Investigation of a Coastally Trapped Disturbance

Abstract

The relatively shallow marine boundary layer adjacent to steep coastal topography along the California Coast give rise to a number of mesoscale phenomena, including coastally trapped disturbances (CTD's), expansion fans, land/sea breezes, low-level jets, and cyclonic eddies. CTD's occur several times each year during the period from May to early October and are easily distinguished in satellite imagery due to the distinctive narrow tongue of low clouds and fog propagating to the north along the coast. In the present study, we investigate a CTD event which occurred 15-16 June 2000. We use the Naval Research Laboratory's nonhydrostatic COAMPS(TM) model to simulate this event.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA498756

Entities

People

  • John Lewis
  • Stephen D. Burk
  • William T. Thompson

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • California
  • Dew Point
  • Heat Energy
  • Heat Flux
  • Latent Heat
  • Layers
  • Military Research
  • Pressure Gradients
  • Satellite Imaging
  • Sensitivity
  • Simulations
  • Surface Temperature
  • Surfaces
  • Wind

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Oceanography.

Technology Areas

  • Space