Diabatic Processes Research Articles

Interaction between Atlantic cyclones and Eurasian atmospheric blocking drives wintertime warm extremes in the high Arctic

Abstract. Atmospheric blocking can influence Arctic weather by diverting the mean westerly flow and steering cyclones polewards, bringing warm, moist air to high latitudes. Recent studies have shown that diabatic heating processes in the ascending warm conveyor belt branch of extratropical cyclones are relevant to blocking dynamics. This leads to the question of the extent to which diabatic heating associated with mid-latitude cyclones may influence high-latitude blocking and drive Arctic warm events. In this study we investigate the dynamics behind 50 extreme warm events of wintertime high-Arctic temperature anomalies during 1979–2016. Classifying the warm events based on blocking occurrence within three selected sectors, we find that 30 of these events are associated with a block over the Urals, featuring negative upper-level potential vorticity (PV) anomalies over central Siberia north of the Ural Mountains. Lagrangian back-trajectory calculations show that almost 60 % of the air parcels making up these negative PV anomalies experience lifting and diabatic heating (median 11 K) in the 6 d prior to the block. Further, almost 70 % of the heated trajectories undergo maximum heating in a compact region of the mid-latitude North Atlantic, temporally taking place between 6 and 1 d before arriving in the blocking region. We also find anomalously high cyclone activity (on average five cyclones within this 5 d heating window) within a sector northwest of the main heating domain. In addition, 10 of the 50 warm events are associated with blocking over Scandinavia. Around 60 % of the 6 d back trajectories started from these blocks experience diabatic heating, of which 60 % undergo maximum heating over the North Atlantic but generally closer to the time of arrival in the block and further upstream relative to heated trajectories associated with Ural blocking. This study suggests that, in addition to the ability of blocks to guide cyclones northwards, Atlantic cyclones play a significant role in the dynamics of high-latitude blocking by providing low-PV air via moist-diabatic processes. This emphasizes the importance of the mutual interactions between mid-latitude cyclones and Eurasian blocking for wintertime Arctic warm extremes.

Microphysics Impacts on the Warm Conveyor Belt and Ridge Building of the NAWDEX IOP6 Cyclone

AbstractThis study investigates diabatic processes along the warm conveyor belt (WCB) of a deep extratropical cyclone observed in the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment (NAWDEX). The aim is to investigate the effect of two different microphysics schemes, the one-moment scheme ICE3 and the quasi two-moment scheme LIMA, on the WCB and the ridge building downstream. ICE3 and LIMA also differ in the processes of vapor deposition on hydrometeors in cold and mixed-phase clouds. Latent heating in ICE3 is found to be dominated by deposition on ice while the heating in LIMA is distributed among depositions on ice, snow, and graupel. ICE3 is the scheme leading to the largest number of WCB trajectories (30% more than LIMA) due to greater heating rates over larger areas. The consequence is that the size of the upper-level ridge grows more rapidly in ICE3 than LIMA, albeit with some exceptions in localized regions of the cyclonic branch of the WCB. A comparison with various observations (airborne remote sensing measurements, dropsondes, and satellite data) is then performed. Below the melting layer, the observed reflectivity is rather well reproduced by the model. Above the melting layer, in the middle of the troposphere, the reflectivity and retrieved ice water content are largely underestimated by both schemes while at upper levels, the ICE3 scheme performs much better than LIMA in agreement with a closer representation of the observed winds by ICE3. These results underline the strong sensitivity of upper-level dynamics to ice-related processes.

Systematic assessment of the diabatic processes that modify low-level potential vorticity in extratropical cyclones

Abstract. Diabatic processes significantly affect the development and structure of extratropical cyclones. Previous studies quantified the dynamical relevance of selected diabatic processes by studying their influence on potential vorticity (PV) in individual cyclones. However, a more general assessment of the relevance of all PV-modifying processes in a larger ensemble of cyclones is currently missing. Based on a series of twelve 35 d model simulations using the Integrated Forecasting System of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, this study systematically quantifies the diabatic modification of positive and negative low-level PV anomalies along the cold front, warm front, and in the center of 288 rapidly intensifying extratropical cyclones. Diabatic PV modification is assessed by accumulating PV tendencies associated with each parametrized process along 15 h backward trajectories. The primary processes that modify PV typically remain temporally consistent during cyclone intensification. However, a pronounced case-to-case variability is found when comparing the most important processes across individual cyclones. Along the cold front, PV is primarily generated by condensation in half of the investigated cyclones in the cold season (October to March). For most of the remaining cyclones, convection or long-wave radiative cooling is the most important process. Similar results are found in the warm season (April to September); however, the fraction of cyclones with PV generation by convection as the most important process is reduced. Negative PV west of the cold front is primarily produced by turbulent mixing of momentum, long-wave radiative heating, or turbulent mixing of temperature. The positive PV anomaly at the warm front is most often primarily generated by condensation in the cold season and by turbulent mixing of momentum in the warm season. Convection is the most important process only in a few cyclones. Negative PV along the warm front is primarily produced by long-wave radiative heating, turbulent mixing of temperature, or melting of snow in the cold season. Turbulent mixing of temperature becomes the primary process in the warm season, followed by melting of snow and turbulent mixing of momentum. The positive PV anomaly in the cyclone center is primarily produced by condensation in most cyclones, with only few cases primarily associated with turbulent mixing or convection. A composite analysis further reveals that cyclones primarily associated with PV generation by convection exhibit a negative air–surface temperature difference in the warm sector, which promotes a heat flux directed into the atmosphere. These cyclones generally occur over warm ocean currents in the cold season. On the other hand, cyclones that occur in a significantly colder environment are often associated with a positive air–surface temperature difference in the warm sector, leading to PV generation by long-wave radiative cooling. Finally, long-wave radiative heating due to a negative air–surface temperature difference in the cold sector produces negative PV along the cold and warm front, in particular in the cold season.

Analysis of the Transition of an Explosive Cyclone to a Mediterranean Tropical-like Cyclone

This study investigates the dynamics of the development phases of a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone (medicane) in the southern Ionian Sea, on 28 September 2018 that caused high impact phenomena in the central and eastern Mediterranean, focusing on the transition from explosive cyclone to medicane. The symmetry and the warm core structure of the system have been demonstrated via phase space diagrams determining three phases of the system development that are then supported on a dynamical basis. During the first phase of the system, baroclinic instability triggered the formation of the explosive cyclone, when strong upper-level PV anomalies at the dynamic tropopause level moved towards a pre-existed area of enhanced low-level baroclinicity over the coastal areas of Libya along with positive SST anomalies. The surface frontal structure was enhanced under the influence of the upper-level dynamic processes. During the second phase when the medicane formed, low-level diabatic processes determined the evolution of the surface cyclone, without any significant support from baroclinic processes in the upper troposphere. The distortion of the low-level baroclinicity and the frontal structure began after the initial weakening of the upper-level dynamics. During the third phase, the system remained barotropic, being affected by similar mechanisms as in the second phase but with lower intensity. The transition mechanism is not only the result of the seclusion of warm air in the cyclone core but, mainly, the continuation of an explosive cyclone or an intense cyclone when the occlusion began to form.

Relative humidity gradients as a key constraint on terrestrial water and energy fluxes

Abstract. Earth's climate and water cycle are highly dependent on terrestrial evapotranspiration and the associated flux of latent heat. Although it has been hypothesized for over 50 years that land dryness becomes embedded in atmospheric conditions through evaporation, underlying physical mechanisms for this land–atmosphere coupling remain elusive. Here, we use a novel physically based evaporation model to demonstrate that near-surface atmospheric relative humidity (RH) fundamentally coevolves with RH at the land surface. The new model expresses the latent heat flux as a combination of thermodynamic processes in the atmospheric surface layer. Our approach is similar to the Penman–Monteith equation but uses only routinely measured abiotic variables, avoiding the need to parameterize surface resistance. We applied our new model to 212 in situ eddy covariance sites around the globe and to the FLUXCOM global-scale evaporation product to partition observed evaporation into diabatic vs. adiabatic thermodynamic processes. Vertical RH gradients were widely observed to be near zero on daily to yearly timescales for local as well as global scales, implying an emergent land–atmosphere equilibrium. This equilibrium allows for accurate evaporation estimates using only the atmospheric state and radiative energy, regardless of land surface conditions and vegetation controls. Our results also demonstrate that the latent heat portion of available energy (i.e., evaporative fraction) at local scales is mainly controlled by the vertical RH gradient. By demonstrating how land surface conditions become encoded in the atmospheric state, this study will improve our fundamental understanding of Earth's climate and the terrestrial water cycle.

Idealised 3D simulations of diabatically forced Ledoux convection

Aims.We investigate the impact of dimensionality, resolution, and long timescales on convective numerical simulations forced by thermo-compositional diabatic processes. We focus our study on simulations that are stable to the Schwarzschild criterion but unstable to the Ledoux one (i.e. simulations with a stabilising temperature gradient and a destabilising mean-molecular-weight gradient). We aim to establish the possibility of a reduced temperature gradient in such setups.Methods.A suite of 3D simulations incorporating both time series and convergence studies were conducted using a high-performance numerical hydrodynamic code. We used, as a simplified and idealised test case, a sample region of the secondary atmosphere of a hot rocky exoplanet, of the order of the scale height of the system, within which the chemical transition CO + O ↔ CO2could occur. Newtonian cooling was employed to force an equilibrium temperature, and a chemical source term was used to maintain a negative mean-molecular-weight gradient in the vertical direction.Results.Our results demonstrate that a mean-molecular-weight gradient and a chemical source term can reduce the atmosphere temperature gradient, a result that does not converge away with resolution and is stable when exploring long timescales. Simulations in two dimensions are prone to the development of shear modes, as already seen in the literature for double-diffusive convection. The 3D convective steady state is not impacted by these shear modes, suggesting that this phenomenon is linked to the dimensionality of the problem. We also show that the presence of the reduced temperature gradient is a function of the forcing timescales, disappearing if the chemical forcing is too slow. We find that the above transition leads to a bifurcation of the atmosphere’s temperature profile when the chemical forcing is fast. Such a bifurcation is reminiscent of the bifurcation seen in the boiling crisis for steam or liquid convection.Conclusions.With the reduced temperature gradient in these idealised setups, there exists the possibility of an analogy of the reddening (currently observed in the spectra of brown dwarfs) in the spectra of rocky exoplanet atmospheres. This possibility needs, however, to be checked with detailed 1D models in order to precisely characterise the equilibrium thermal and compositional gradients, the thermal and compositional forcing timescales, and the impact of a realistic equation of state to, in turn, assess if the regime identified here will develop in realistic situations. However, the possibility of this reddening cannot be excluded a priori. This prediction is new for terrestrial atmospheres and represents strong motivation for the use of diabatic models when analysing the atmospheric spectra of rocky exoplanets that will be observed with, for example, theJames WebbSpace Telescope.

Measuring and Replicating the 1–20 μm Energy Distributions of the Coldest Brown Dwarfs: Rotating, Turbulent, and Nonadiabatic Atmospheres

Abstract Cold, low-mass, field brown dwarfs are important for constraining the terminus of the stellar mass function, and also for optimizing atmospheric studies of exoplanets. In 2020 new model grids for such objects were made available: Sonora-Bobcat and ATMO 2020. Also, new candidate cold brown dwarfs were announced, and new spectroscopic observations at λ ≈ 4.8 μm were published. In this paper we present new infrared photometry for some of the coldest brown dwarfs, and put the new data and models together to explore the properties of these objects. We reconfirm the importance of mixing in these atmospheres, which leads to CO and NH3 abundances that differ by orders of magnitude from chemical equilibrium values. We also demonstrate that the new models retain the known factor ≳3 discrepancy with observations at 2 ≲ λ μm ≲ 4, for brown dwarfs cooler than 600 K. We show that the entire 1 ≲ λ μm ≲ 20 energy distribution of six brown dwarfs with 260 ≤ T eff K ≤ 475 can be well reproduced, for the first time, by model atmospheres which include disequilibrium chemistry as well as a photospheric temperature gradient which deviates from the standard radiative/convective equilibrium value. This change to the pressure–temperature profile is not unexpected for rotating and turbulent atmospheres that are subject to diabatic processes. A limited grid of modified-adiabat model colors is generated, and used to estimate temperatures and metallicities for the currently known Y dwarfs. A compilation of the photometric data used here is given in Appendix C.

