Data · dataset · 2026
Marine boundary layers above heterogeneous SST: Alongfront winds
Listed in National Center for Atmospheric Research
Turbulent flow in a weakly convective marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) driven by geostrophic winds V-g = 10 m s(-1) and heterogeneous sea surface temperature (SST) is examined using fine-mesh large-eddy simulation (LES).
Description
The imposed SST heterogeneity is a single-sided warm or cold front with jumps Delta theta = (2, -1.5) K varying over a horizontal x distance of 1 km characteristic of an upper-ocean mesoscale or submesoscale front.
The geostrophic winds are oriented parallel to the SST isotherms (i.e., the winds are alongfront). Previously, Sullivan et al. examined a similar flow configuration but with geostrophic winds oriented perpendicular to the imposed SST isotherms (i.e., the winds were across-front). Results with alongfront and across-front winds differ in important ways.
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With alongfront winds, the ageostrophic surface wind is weak, about 5 times smaller than the geostrophic wind, and horizontal pressure gradients couple the SST front and the atmosphere in the momentum budget. With across-front winds, horizontal pressure gradients are weak and mean horizontal advection primarily balances vertical flux divergence. Alongfront winds generate persistent secondary circulations (SC) that modify the surface fluxes as well as turbulent fluxes in the MABL interior depending on the sign of Delta theta.
Warm and cold filaments develop opposing pairs of SC with a central upwelling or downwelling region between the cells. Cold filaments reduce the entrainment near the boundary layer top that can potentially impact cloud initiation. The surface-wind-SST-isotherm orientation is an important component of atmosphere-ocean coupling.
The results also show frontogenetic tendencies in the MABL.
Links
Get the data
- Publisher page n2t.org/ark:/85065/d74t6nwf ↗
documentation · download · from data ucar edu
Where it is published
- data.ucar.edu /dataset/marine-boundary-layers-above-heterogeneous-sst-alongfr… ↗
National Center for Atmospheric Research dataset page
landing page · from data ucar edu
Catalogue records · 1
- CKAN API data.ucar.edu/api/3/action/package_show?id=742968d6-2423-4aa5-8e75-5bec7f965… ↗
metadata API · from data ucar edu
Topics
- From keywords
- Earth & Environmental Science · Ocean & Atmospheric Science
- Inferred from text
- Simulation 75%
Provenance · 1 source records, 8 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Center for Atmospheric Research | 742968d6-2423-4aa5-8e75-5bec7f96552b | 10 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:ocean-atmospheric | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[method].local:method:simulation | enrichment · data ucar edu | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (75%) |
| created_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /notes |
| publication_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /title |
| updated_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 |