation of mesoscale eddies contributes significantly to expanding the area of high chlorophyll concentration beyond the coastal upwelling center as shown by satellite data of chlorophyll, wind stress, sea level anomalies between (1997 -2003) off central Chile. Mesoscale eddies ($6.45 Â 10 3 km 2 ) formed near the coastal zone in spring-summer have mean seaward speeds of $1.68 km d À1 and reach $500 km offshore in winter. Chlorophyll concentrations along eddy paths are elevated by nutrient pumping and by nutrients and/or chlorophyll transported from the coastal zone. Eddies make up >50% of the winter (weak upwelling) chlorophyll peak in the coastal transition zone. Coupling between eddies and upwelling extends central Chile's high productivity area offshore and prolongs it towards winter.

This study provides a contribution to the research field of 3D-printed earthen buildings, focusing, for the first time, on the load-bearing capacity of these structures. The study involves the entire production and testing process of the earthen elements, from the design, to the preparation of the mixture and the 3D printing, up to the uniaxial compression test on a wall segment. The results indicate that 3D-printed earthen elements have a compressive strength of 2.32 MPa, comparable to that of rammed earth structures. The experimental data also made it possible to draw conclusions on the action of the infill, which seems to have the function of stopping the propagation of cracks. This has a positive effect on the overall behavior of 3D-printed earthen elements, since it avoids the onset of dilative behavior in the final stages of the load test and maintains ultimate load values higher than 50% of the maximum load.

This study aimed to set out a new methodology for habitat modeling in highgradient streams. The methodology is based on the mesoscale approach of the MesoHABSIM simulation system and can support the definition and assessment of environmental flow and habitat restoration measures. Data from 40 study sites located within the mountainous areas of the Valle d'Aosta, Piemonte and Liguria regions (Northwest Italy) were used in the analysis. To adapt MesoHABSIM to high-gradient streams, we first modified the data collection strategy to address the challenging conditions of surveys by using GIS and mobile mapping techniques. Secondly, we built habitat suitability models at a regional scale to enable their transferability among different streams with different morphologies. Thirdly, due to the absence of stream gauges in headwaters, we proposed a possible way to simulate flow time series and, therefore, generate habitat time series. The resulting method was evaluated in terms of time expenditure for field data collection and habitat-modeling potentials, and it represents a specific improvement of the MesoHABSIM system for habitat modeling in high-gradient streams, where other commonly used methodologies can be unsuitable. Through its application at several study sites, the proposed methodology adapted well to high-gradient streams and allowed the: (1) definition of fish habitat requirements for many streams simultaneously, (2) modeling of habitat variation over a range of discharges, and (3) determination of environmental standards for mountainous watercourses.

Many phenomena in the Earth's magnetotail have characteristic temporal scales of several minutes and spatial scales of a few Earth radii (R E ). Examples of such transient and localized mesoscale phenomena are bursty bulk flows, beamlets, energy dispersed ion beams, flux ropes, traveling compression regions, night-side flux transfer events, and rapid flappings of the current sheet. Although most of these observations are linked to specific interpretations or theoretical models they are inter-related and can be the different aspects of a physical process or origin. Recognizing the inter-connected nature of the different transient and localized phenomena in the magnetotail, this paper reviews their observations by highlighting their important characteristics, with emphasis on the new results from Cluster multipoint observations. The multi-point Cluster measurements have provided, for the first time, the ability to distinguish between temporal and spatial variations, and to resolve spatial structures. Some examples of the new results are: flux ropes with widths of 0.3 R E , transient field aligned currents associated with bursty bulk flows and connected to the Hall current at the magnetic reconnection, flappings of the magnetotail current sheet with time scales of 100 s-10 min and thickness of few thousand km, and particle energization including velocity and time dispersed ion structures with the

The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) produced by a mesoscale model is investigated using standardized statistical diagnostics. Results show that upper- and lower-level zonal winds display the correct MJO structure, phase speed (8 m s−1) and space–time power spectrum. However, the simulated free atmosphere moisture, outgoing longwave radiation and precipitation do not exhibit any clear MJO signal. Yet, the boundary layer moisture, moist static energy and atmospheric instability, measured using a moist static energy instability index, have clear MJO signals. A significant finding is the ability of the model to simulate a realistic MJO phase speed in the winds without reproducing the MJO wind-convection coupling or a realistic propagation in the free atmosphere water vapor. This study suggests that the convergence of boundary layer moisture and the discharge and recharge of the moist static energy and atmospheric instability may be responsible for controlling the speed of propagation of the MJO circulation.