Modulation of Atmospheric Rivers by Mesoscale Frontal Waves and Latent Heating: Comparison of Two U.S. West Coast Events

AbstractA complex and underexplored relationship exists between atmospheric rivers (ARs) and mesoscale frontal waves (MFWs). The present study further explores and quantifies the importance of diabatic processes to MFW development and the AR–MFW interaction by simulating two ARs impacting Northern California’s flood-vulnerable Russian River watershed using the Model for Prediction Across Scales-Atmosphere (MPAS-A) with and without the effects of latent heating. Despite the storms’ contrasting characteristics, diabatic processes within the system were critical to the development of MFWs, the timing and magnitude of integrated vapor transport (IVT), and precipitation impacts over the Russian River watershed in both cases. Low-altitude circulations and lower-tropospheric moisture content in and around the MFWs are considerably reduced without latent heating, contributing to a decrease in moisture transport, moisture convergence, and IVT. Differences in IVT are not consistently dynamic (i.e., wind-driven) or thermodynamic (i.e., moisture-driven), but instead vary by case and by time throughout each event. For one event, AR conditions over the watershed persisted for 6 h less and the peak IVT occurred 6 h earlier and was reduced by ~17%; weaker orographic and dynamic precipitation forcings reduced precipitation totals by ~64%. Similarly, turning off latent heating shortened the second event by 24 h and reduced precipitation totals by ~49%; the maximum IVT over the watershed was weakened by ~42% and delayed by 18 h. Thus, sufficient representation of diabatic processes, and by inference, water vapor initial conditions, is critical for resolving MFWs, their feedbacks on AR evolution, and associated precipitation forecasts on watershed scales.

Dynamics of forecast‐error growth along cut‐off Sanchez and its consequence for the prediction of a high‐impact weather event over southern France

AbstractThe representation of a high‐impact weather (HIW) event over southern France is evaluated in Météo‐France forecasts, and the sensitivity of the HIW forecast to the upstream upper‐level flow and the Mediterranean and North Atlantic humidity structure prior to the event is quantified. The event occurred in October 2016 during the international field experiment NAWDEX. The approach of an upper‐level potential vorticity (PV) cut‐off, referred to as cut‐off , triggered extreme precipitation over southern France. Many 2‐ to 7‐day ensemble forecasts predicted the maximum of the extreme precipitation and the location of the upper‐level PV cut‐off too far to the east. This eastward shift primarily resulted from an underestimation of the cut‐off intensity two days before the HIW and the subsequent downstream propagation and amplification of these errors in the vicinity of . Improving the representation of the cut‐off two days before the event significantly improved the forecast quality. Another error source were inaccuracies in the moisture structure in the eastern North Atlantic. Specifically, an underestimation of the moisture in the warm conveyor belt inflow led to errors in the low‐ and upper‐level circulation that eventually contributed to the eastward shift of the HIW two days later. Corrections in the eastern North Atlantic humidity structure further improved the forecast quality. On the other hand, corrections in the Mediterranean humidity structure had only a small impact on the accuracy of the forecast. The findings illustrate the importance of downstream error propagation and moist diabatic processes for the prediction of extreme weather over Europe, and demonstrate how targeted changes in the PV and humidity field a few days in advance can improve the quality of the forecasts.

Super Residual Circulation: a new perspective on ocean vertical heat transport

AbstractOcean circulation and mixing regulate Earth’s climate by moving heat vertically within the ocean. We present a new formalism to diagnose the role of ocean circulation and diabatic processes in setting vertical heat transport in ocean models. In this formalism we use temperature tendencies, rather than explicit vertical velocities to diagnose circulation. Using quasi-steady state simulations from the Australian Community Climate and Earth-System Simulator Ocean Model (ACCESS-OM2), we diagnose a diathermal overturning circulation in temperature-depth space. Furthermore, projection of tendencies due to diabatic processes onto this coordinate permits us to represent these as apparent overturning circulations. Our framework permits us to extend the concept of Super-Residual Transport (SRT), which combines mean and eddy advection terms with subgridscale isopycnal mixing due to mesoscale eddies, but excludes small-scale three dimensional turbulent mixing effect, to construct a new overturning circulation – the ‘Super Residual Circulation’ (SRC).We find that in the coarse resolution version of ACCESS-OM2 (nominally 1° horizontal resolution) the SRC is dominated by an ~11 Sv circulation which transports heat upward. The SRC’s upward heat transport is ~2 times larger in a finer horizontal resolution (0.1°) version of ACCESS, suggesting a differing balance of super-residual and parameterized small-scale processes may emerge as eddies are resolved. Our analysis adds new insight into super-residual processes, as the SRC elucidates the pathways in temperature and depth space along which watermass transformation occurs.

Modulation of Cross-Isothermal Velocities with ENSO in the Tropical Pacific Cold Tongue

AbstractThe tropical Pacific Ocean cold tongue (CT) plays a major role in the global climate system. The strength of the CT sets the zonal temperature gradient in the Pacific that couples with the atmospheric Walker circulation. This coupling is an essential component of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The CT is supplied with cold water by the Equatorial Undercurrent that follows the thermocline as it shoals toward the east, adiabatically transporting cold water toward the surface. As the thermocline shoals, its water is transformed through diabatic processes, producing water mass transformation (WMT) that allows water to cross mean isotherms. Here, we examine WMT in the cold-tongue region from a global high-resolution ocean simulation with saved budget terms that close its heat budget exactly. Using the terms of the heat budget, we quantify each individual component of WMT (vertical mixing, horizontal mixing, eddy fluxes, and solar penetration) and find that vertical mixing is the single most important contribution in the thermocline and solar heating dominates close to the surface. Horizontal diffusion is much smaller. During El Niño events, vertical mixing, and hence cross-isothermal flow as a whole, are much reduced, whereas, during La Niña periods, strong vertical mixing leads to strong WMT, thereby cooling the surface. This analysis demonstrates the enhancement of diabatic processes during cold events, which in turn enhances cooling of the CT from below the surface.

The Influence of Antecedent Atmospheric River Conditions on Extratropical Cyclogenesis

AbstractSome extratropical cyclones (ETC) begin their development in close proximity to a preexisting atmospheric river (AR). This study investigates the differences in the cyclogenesis stage between these cyclogenesis events and those that begin without an AR nearby. Well-established ETC and AR detection methods are applied to reanalysis over the North Pacific during the 1979–2009 cool seasons (November–March). Of the 3137 cyclogenesis cases detected, 35% are associated with a nearby AR at the time of initial cyclogenesis. Of all 448 cyclones that deepened explosively in the 24 h after their initiation, 60% began with a preexisting AR nearby. The roles of both dry and diabatic processes that contribute to cyclogenesis are examined, specifically, low-level baroclinicity, upper-level forcing, water vapor inflow, and latent heating. ETCs that develop associated with a preexisting AR receive nearly 80% more water vapor inflow on average, enhancing latent heating and intensifying cyclone deepening in the genesis stage. In contrast, neither low-level baroclinicity nor upper-level potential vorticity exhibit statistically significant differences between cyclogenesis events with and without an AR. Cyclogenesis events associated with an exceptionally strong AR at the ETC initial time deepen even more rapidly in the genesis stage, indicating that the intensity of an antecedent AR can modulate cyclogenesis. About half of the cyclogenesis cases off the U.S. West Coast are associated with ARs at their initial time. These results imply that errors in initial conditions related to ARs can contribute to errors in both AR and ETC predictions, as well as their concomitant impacts.

Using ‘heat tagging’ to understand the remote influence of atmospheric diabatic heating through long-range transport

AbstractIn the circulating atmosphere, diabatic heating influences the potential temperature content of air masses far from where the heating occurs. Budgets that balance local diabatic sources with local heat divergence and storage do not retain information about this remote influence, which requires air-mass tracking. In this study, a process based, passive-tracer diagnostic, called heat tagging, is introduced. Heat tagging locally decomposes the potential temperature into contributions from the distinctive diabatic processes that generate them, wherever they occur. The distribution, variability and transport of atmospheric heat tags are studied in the relatively simple setting of an idealized aquaplanet model. Heat tags from latent heating are generated in the deep tropics and the midlatitude storm track and then transported throughout the troposphere. By contrast dry sensible heat tags are enhanced near the surface, and radiative tags are mainly confined to the stratosphere. As a result, local heat transport, variability of potential temperature and global poleward heat transport are dominated by heat tags related to latent heating, with heat tags from sensible and radiative heating only making contributions in the polar near surface and the stratosphere respectively. Heat tagging thus quantifies how water vapor and latent heating link the structural characteristics of the atmosphere and illustrates the importance of the hydrological cycle in poleward energy transport.

A process-based anatomy of Mediterranean cyclones: from baroclinic lows to tropical-like systems

Abstract. In this study, we address the question of the atmospheric processes that turn Mediterranean cyclones into severe storms. Our approach applies online potential vorticity (PV) budget diagnostics and piecewise PV inversion to WRF model simulations of the mature stage of 100 intense Mediterranean cyclones. We quantify the relative contributions of different processes to cyclone development and therefore deliver, for the first time, a comprehensive insight into the variety of cyclonic systems that develop in the Mediterranean from the perspective of cyclone dynamics. In particular, we show that all 100 cyclones are systematically influenced by two main PV anomalies: a major anomaly in the upper troposphere, related to the baroclinic forcing of cyclone development, and a minor anomaly in the lower troposphere, related to diabatic processes and momentum forcing of wind. Among the diabatic processes, latent heat is shown to act as the main PV source (reinforcing cyclones), being partly balanced by PV sinks of temperature diffusion and radiative cooling (weakening cyclones). Momentum forcing is shown to have an ambiguous feedback, able to reinforce and weaken cyclones while in certain cases playing an important role in cyclone development. Piecewise PV inversion shows that most cyclones develop due to the combined effect of both baroclinic and diabatic forcing, i.e. due to both PV anomalies. However, the stronger the baroclinic forcing, the less a cyclone is found to develop due to diabatic processes. Several pairs of exemplary cases are used to illustrate the variety of contributions of atmospheric processes to the development of Mediterranean cyclones: (i) cases where both baroclinic and diabatic processes contribute to cyclone development; (ii) cases that mainly developed due to latent-heat release; (iii) cases developing in the wake of the Alps; and (iv) two unusual cases, one where momentum forcing dominates cyclone development and the other presenting a dual-surface pressure centre. Finally, we focus on 10 medicane cases (i.e. tropical-like cyclones). In contrast to their tropical counterparts – but in accordance with most intense Mediterranean cyclones – most medicanes are shown to develop under the influence of both baroclinic and diabatic processes. In discussion of medicane-driving processes, we highlight the need for a physical definition of these systems.

Representation by two climate models of the dynamical and diabatic processes involved in the development of an explosively deepening cyclone during NAWDEX

Abstract. The dynamical and microphysical properties of a well-observed cyclone from the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment (NAWDEX), called the Stalactite cyclone and corresponding to intensive observation period 6, is examined using two atmospheric components (ARPEGE-Climat 6.3 and LMDZ6A) of the global climate models CNRM-CM6-1 and IPSL-CM6A, respectively. The hindcasts are performed in “weather forecast mode”, run at approximately 150–200 km (low resolution, LR) and approximately 50 km (high resolution, HR) grid spacings, and initialised during the initiation stage of the cyclone. Cyclogenesis results from the merging of two relative vorticity maxima at low levels: one associated with a diabatic Rossby vortex (DRV) and the other initiated by baroclinic interaction with a pre-existing upper-level potential vorticity (PV) cut-off. All hindcasts produce (to some extent) a DRV. However, the second vorticity maximum is almost absent in LR hindcasts because of an underestimated upper-level PV cut-off. The evolution of the cyclone is examined via the quasi-geostrophic ω equation which separates the diabatic heating component from the dynamical one. In contrast to some previous studies, there is no change in the relative importance of diabatic heating with increased resolution. The analysis shows that LMDZ6A produces stronger diabatic heating compared to ARPEGE-Climat 6.3. Hindcasts initialised during the mature stage of the cyclone are compared with airborne remote-sensing measurements. There is an underestimation of the ice water content in the model compared to the one retrieved from radar-lidar measurements. Consistent with the increased heating rate in LMDZ6A compared to ARPEGE-Climat 6.3, the sum of liquid and ice water contents is higher in LMDZ6A than ARPEGE-Climat 6.3 and, in that sense, LMDZ6A is closer to the observations. However, LMDZ6A strongly overestimates the fraction of super-cooled liquid compared to the observations by a factor of approximately 50.

Variational optimization of the quantum annealing schedule for the Lechner-Hauke-Zoller scheme

The annealing schedule is optimized for a parameter in the Lechner-Hauke-Zoller (LHZ) scheme for quantum annealing designed for the all-to-all-interacting Ising model representing generic combinatorial optimization problems. We adapt the variational approach proposed by Matsuura et al. (arXiv:2003.09913) to the annealing schedule of a term representing a constraint for variables intrinsic to the LHZ scheme with the annealing schedule of other terms kept intact. Numerical results for a simple ferromagnetic model and the spin-glass problem show that nonmonotonic annealing schedules optimize the performance measured by the residual energy and the final ground-state fidelity. This improvement does not accompany a notable increase in the instantaneous energy gap, which suggests the importance of a dynamical viewpoint in addition to static analyses in the study of practically relevant diabatic processes in quantum annealing.

Quantifying the circulation induced by convective clouds in kilometer-scale simulations.

The complex coupling between the large‐scale atmospheric circulation, which is explicitly resolved in modern numerical weather and climate models, and cloud‐related diabatic processes, which are parameterized, is an important source of error in weather predictions and climate projections. To quantify the interactions between clouds and the large‐scale circulation, a method is employed that attributes a far‐ and near‐field circulation to the cloud system. The method reconstructs the cloud‐induced flow based on estimates of vorticity and divergence over a limited domain and does not require the definition of a background flow. It is subsequently applied to 12‐ and 2‐km simulations of convective clouds, which form within the large‐scale cloud band ahead of the upper‐level jet associated with an extratropical cyclone over the North Atlantic. The cloud‐induced circulation is directed against the jet, reaches up to 10 ms, and compares well between both simulations. The flow direction is in agreement with what can be expected from a vorticity dipole that forms in the vicinity of the clouds. Hence, in the presence of embedded convection, the wind speed does not steadily decrease away from the jet, as it does in cloud‐free regions, but exhibits a pronounced negative anomaly, which can now be explained by the cloud‐induced circulation. Furthermore, the direction of the reconstructed circulation suggests that the cloud induces a flow that counteracts its advection by the jet. Convective clouds therefore propagate more slowly than their surroundings, which may affect the distribution of precipitation. The method could be used to compare cloud‐induced flow at different resolutions and between different parameterizations.

Synoptic and dynamic analysis of a flash flood-inducing heavy rainfall event in arid and semi-arid central-northern Iran and its simulation using the WRF model

The synoptic and dynamic aspects of heavy rainfall occurred on 5th May 2017 and caused flash flooding in arid and semi-arid central-northern Iran is analyzed by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. This system synoptically is attributed to a surface low-pressure centered over southern Iran extended to the central parts, linking to a mid-tropospheric tilted-trough over western Iran, and advecting significant moisture from the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea to the studied area. The dynamical analysis revealed that the penetration of the upper-tropospheric potential vorticity streamer up to 300 hPa level was not related to such heavy rainfall. Contrarily, the low-level factors such as extensive moisture advection, mid-tropospheric diabatic processes such as the latent heat release, daytime deep convection, and topographical impact of Zagros Mountains were found as the key factors leading to this system. This study also examines 11 different convection schemes simulated by the WRF model and verified against rainfall observation. The forecast skills of the output simulations suggest the Grell-Devenyi scheme as the superior configuration in simulating observed precipitation of the event over the area.

Rotational spectral modulation of cloudless atmospheres for L/T brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planets

Aims. The rotational spectral modulation (spectro-photometric variability) of brown dwarfs is usually interpreted as a sign indicating the presence of inhomogeneous cloud covers in the atmosphere. This paper is aimed at exploring the role of temperature fluctuations in these spectral modulations. These fluctuations could naturally arise in a convective atmosphere impacted by such diabatic processes as complex chemistry, namely, a mechanism recently proposed to explain the L/T transition: CO/CH4 radiative convection. Methods. After exploring the observed spectral-flux ratios between different objects along the cooling sequence, we used the 1D radiative-convective code ATMO, with ad hoc modifications of the temperature gradient, to model the rotational spectral modulation of 2MASS 1821, 2MASS 0136, and PSO 318.5-22. We also explored the impact of CH4 abundance fluctuations on the spectral modulation of 2MASS 0136. Results. The spectral-flux ratio of different objects along the cooling sequence and the rotational spectral modulation within individual objects at the L/T transition have similar characteristics. This strongly suggests that the main parameter varying along the cooling sequence, namely, temperature, might play a key role in the rotational spectral modulations at the L/T transition. Modeling the spectral bright-to-faint ratio of the modulation of 2MASS 1821, 2MASS 0136, and PSO 318.5-22 shows that most spectral characteristics can be reproduced by temperature variations alone. Furthermore, the approximately anti-correlated variability between different wavelengths can be easily interpreted as a change in the temperature gradient in the atmosphere, which is a consequence we expect from CO/CH4 radiative convection as an explanation of the L/T transition. The deviation from an exact anti-correlation could then be interpreted as a phase shift similar to the hot-spot shift at different bandpasses in the atmospheres of hot Jupiters. Conclusions. Our results suggest that the rotational spectral modulation from cloud opacity and temperature variations are degenerate. If the nearly anti-correlated signal between different wavelengths is, indeed, a strong sign of a change in the temperature gradient, the detection of direct cloud spectral signatures, for instance, the silicate absorption feature at 10 μm, would help to confirm the presence of clouds and their contribution to spectral modulations (which does not exclude temperature variations or other mechanisms that may also be at play). Future studies considering the differences in the spectral modulation of objects with and without the silicate absorption feature may give us some insight into how to distinguish cloud-opacity fluctuations from temperature fluctuations.

Key Role of Diabatic Processes in Regulating Warm Water Volume Variability over ENSO Events

AbstractThe equatorial Pacific warm water volume (WWV), defined as the volume of water warmer than 20°C near the equator, is a key predictor for El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and yet much about the individual processes that influence it remains unknown. In this study, we conduct idealized ENSO simulations forced with symmetric El Niño– and La Niña–associated atmospheric anomalies as well as a historical 1979–2016 hindcast simulation. We use the water mass transformation framework to examine the individual contributions of diabatic and adiabatic processes to changes in WWV. We find that in both sets of simulations, El Niño’s discharge and La Niña’s recharge periods are initiated by diabatic fluxes of volume across the 20°C isotherm associated with changes in surface forcing and vertical mixing. Changes in adiabatic horizontal volume transport above 20°C between the equator and subtropical latitudes dominate at a later stage. While surface forcing and vertical mixing deplete WWV during El Niño, surface forcing during La Niña drives a large increase partially compensated for by a decrease driven by vertical mixing. On average, the ratio of diabatic to adiabatic contributions to changes in WWV during El Niño is about 40% to 60%; during La Niña this ratio changes to 75% to 25%. The increased importance of the diabatic processes during La Niña, especially the surface heat fluxes, is linked to the shoaling of the 20°C isotherm in the eastern equatorial Pacific and is a major source of asymmetry between the two ENSO phases, even in the idealized simulations where the wind forcing and adiabatic fluxes are symmetric.