Statistics of Vertical Shear from a Hemispheric Model

Abstract

Using surface atmospheric momentum and heat fluxes derived from the Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center's weather prediction models, a computation of inertial and Ekman shear was done for the upper 400 m of the North Pacific and North Atlantic. Two 60-day periods were considered in November and December of 1976 and 1980. A capability to predict these types of shear in real-time, or near real-time, is demonstrated using the Navy's TOPS(Thermodynamic Ocean Prediction System) model, A statistical analysis of the vertical shear and associated Richardson number revealed that the time variability of shear appears to be linked primarily to the synoptic time scales of weather events; and the spatial distribution of shear instability (0 or = Ri < or = 0.25) and high shear are closely related to the position of atmospheric fronts.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA136179

Entities

People

  • J. M. Harding
  • R. H. Preller
  • S. A. Piacsek

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Data Science
  • Heat Flux
  • Information Science
  • Predictive Modeling
  • Richardson Number
  • Spatial Distribution
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Statistics
  • Weather Forecasting

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Oceanography.