Heatbursts are characterized by a sudden and highly localized increase in air temperature, a simultaneous decrease in relative humidity and dewpoint temperature, and strong gusty winds, typically associated with decaying thunderstorms. The small spatial extent and short duration of most heatbursts makes detailed study of these events difficult using the standard federal observation network (e.g. hourly observations) established in most countries. Thus, many discussions of heatbursts note that they are 'rare' phenomena. However, observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet indicate that although heatbursts are meso-alpha scale phenomena, they are not rare. Using multi-criteria analysis, 207 heatburst events of various magnitudes, areal coverage and duration were identified between 1994 and 2009 across Oklahoma. Significantly more heatbursts were detected in the western two-thirds of the state as compared to the eastern third. Heatbursts were primarily nocturnal events, with 70% of heatburst events initiated between 0000 and 0800 UTC (i.e. between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. Central Standard Time). With 62 of the 207 events, June was the most active month for heatbursts. At the other extreme, no heatbursts were detected during February and November, and only one was observed during January and December. Almost all of the heatbursts occurred underneath or adjacent to weak radar echoes at the time of the event. Four basic radar patterns were associated with the events: (1) radar echoes associated with rapidly weakening convection, (2) weak reflectivity not produced by or associated with deep moist convection, (3) weak radar echoes to the rear of a dissipating mesoscale convective system (MCS) and (4) weak reflectivity along the periphery of intense convection that did not appear to be weakening.

Advances in observations, theory, and modeling have revealed that inner-core asymmetries are a common feature of tropical cyclones (TCs). In this study, the inner-core asymmetries of a severe Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone, TC Larry (2006), are investigated using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5) and the Kepert-Wang boundary layer model. The MM5-simulated TC exhibited significant asymmetries in the inner-core region, including rainfall distribution, surface convergence, and low-level vertical motion. The near-core environment was characterized by very low environmental vertical shear and consequently the TC vortex had almost no vertical tilt. It was found that, prior to landfall, the rainfall asymmetry was very pronounced with precipitation maxima consistently to the right of the westward direction of motion. Persistent maxima in low-level convergence and vertical motion formed ahead of the translating TC, resulting in deep convection and associated hydrometeor maxima at about 500 hPa. The asymmetry in frictional convergence was mainly due to the storm motion at the eyewall, but was dominated by the proximity to land at larger radii. The displacement of about 308-1208 of azimuth between the surface and midlevel hydrometeor maxima is explained by the rapid cyclonic advection of hydrometeors by the tangential winds in the TC core. These results for TC Larry support earlier studies that show that frictional convergence in the boundary layer can play a significant role in determining the asymmetrical structures, particularly when the environmental vertical shear is weak or absent.

This study examines the dependence of the surface drag coefficient on stability, wind speed, mesoscale modulation of the turbulent flux and method of calculation of the drag coefficient. Data sets over grassland, sparse grass, heather and two forest sites are analyzed. For significantly unstable conditions, the drag coefficient does not depend systematically on z/L but decreases with wind speed for fixed intervals of z/L, where L is the Obukhov length. Even though the drag coefficient for weak wind conditions is sensitive to the exact method of calculation and choice of averaging time, the decrease of the drag coefficient with wind speed occurs for all of the calculation methods. A classification of flux calculation methods is constructed, which unifies the most common previous approaches.

The current study describes a technique for downscaling climatological data in areas with limited or no grid data. In cases where grid data are unavailable and the researcher is called to operate on a regional or in the mesoscale and produce detailed and not coarse results, this technique can be a helping hand. It constitutes a combination of statistical downscaling through multi-linear regression techniques and dynamical downscaling by employing Geographical Information Systems, and it can be used in order to spatially interpolate with high resolution various climatological variables. The application of the described technique was applied on 3 agricultural areas that present different climate conditions and are characterised by complex topography. The results indicated that the current technique delivered very sufficient results as the adjusted coefficient (R 2) appears with high values in almost every case. Areas characterized by Mediterranean type of climate with hot summers (Csa) showed the strongest presumption against null hypothesis; while areas characterized by a combination of different Mediterranean climate types (Csa and Csb) used the most coefficients in the multi-linear procedure and produced relatively good results. Areas facing continental climate conditions delivered satisfactorily results, although most of the examined coefficients are presented with medium presumption against null hypothesis. Concluding, the described technique can be used for every type of climate in almost every terrain for the accurate representation of various climatological variables in the mesoscale.

In this paper, a previously developed meso-scale model for concrete, called the Confinement Shear Lattice (CSL) model, is extended in order to include the effect of loading rate on concrete strength and fracturing behavior. The rate dependence of concrete behavior is assumed to be caused by two different physical mechanisms. The first is a dependence of the fracture process on the rate of crack opening, and the second is the viscoelastic deformation of the intact (unfractured) cement paste. In this study, the first mechanism is described by the activation energy theory applied to the ruptures occurring along the crack surfaces, whereas the second mechanism is modeled by the MicroprestresseSolidification theory. The developed model is calibrated and validated on the basis of experimental data gathered from the literature.

A Phenomenological Mesoscopic Field Dislocation Mechanics (PMFDM) model is developed, extending continuum plasticity theory for studying initial-boundary value problems of small-scale plasticity. PMFDM results from an elementary space-time averaging of the equations of Field Dislocation Mechanics (FDM), followed by a closure assumption from any strain-gradient plasticity model that attempts to model effects of geometricallynecessary dislocations (GND) only in work-hardening. The specific lower-order gradient plasticity model chosen to substantiate this work requires one additional material parameter compared to its conventional continuum plasticity counterpart. The further addition of dislocation mechanics requires no additional material parameters. The model a) retains the constitutive dependence of the free-energy only on elastic strain as in conventional continuum plasticity with no explicit dependence on dislocation density, b) does not require higher-order stresses, and c) does not require a constitutive specification of a 'back-stress' in the expression for average dislocation velocity/plastic strain rate. However, long-range stress effects of average dislocation distributions are predicted by the model in a mechanistically rigorous sense. Plausible boundary conditions (with obvious implication for corresponding interface conditions) are discussed in some detail from a physical point of view. Energetic and dissipative aspects of the model are also discussed. The developed framework is a continuous-time model of averaged dislocation plasticity, without having to rely on the notion of incremental work functions, their convexity properties, or their minimization. The tangent modulus relating stress rate and total strain rate in the model is the positive-definite tensor of linear elasticity, and this is not an impediment to the development of idealized microstructure in the theory and computations, even when such a convexity property is preserved in a computational scheme. A model of finite deformation, mesoscopic single crystal plasticity is also presented, motivated by the above considerations.

Space geodetic applications require to model troposphere delays as good as possible in order to achieve highly accurate positioning estimates. However, these models are not capable to consider complex refractivity fields which are likely to occur during extreme weather situations like typhoons, storms, heavy rain-fall, etc. Thus it has been investigated how positioning results can be improved if information from numerical weather models is taken into account. It will be demonstrated that positioning errors can be significantly reduced by the usage of ray-traced slant delays. Therefore, mesoscale and fine-mesh numerical weather models are utilized and their impact on the positioning results will be measured. The approach has been evaluated during a typhoon passage using global positioning service (GPS) observations of 72 receivers located around Tokyo, proving the usefulness of ray-traced slant delays for positioning applications. Thereby, it is possible reduce virtual station movements as well as improve station height repeatabilities by up to 30% w.r.t. standard processing techniques. Additionally the advantages and caveats of numerical weather models will be discussed and it will be shown how fine-mesh numerical weather models, which are restricted in their spatial extent, have to be handled in order to provide useful corrections.

During the Eddy Experiment, two synchronous GPS receivers were flown at 1 km altitude to collect L1 signals and their reflections from the sea surface for assessment of altimetric precision and accuracy. Wind speed (U10) was around 10 m/s, and SWH up to 2 m. A geophysical parametric waveform model was used for retracking and estimation of the lapse between

A theoretical formalism for nongeostrophic eddy transport in zonal-mean flows, using a transformed Eulerian-mean (TEM) approach in z coordinates, is discussed. By using Andrews and McIntyre&#x27;s coordinate-independent definition of the “quasi-Stokes ...

1] Since February 2002, the SABER (sounding of the atmosphere using broadband emission radiometry) satellite instrument has measured temperatures throughout the entire middle atmosphere. Employing the same techniques as previously used for CRISTA (cryogenic infrared spectrometers and telescopes for the atmosphere), we deduce from SABER V1.06 data 5 years of gravity wave (GW) temperature variances from altitudes of 20 to 100 km. A typical annual cycle is presented by calculating averages for the individual calendar months. Findings are consistent with previous results from various satellite missions. Based on zonal mean, SABER data for July and zonal mean GW momentum flux from CRISTA, a homogeneous and isotropic launch distribution for the GROGRAT (gravity wave regional or global ray tracer) is tuned. The launch distribution contains different phase speed mesoscale waves, some of very high-phase speed and extremely low amplitudes, as well as waves with horizontal wavelengths of several thousand kilometers. Global maps for different seasons and altitudes, as well as time series of zonal mean GW squared amplitudes based on this launch distribution, match the observations well. Based on this realistic observation-tuned model run, we calculate quantities that cannot be measured directly and are speculated to be major sources of uncertainty in current GW parameterization schemes. Two examples presented in this paper are the average cross-latitude propagation of GWs and the relative acceleration contributions provided by saturation and dissipation, on the one hand, and the horizontal refraction of GWs by horizontal gradients of the mean flow, on the other hand.

Transient mesoscale and submesoscale processes, such as small eddies and filaments, could play a fundamental role in the marine ecosystem, especially in oligotrophic seas like the Mediterranean. However, very little is known about the biological and physical dynamics characterizing such structures. In this work, the 8-km horizontal resolution data collected during the SYMPLEX 1998 survey are analyzed to describe the physical dynamics of small mesoscale features along the Atlantic-Ionian stream (western Ionian Sea). The data were optimally interpolated over a regular grid and used to compute the 3D ageostrophic circulation by solution of the Q-vector formulation of the omega equation. The relative importance of stratification, relative vorticity, and twisting terms in the Rossby-Ertel potential vorticity is thus examined along selected isopycnals, together with the associated vertical motions and vortex stretching. A surface cyclonic eddy ϳ15 km of radius was observed near a meander of the Atlantic-Ionian stream. This small cyclone is characterized by high potential vorticity values similar to that of the meander, by a relative vorticity of 0.5 f , and by vertical velocities of the order of 10-14 m d Ϫ1 . A subduction process of ϳ15 m d Ϫ1 was found in correspondence of the meander trough, giving rise to a deep cold anticyclone, while peak upward velocities reached the same order of magnitude at the trough.