Radiation and dynamics of the atmosphere of Mars

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Influence of different wind directions in relation to topography on the outbreak of convection in Northern England

International audienceThe influence of different wind directions on the outbreak of convection in Northern England, was investigated with a high-resolution numerical model. The Clark model, a 3D finite-difference, non-hydrostatic model was used in this study. It was initialised with the topography of Northern England, a representation of surface characteristics, and used a routinely available meteorological sounding, typical of the unstable conditions. Results showed that convective cells were initially triggered in the lee of the elevated terrain, and that only after the convection had developed, were cells upwind of the elevated terrain produced. The windward slopes themselves seemed sheltered from convection. Under most wind directions, the central Pennines (the Forest of Trawden and the Forest of Rossendale) seemed particularly affected by convective rainfall

The representation of Föhn events to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in simulations by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS)

Föhn winds are warm, strong, downslope winds on the lee side of mountains, which can last from several hours to a few days. 1995 and 2002 saw the dramatic break‐up of huge parts of the Larsen Ice Shelf (LIS) on the east of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). It is widely accepted that hydrofracturing, the widening of crevasses due to the excess hydrostatic pressure exerted by meltwater which accumulates inside them, is the mechanism behind the break‐up of the Larsen A and Larsen B ice shelves. On the LIS, in the lee of the mountain range that runs along the spine of the AP, Föhn winds are thought to provide the atmospheric conditions for significant warming over the ice shelf, leading to the initial firn densification, and subsequently providing the melt water for hydrofracturing. Measurements provide evidence that in some cases Föhn events reach an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) on the LIS at over 100 km distance. In this paper, we examine the representation of Föhn events during 2011 as they were observed in measurements by an AWS, and in simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) as run for the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS). We find that, while the model generally simulates meteorological parameters very well, and shows good skill in capturing the occurrence, frequency and duration of Föhn events, it underestimates the temperature increase and humidity decrease during the Föhn significantly, and may thus underestimate the contribution of Föhn to driving surface melt on LIS

期外収縮後一過性収縮性増強の減衰過程を指数関数でカーブフィッティングすると心筋細胞内のカルシウム再循環率を過小評価する可能性がある：理論的・数学的解析

Marine cloud brightening (MCB) is one of several proposed solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering schemes designed to ameliorate some of the undesirable effects of climate change, for example polar ice loss and associated increased sea levels. Satellite measurements over the last 40 years show a general reduction in polar sea ice area and thickness which is attributed to climate change. In our studies, HadGEM1, a fully coupled climate model, is used to predict changes in surface temperatures and ice cover as a result of implementing MCB in a double carbon dioxide concentration atmosphere. The meridional heat flux (MHF) is the mechanism within the earth system for the transport of energy from tropical to polar regions. This poleward transport of heat in a double carbon dioxide atmosphere amplifies the effects in polar regions, where it has a significant impact on both temperatures and ice cover. The results from this work show that MCB is capable of roughly restoring control temperatures and ice cover (where control is defined as 440 ppm carbon dioxide, a predicted 2020 level) in a double carbon dioxide atmosphere scenario. This work presents the first results on the impact of MCB on the MHF and the ability of the MCB scheme to restore the MHF to a control level

On the well posedness of a mathematical model for a singular nonlinear fractional pseudo-hyperbolic system with nonlocal boundary conditions and frictional damping

This paper is devoted to the study of the well-posedness of a singular nonlinear fractional pseudo-hyperbolic system. The fractional derivative is described in Caputo sense. The equations are supplemented by classical and nonlocal boundary conditions. Upon some a priori estimates and density arguments, we establish the existence and uniqueness of the strongly generalized solution for the associated linear fractional system in some Sobolev fractional spaces. On the basis of the obtained results for the linear fractional system, we apply an iterative process in order to establish the well-posedness of the nonlinear fractional system. This mathematical model of pseudo-hyperbolic systems arises mainly in the theory of longitudinal and lateral vibrations of elastic bars (beams), and in some special case it is propounded in unsteady helical flows between two infinite coaxial circular cylinders for some specific boundary conditions

The Use of a Numerical Weather Prediction Model to Simulate Near-Field Volcanic Plumes

In this paper, a state-of the art numerical weather prediction (NWP) model is used to simulate the near-field plume of a Plinian-type volcanic eruption. The NWP model is run at very high resolution (of the order of 100 m) and includes a representation of physical processes, including turbulence and buoyancy, that are essential components of eruption column dynamics. Results are shown that illustrate buoyant gas plume dynamics in an atmosphere at rest and in an atmosphere with background wind, and we show that these results agree well with those from theoretical models in the quiescent atmosphere. For wind-blown plumes, we show that features observed in experimental and natural settings are reproduced in our model. However, when comparing with predictions from an integral model using existing entrainment closures there are marked differences. We speculate that these are signatures of a difference in turbulent mixing for uniform and shear flow profiles in a stratified atmosphere. A more complex implementation is given to show that the model may also be used to examine the dispersion of heavy volcanic gases such as sulphur dioxide. Starting from the standard version of the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model, we show that minimal modifications are needed in order to model volcanic plumes. This suggests that the modified NWP model can be used in the forecasting of plume evolution during future volcanic events, in addition to providing a virtual laboratory for the testing of hypotheses regarding plume behaviour

Limited-are a modelling of stratocumulus over South-Eastern Pacific

This paper presents application of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to limited-area modeling of atmospheric processes over the subtropical south-eastern Pacific, with the emphasis on the stratocumulus-topped boundary layer. The simulations cover a domain from the VAMOS (Variability of the American Monsoon Systems) Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx) field project conducted in the subtropical south-eastern Pacific in October and November 2008. We focus on a day where the UK's BAe-146 research aircraft encountered Pockets of Open Cells (POCs) at the very western edge of its flight track, rather than on the entire campaign as investigated in previous limited-area modeling studies. Model results are compared to aircraft observations with the main conclusion that the simulated stratocumulus-topped boundary layer is significantly too shallow. This appears to be a combination of an already too shallow boundary layer in the dataset used to provide initial and lateral boundary conditions, and the inability of the WRF model to increase the boundary-layer height. Several sensitivity simulations, applying different subgrid-scale parameterizations available in the model, a larger computational domain and longer simulations, as well as a different dataset providing initial and lateral boundary conditions were all tried to improve the simulation. These changes appeared to have a rather small effect on the results. The model does simulate the formation of mesoscale cloud-free regions that one might consider similar to Pockets of Open Cells observed in nature. However, formation of these regions does not seem to be related to drizzle-induced transition from open- to closed-cell circulations as simulated by LES models. Instead, the cloud-free regions appear to result from mesoscale variations of the lower-tropspheric vertical velocity. Areas of negative vertical velocity with minima (a few cm s<sup>−1</sup>) near the boundary layer top seem to induce direct evaporation of the cloud layer. It remains to be seen in LES studies whether the mechanism seen in the model is realistic or if it is simply an artifact of interactions between resolved and parameterized processes