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Understanding Atmospheric Circulations and Wind Systems

Explore various scales of atmospheric motions, from microscale to planetary scale, and learn about eddies, local wind systems, global wind patterns, and their effects on oceans. Dive into topics like boundary layer turbulence, weather fronts, thermal circulations, sea and land breezes, monsoons, mountain and valley breezes, desert winds, and general circulation patterns.

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Understanding Atmospheric Circulations and Wind Systems

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  1. Chapter 7: Atmospheric Circulations • Scales of atmospheric motions • Eddies - big and small • Local wind systems • Global winds • Global wind patterns and the oceans

  2. Scales of Atmospheric Motions • Microscale: meters - kilometers • Mesoscale: km – a few hundred km • synoptic scale: a few hundred km – a few thousand km • planetary scale: a few thousand km and larger Q1: what is the scale of atmospheric boundary layer turbulence? a) microscale, b) mesoscale, c) synoptic scale Q2: what is the scale of weather fronts? a) microscale, b) mesoscale, c) synoptic scale Q3: what is the scale of lake breeze over the Great Lakes a) microscale, b) mesoscale, c) synoptic scale

  3. Fig. 7-2, p. 171

  4. Eddies - Big and Small • eddy or turbulent eddy: caused by convection (heating or cooling), wind shear (or near surface wind), or waves • Rotor: caused by mountain waves wind shear: change of wind speed or direction with height

  5. Clear-air turbulence: caused by wind shear; important for aviation Billow clouds: caused by mountain waves in a wind shear zone Q4: what could cause bumpy aircraft flight in the upper troposphere? a) clear-air turbulence, b) rotor, c) billow clouds

  6. Local Wind Systems • Thermal Circulations: warm air rises and cool air sinks • Warm air leads to H in the air (i,e, pushing isobar up); • Air moves from H to L; • increases surface pressure (i.e., pushing near-surface isobar up) over cool place; • Leads to circulation from cool place to warm place near surface • Pay attention to the change of isobars with height

  7. Sea and Land Breezes • sea breeze: from sea to land • land breeze: land to sea • sea breeze front: clouds • Florida sea breezes • Sea and land breezes also occur near the shores of large lakes, such as the Great Lakes • Pay attention to the change of isobars with height Q5: which is stronger in general? a) sea breeze, b) land breeze, c) the same

  8. Q6: When do you expect to see the thunderstorm in summer in Florida? a) 10am, b) noon, c) 3pm, d) 6pm Fig. 7-6, p. 175

  9. height Q7: given the isobars as left, what is the near-surface wind direction? a) from A to B b) from B to A Q8: During the day, if you stand on beach, what would be the wind direction due to sea breeze? a) from sea to beach b) from land to sea A B

  10. Seasonally Changing Winds - the Monsoon • Monsoon wind system: change with season • India and eastern Asian monsoon • Global monsoons Q9: What are the differences and similarities between monsoon and sea/land breeze? A: Monsoon system is much greater in geographic area; changes with season; sea/land breeze changes with diurnal cycle; both due to horizontal temperature difference

  11. North American monsoon Q10: Coriolis force is important for monsoon circulation. Is it as important for sea breeze as for monsoon? a) yes b) no Q11: Still, is Coriolis force important for sea breeze? a) yes b) no

  12. Mountain and Valley Breezes • The nighttime mountain breeze is sometimes calledgravity winds or drainage winds, because gravitycauses the cold air to ‘drain’ downhill. Q12: Which is stronger in general? a) valley breeze, b) mountain breeze, c) the same • valley breeze: daytime; from valley to top • mountain breeze: nighttime; from top to valley

  13. Katabatic Winds • Strong drainage wind from cold elevated plateau down steep slope • Katabatic winds are quite fierce in parts of Antarctica, with hurricane-force wind speeds. • Bora: a cold, gusty northeasterly wind along the Adriatic coast in the former Yugoslavia

  14. Chinook (Foehn) Winds • It is called a Foehn along the leeward slopes of Alps. Q13: Which wind is weakest in general? a) drainage wind, b) katabatic wind, c) Chinook wind • Chinook winds: one type of drainage wind; warm and dry wind down the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains

  15. Chinook wall cloud indicates that chinook is coming Fig. 7-14, p. 180

  16. Santa Ana Winds • Santa Ana wind: warm, dry wind from the elevated desert plateau down to southern California • compressional heating • Could have very strong wind • wildfires Q14: which wind comes from elevated desert plateau? a) Chinook wind; b) Santa Ana wind; c) Katabatic wind; d) mountain breeze Q15: The drainage wind over the lee side of the Rocky Mountain is a) Chinook wind; b) Santa Ana wind; c) Katabatic wind; d) mountain breeze

  17. Desert Winds • dust and sand storms: occurs over arid and semiarid regions • dust devils – from surface; usually with a diameter of a few meters and a height of <100 m Q16: What is the difference between tornado and dust devil? A: Tornado is larger horizontally and deeper vertically; from cloud base down

  18. General Circulation of the Atmosphere • cause: unequal net heating of the earth’s surface and atmosphere • effect: atmospheric circulation and ocean currents to transport heat from the equator to the poles Fig. 2.17 on p. 43

  19. Single-cell Model • basic assumptions: no rotation • Originally proposed by George Hadley in England in the 18th Century • Hadley cell Q17: Why is the single-cell model wrong? A: Because single cell does not exist due to earth’s rotation • UK’s Hadley Centre for Climate Research is named after George Hadley.

  20. Three-cell Model • model for a rotating earth; realistic over the tropics in winter hemisphere: Hadley cell; doldrums; subtropical highs trade winds; intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) • Over mid- and high latitudes: Ferrel cell and polar cell do not play major roles; westerlies in the upper troposphere; polar front; polar near-surface easterlies Q18: if near-surface wind is southwesterly over NH midlatitudes, what is the direction of upper troposphere wind? a) westerly, b) easterly, c) southerly, d) northerly

  21. Fig. 7-21, p. 185

  22. Average Surface Winds and Pressure: The Real World • semipermanent highs: Bermuda high & Pacific high Pacific high moves north in summer; Bermuda high moves west in summer • Semipermanent low: Icelandic low it moves north in summer • Siberian high in winter due to very cold air • Aleutian low in winter due to storm track • ITCZ stays in the warm hemisphere (e.g., NH in July) • There are three semipermanent highs in SH

  23. Fig. 7-22a, p. 188

  24. Fig. 7-22b, p. 189

  25. The General Circulation and Precipitation Patterns • Most of the world’s thunderstorms are found along the ITCZ. • Low rainfall over the subtropical regions • Fronts and precipitation over the subpolar lows Q19: which is correct? a) desert causes subtropical high; b) subtropical high causes desert

  26. Westerly Winds and the Jet Stream • jet streams • subtropical jet stream • polar front jet stream Low-level jet stream over the Central plains of the U.S. (within 2 km above surface), bringing moist and warm air to form nighttime thunderstorms

  27. (warm) Gulf Stream; (warm) Kuroshio Current; (cold) California Current; (cold) Canary Current; Equatorial Current and Counter Current in the Pacific Global wind drives ocean current Q20: These ocean circulations are consistent with wind of a) high pressure system; b) low pressure system Fig. 7-29, p. 193

  28. Winds and Upwelling • Upwelling is strongest when wind is parallel to the coastline Q21: Why is ocean coldest in northern California? A: wind is parallel to the coastline; upwelling is strongest; cold deep water is brought to surface

  29. El Niño and the Southern Oscillation Q22: what is the El Niño? A: warming, pressure decrease, and weakened upwelling over the central and eastern Pacific; trade wind weakened as well; (cooling, pressure increase over western Pacific) • La Niña: opposite Q23: What is the Southern Oscillation (SO)? A: oscillation of surface pressure over tropical western and eastern Pacific • ENSO: El Nino and SO are closely related Q24: What is teleconnections? A: local changes affect weather in remote regions. • SST animation: http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/map/clim/sst_olr/sst_anim.shtml

  30. Thermocline is incorrect in bottom panel Fig. 7-32, p. 196

  31. ENSO is an example of a global-scale weather phenomenon. Q25: What is the El Nino effect on winter weather in the U.S.? A: Northwestern U.S. usually has a warmer winter, Southeast usualy has a wetter winter, and often Arizona has a wetter winter El Nino effect

  32. Other Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions • North Atlantic Oscillation: based on pressure difference between Bermuda and Iceland • Arctic Oscillation: pressure difference between about 45oN and Arctic • Pacific Decadal Oscillation: Pacific surface temperature pattern changes every 30-50 years

  33. Over the tropical Pacific, PDO pattern is not very different from ENSO; Over midlatitude Pacific, PDO pattern is different from ENSO Fig. 7-36, p. 199

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