A comparison of aircraft‐based surface‐layer observations over Denmark Strait and the Irminger Sea with meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT winds
Abstract A compilation of aircraft observations of the atmospheric surface layer is compared with several meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT wind products. The observations are taken during the Greenland Flow Distortion Experiment, in February and March 2007, during cold‐air outbreak conditions an...
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crwiley:10.1002/qj.444 2024-09-15T18:03:37+00:00 A comparison of aircraft‐based surface‐layer observations over Denmark Strait and the Irminger Sea with meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT winds Renfrew, I. A. Petersen, G. N. Sproson, D. A. J. Moore, G. W. K. Adiwidjaja, H. Zhang, S. North, R. 2009 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/qj.444 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fqj.444 https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/qj.444 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society volume 135, issue 645, page 2046-2066 ISSN 0035-9009 1477-870X journal-article 2009 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.444 2024-08-13T04:16:40Z Abstract A compilation of aircraft observations of the atmospheric surface layer is compared with several meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT wind products. The observations are taken during the Greenland Flow Distortion Experiment, in February and March 2007, during cold‐air outbreak conditions and moderate to high wind speeds. About 150 data points spread over six days are used, with each data point derived from a 2‐min run (equivalent to a 12 km spatial average). The observations were taken 30–50 m above the sea surface and are adjusted to standard heights. Surface‐layer temperature, humidity and wind, as well as sea‐surface temperature (SST) and surface turbulent fluxes are compared against co‐located data from the ECMWF operational analyses, NCEP Global Reanalyses, NCEP North American Regional Reanalyses (NARR), Met Office North Atlantic European (NAE) operational analyses, two MM5 hindcasts, and two QuikSCAT products. In general, the limited‐area models are better at capturing the mesoscale high wind speed features and their associated structure; often the models underestimate the highest wind speeds and gradients. The most significant discrepancies are: a poor simulation of relative humidity by the NCEP global and MM5 models, a cold bias in 2 m air temperature near the sea‐ice edge in the NAE model, and an overestimation of wind speed above 20 m s −1 in the QuikSCAT wind products. In addition, the NCEP global, NARR and MM5 models all have significant discrepancies associated with the parametrisation of surface turbulent heat fluxes. A high‐resolution prescription of the SST field is crucial in this region, although these were not generally used at this time. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society Article in Journal/Newspaper Denmark Strait Greenland North Atlantic Sea ice Wiley Online Library Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 135 645 2046 2066 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract A compilation of aircraft observations of the atmospheric surface layer is compared with several meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT wind products. The observations are taken during the Greenland Flow Distortion Experiment, in February and March 2007, during cold‐air outbreak conditions and moderate to high wind speeds. About 150 data points spread over six days are used, with each data point derived from a 2‐min run (equivalent to a 12 km spatial average). The observations were taken 30–50 m above the sea surface and are adjusted to standard heights. Surface‐layer temperature, humidity and wind, as well as sea‐surface temperature (SST) and surface turbulent fluxes are compared against co‐located data from the ECMWF operational analyses, NCEP Global Reanalyses, NCEP North American Regional Reanalyses (NARR), Met Office North Atlantic European (NAE) operational analyses, two MM5 hindcasts, and two QuikSCAT products. In general, the limited‐area models are better at capturing the mesoscale high wind speed features and their associated structure; often the models underestimate the highest wind speeds and gradients. The most significant discrepancies are: a poor simulation of relative humidity by the NCEP global and MM5 models, a cold bias in 2 m air temperature near the sea‐ice edge in the NAE model, and an overestimation of wind speed above 20 m s −1 in the QuikSCAT wind products. In addition, the NCEP global, NARR and MM5 models all have significant discrepancies associated with the parametrisation of surface turbulent heat fluxes. A high‐resolution prescription of the SST field is crucial in this region, although these were not generally used at this time. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Renfrew, I. A. Petersen, G. N. Sproson, D. A. J. Moore, G. W. K. Adiwidjaja, H. Zhang, S. North, R. |
spellingShingle |
Renfrew, I. A. Petersen, G. N. Sproson, D. A. J. Moore, G. W. K. Adiwidjaja, H. Zhang, S. North, R. A comparison of aircraft‐based surface‐layer observations over Denmark Strait and the Irminger Sea with meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT winds |
author_facet |
Renfrew, I. A. Petersen, G. N. Sproson, D. A. J. Moore, G. W. K. Adiwidjaja, H. Zhang, S. North, R. |
author_sort |
Renfrew, I. A. |
title |
A comparison of aircraft‐based surface‐layer observations over Denmark Strait and the Irminger Sea with meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT winds |
title_short |
A comparison of aircraft‐based surface‐layer observations over Denmark Strait and the Irminger Sea with meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT winds |
title_full |
A comparison of aircraft‐based surface‐layer observations over Denmark Strait and the Irminger Sea with meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT winds |
title_fullStr |
A comparison of aircraft‐based surface‐layer observations over Denmark Strait and the Irminger Sea with meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT winds |
title_full_unstemmed |
A comparison of aircraft‐based surface‐layer observations over Denmark Strait and the Irminger Sea with meteorological analyses and QuikSCAT winds |
title_sort |
comparison of aircraft‐based surface‐layer observations over denmark strait and the irminger sea with meteorological analyses and quikscat winds |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/qj.444 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fqj.444 https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/qj.444 |
genre |
Denmark Strait Greenland North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Denmark Strait Greenland North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_source |
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society volume 135, issue 645, page 2046-2066 ISSN 0035-9009 1477-870X |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.444 |
container_title |
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society |
container_volume |
135 |
container_issue |
645 |
container_start_page |
2046 |
op_container_end_page |
2066 |
_version_ |
1810441108966080512 |