An Observational and Modeling Study of Two Gulf of California Surge Events.
Abstract
An observational and numerical study of two Gulf of California surges is undertaken to determine the mechanisms of surge development and evolution. While in each case the observations indicate that a boundary propagates northward over the Gulf of California, the sparsity of observations precludes the determination of a propagation mechanism. In contrast, the high resolution mesoscale model simulations provide a dynamically-consistent data set that can be used to evaluate gulf surge mechanisms. In each case the mesoscale model develops surges that move to the north-northwest along the Gulf of California consistent with the conceptual model proposed by Stensrud et al. (1996) although not predicted by the conceptual model. The stable air in the gulf region serves to allow the development and propagation of Kelvin waves northwestward along the Gulf of California and into Arizona in the mesoscale model. Results also show that the mesoscale model is overly sensitive to convection within the gulf region and produces earlier and greater precipitation than suggested in observations, indicating a possible deficiency in either the convective parameterization scheme, model initialization, or both. Nonetheless, the success of the model in reproducing the gross features of these two surge events is a significant improvement over present operational models.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA312134
Entities
People
- David S. Andrus
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology