The Saudi Arabian Heat Low: A Numerical Perspective.
Abstract
Results are presented from several numerical experiments designed to simulate the Saudi Arabian 'heat low' and to test the sensitivity of the 'heat low' circulation to certain parameters. Data collected during the Summer Monsoon Experiment (1979) are analyzed to obtain vertical and temporal distributions of temperature, water vapor mixing ratio, and dust mass loading. These distributions, along with climatological vertical profiles of ozone and carbon dioxide, are used as input to broadband longwave and shortwave radiative transfer routines to obtain radiative heating rates over the Saudi Arabian desert and the western Arabian Sea for both clear and dust laden desert is parameterized by the net radiation at the desert surface. The sensible heat is vertically distributed over the desert according to the diurnal pattern of mixed layer growth as determined by a 1-dimensional mixed layer growth model. The horizontal gradients in the vertical distributions of radiative and sensible heating between the desert and the ocean are used to force a 2-dimensional, axisymmetric, dry, primitive equation model to simulate the 'heat low' circulation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA145575
Entities
People
- L. E. Freeman
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology