Modulation of surface meteorological parameters by extratropical planetary-scale Rossby waves

This study examines the link between upper-tropospheric planetary-scale Rossby waves and surface meteorological parameters based on the observations made in association with the Ganges Valley Aerosol Experiment (GVAX) campaign at an extratropical site at Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Nainital (29.45° N, 79.5° E) during November–December 2011. The spectral analysis of the tropospheric wind field from radiosonde measurements indicates a predominance power of around 8 days in the upper troposphere during the observational period. An analysis of the 200 hPa meridional wind (v200 hPa) anomalies from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalysis shows distinct Rossby-wave-like structures over a high-altitude site in the central Himalayan region. Furthermore, the spectral analysis of global v200 hPa anomalies indicates the Rossby waves are characterized by zonal wave number 6. The amplification of the Rossby wave packets over the site leads to persistent subtropical jet stream (STJ) patterns, which further affects the surface weather conditions. The propagating Rossby waves in the upper troposphere along with the undulations in the STJ create convergence and divergence regions in the mid-troposphere. Therefore, the surface meteorological parameters such as the relative humidity, wind speeds, and temperature are synchronized with the phase of the propagating Rossby waves. Moreover, the present study finds important implications for medium-range forecasting through the upper-level Rossby waves over the study region

Anomalous kinetics, patterns formation in recalescence, and final microstructure of rapidly solidified Al-rich Al-Ni alloys

Copyright © 2022 The Authors. From thermodynamical consideration, rather a monotonically increasing crystal growth velocity with increasing undercooling is expected in the crystallization of liquids, mixtures, and alloys [P.K. Galenko and D. Jou, Physics Reports 818 (2019) 1]. By contrast to this general theoretical statement, Al-rich Al-Ni alloys show an anomalous solidification behavior: the solid-liquid interface velocity slows down as the undercooling increases [R. Lengsdorf, D. Holland-Moritz, D. M. Herlach, Scripta Materialia 62 (2010) 365]. It is also found that besides the anomalous growth behaviour, changes in the shape of the recalescence front as the growth front morphology occur. In the light of recent measurements in microgravity with an Al-25at.% Ni alloy sample onboard the International Space Station (ISS) results confirming this anomalous behavior as an unexpected trend in solidification kinetics are presented. The measurements show multiple nucleation events forming the growth front, a mechanism that has been observed for the first time in Al-Ni alloys [D. Herlach et al., Physical Review Materials 3 (2019) 073402; M. Reinartz et al. JOM 74 (2022) 2420] and summarized with detailed analysis in the present publication over a wider range of concentrations. Particularly, the experimental measurements and obtained data directly demonstrate that the growth front does thus not consist of dendrite tips (as in usual rapid solidifying samples), but of newly forming nuclei propagating along the sample surface in a coordinated manner. Theoretical analysis on intensive nucleation ahead of crystal growth front is made using the previously developed model [D.V. Alexandrov, Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical 50 (2017) 345101]. Using equations of this model, quantitative calculations confirm the interpretation of experimentally observed propagation of the recalescence front and obtained data on the microstructure of droplets solidified in electromagnetic levitation facility (EML) on the Ground, under reduced gravity during parabolic flights, and in microgravity conditions onboard the ISS.European Space Agency (ESA) within the project NEQUISOL under contract No. 15236/02/NL/SH for experimental measurements under reduced gravity and by RSF under project No. 21-19-00279 for theoretical modeling; German Space Center - Space Administration under contract No. 50WM1941; German Science Foundation (DFG) under the Project GA 1142/11-1 for experimental measurements on the Ground

Latitudinal variation in vertical distribution of meteor decay time and its relation with mesospheric Ozone in the altitude range of 80-90 km

Investigations on meteor trail decay time and its evolution in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere are very important to estimate the temperature in this region. The present study focuses on the vertical distribution of meteor decay times at three different latitudes to understand the mechanism responsible for the deviation of meteor decay time from the theoretical estimations below 90 km of altitude. The present study is based on measurements from three identical meteor radars located at equatorial (Kototabang: 0.2° S, 100.3° E), low (Thumba: 8.5° N, 76.9° E) and polar latitudes (Eureka: 80.0° N, 85.8° W). The results reveal a pronounced seasonal variation of vertical distribution of meteor decay time turning altitude (inflection point) over polar latitudes as compared to that over equatorial and low latitudes. Apart from direct estimations from meteor radar observations, the meteor decay time is estimated using temperature and pressure measurements from the SABER/TIMED. Above 90 km of altitude, decay times estimated from both methods are in good agreement. However, below 90 km of altitude, these estimations start deviating and it has been noted that the deviation increases with decreasing altitude. Further, observed meteor decay times correlated with ozone concentration at three representative altitude bins. The correlation analysis reveals a significant negative correlation at 80 - 90 km of altitude over the three latitudes indicating that an increase in ozone concentration results in decrease in meteor decay time. The significance of the present results lies in analyzing the vertical distribution of meteor decay time simultaneously from three radar locations representing equatorial, low and polar latitudes and evaluating the relation between ozone concentration and meteor decay time, quantitatively

Radiative effects of elevated aerosol layer in Central Himalayas

Systematic observations of light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to detect elevated aerosol layer were carried out at Manora Peak (29.4 degrees N, 79.5 degrees E, similar to 1960 m a.s.l), Nainital, in the Central Himalayas during January-May 2008. In spite of being a remote, high-altitude site, an elevated aerosol layer is observed quite frequently in the altitude range of 2460-4460 m a.s.l with a width of similar to 2 km during the observation period. We compare these profiles with the vertical profiles observed over Gadanki (13.5 degrees N, 79.2 degrees E, similar to 370 m a.s.l), a tropical station, where no such elevated aerosol layer was found. Further, there is a steady increase in aerosol optical depth (AOD) from January (winter) to May (summer) from 0.043 to 0.742, respectively, at Manora Peak, indicating aerosol loading in the atmosphere. Our observations show north-westerly winds indicating the convective lifting of aerosols from far-off regions followed by horizontal long-range transport. The presence of strongly absorbing and scattering aerosols in the elevated layer resulted in a relatively large diurnal mean aerosol surface radiative forcing efficiency (forcing per unit optical depth) of about -65 and -63 W m(-2) and the corresponding mean reduction in the observed net solar flux at the surface (cooling effect) is as high as -22 and -30 W m(-2). The reduction of radiation will heat the lower atmosphere by redistributing the radiation with heating rate of 1.13 and 1.31 K day(-1) for April and May 2008, respectively, in the lower atmosphere

Variations in the cloud-base height over the central Himalayas during GVAX: association with the monsoon rainfall

We present the measurements of cloud-base height variations over Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Science, Nainital (79.45 degrees E, 29.37 degrees N, 1958 m amsl) obtained from Vaisala Ceilometer, during the nearly year-long Ganges Valley Aerosol Experiment (GVAX). The cloud-base measurements are analysed in conjunction with collocated measurements of rainfall, to study the possible contributions from different cloud types to the observed monsoonal rainfall during June to September 2011. The summer monsoon of 2011 was a normal monsoon year with total accumulated rainfall of 1035.8 mm during June-September with a maximum during July (367.0 mm) and minimum during September (222.3 mm). The annual mean monsoon rainfall over Nainital is 1440 +/- 430 mm. The total rainfall measured during other months (October 2011-March 2012) was only 9% of that observed during the summer monsoon. The first cloud-base height varied from about 31 m above ground level (AGL) to a maximum of 7.6 km AGL during the summer monsoon period of 2011. It is found that about 70% of the total rain is observed only when the first cloud-base height varies between surface and 2 km AGL, indicating that most of the rainfall at high altitude stations such as Nainital is associated with stratiform low-level clouds. However, about 25% of the total rainfall is being contributed by clouds between 2 and 6 km. The occurrences of high-altitude cumulus clouds are observed to be only 2-4%. This study is an attempt to fill a major gap of measurements over the topographically complex and observationally sparse northern Indian region providing the evaluation data for atmospheric models and therefore, have implications towards the better predictions of monsoon rainfall and the weather components over this region

Doppler Lidar observations over a high altitude mountainous site Manora Peak in the central Himalayan region

The RAWEX-GVAX field campaign has been carried out from June 2011 to March 2012 over a high altitude site Manora Peak, Nainital (29.4 degrees N; 79.2 degrees E; 1958 m amsl) in the central Himalayas to assess the impacts of absorbing aerosols on atmospheric thermodynamics and clouds. This paper presents the preliminary results of the observations and data analysis of the Doppler Lidar, installed at Nainital. Strong updrafts with vertical winds in the range of similar to 2-4 ms(-1) occurred during the daytime and throughout the season indicating thermally driven convection. On the other hand during nighttime, weak downdrafts persisted during stable conditions. Plan Position Indicator scan of Doppler Lidar showed north-northwesterly winds in the boundary layer. The mixing layer height, derived from the vertical velocity variance, showed diurnal variations, in the range similar to 0.7-1 km above ground level during daytime and very shallow during nighttime