Boundary-Layer Structure Near an Ice Edge as a Function of Wind Direction

• Main Author: Glendening, John W.
• Other Authors: NAVAL RESEARCH LAB MONTEREY CA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1992
• Subjects: Meteorology; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *BOUNDARY LAYER; *ICE; *GEOSTROPHIC WIND; *WIND DIRECTION; *ARCTIC REGIONS; *FRONTS(METEOROLOGY); VELOCITY; LAYERS; WATER; VARIATIONS; SEA BREEZE; PAPER; FLOW; ASYMMETRY; SURFACES; SENSITIVITY; EDGES; WIND; PE61153N; WUDN251030; Arctic; Mellor; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA268437; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA268437

This paper examines the Sensitivity of boundary-layer (BL) frontal' features, created by differences across an ice edge and characterized by positive vertical velocity (w), to variations in geostrophic wind direction (a), particularly for flow approximately parallel to the ice edge. Notable is the asymmetry introduced by Coriolis/frictional forces. Thermal and mechanical differences between ice and water surfaces at an ice edge create an adjustment region. This adjustment region will be most 'frontal' in character when the resulting gradients are largest, which is most probable when advection perpendicular to the ice edge is small. Thus a geostrophic wind nearly parallel to the ice edge gives much stronger surface temperature gradients (Kantha and Mellor, 1989) and stronger jet maxima (Langland et al., 1989) than when the geostrophic wind is perpendicular ice edge. Arctic leads, Boundary layer, Mesoscale.