Numerical Simulation of Coastal Trapped Disturbances Along the U.S. West Coast
Abstract
LONG TERM GOALS. The long-term goal of this research is to better understand and explain the initiation, propagation and demise of trapped atmospheric disturbances in the coastal marine boundary layer, particularly those which have been observed to occur along the US West Coast. In particular we wish to obtain a better understanding of how topographic variability along the west coast of North America influences the evolution, propagation, and decay of Coastal Trapped Disturbances (CTD). Emphasis will be placed on examining the termination of events which observations to date suggest may occur in the vicinity of bends, such as Cape Mendocino and Cape Blanco. A secondary objective is to determine whether a reduced gravity model (applied to these events in previous work) is a good approximation of the coastal atmosphere during CTD events. It is anticipated that this improved understanding will lead to enhanced forecasting of CTD and their impact. OBJECTIVES. Our proposed research has the objective of determining firstly, what forces CTD generation, secondly, what the fundamental dynamics responsible for CTD generation are, thirdly, how topographic variability along the U.S. west coast influences CTD propagation and demise, fourthly, the sensitivity of CTD propagation and evolution to variability in surface heating and frictional gradients, and lastly, whether a reduced-gravity approximation of the atmospheric stratification and wind distributions is a reasonable assumption. These objectives build on those originally proposed and take into account some of the important theoretical and observational findings made during the previous few years by various members of the ARI.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA637162
Entities
People
- C. J. Reason
- P. L. Jackson
Organizations
- University of Melbourne