The Arc Cloud Complex. A Case Study.
Abstract
A detailed investigation of an arc cloud complex (ACC) using satellite, radar, rawinsonde, surface, and hourly precipitation data is documented. The fields of divergence and equivalent potential temperature were numerically determined. The ACC was produced by a mesoscale convective system (MCS) which was associated with a mid-tropospheric short-wave trough. The wind field at the surface within the ACC was highly divergent. It was deduced that the origin of the low-level air within the ACC was near the 700 mb level and that the origin of the updraft air was from a southerly low-level jet across West Texas. The edge of the ACC was characterized by strong wind shear. The precipitation structure of and behind the gust front while it was under the MCS cloud shield as similar to that in tropical convective systems. Convection which developed along the arc cloud become more intense than the convection which produced the arc cloud, and resulted in the formation of a larger, more significant MCS.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA145384
Entities
People
- R. L. Miller
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology