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    Horizontal Wavenumber Spectra of Vertical Vorticity and Horizontal Divergence of Mesoscale Dynamics in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere Using Multistatic Specular Meteor Radar Observations
    (Malden, Mass. : American Geophysical Union, 2022) Poblet, Facundo L.; Chau, Jorge L.; Conte, J. Federico; Avsarkisov, Victor; Vierinen, Juha; Charuvil Asokan, Harikrishnan
    Specular meteor radars (SMRs) have significantly contributed to the understanding of wind dynamics in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). We present a method to estimate horizontal correlations of vertical vorticity (Qzz) and horizontal divergence (P) in the MLT, using line-of-sight multistatic SMRs velocities, that consists of three steps. First, we estimate 2D, zonal, and meridional correlation functions of wind fluctuations (with periods less than 4 hr and vertical wavelengths smaller than 4 km) using the wind field correlation function inversion (WCFI) technique. Then, the WCFI's statistical estimates are converted into longitudinal and transverse components. The conversion relation is obtained by considering the rotation about the vertical direction of two velocity vectors, from an east-north-up system to a meteor-pair-dependent cylindrical system. Finally, following a procedure previously applied in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere to airborne wind measurements, the longitudinal and transverse spatial correlations are fitted, from which Qzz, P, and their spectra are directly estimated. The method is applied to a special Spread spectrum Interferometric Multistatic meteor radar Observing Network data set, obtained over northern Germany for seven days in November 2018. The results show that in a quasi-axisymmetric scenario, P was more than five times larger than Qzz for the horizontal wavelengths range given by ∼50–400 km, indicating a predominance of internal gravity waves over vortical modes of motion as a possible explanation for the MLT mesoscale dynamics during this campaign.
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    On the upper tropospheric formation and occurrence of high and thin cirrus clouds during anticyclonic poleward Rossby wave breaking events
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2010) Eixmann, Ronald; Peters, Dieter H.W.; Zülicke, Christoph; Gerding, Michael; Dörnbrack, Andreas
    Ground-based lidar measurements and balloon soundings were employed to examine the dynamical link between anticyclonic Rossby wave breaking and cirrus clouds from 13 to 15 February 2006. For this event, an air mass with low Ertel’s potential vorticity appeared over Central Europe. In the tropopause region, this air mass was accompanied with both an area of extreme cold temperatures placed northeastward, and an area of high specific humidity, located southwestward. ECMWF analyses reveal a strong adiabatic northeastward and upward transport of water vapour within the warm conveyor belt on the western side of the ridge over Mecklenburg, Northern Germany. The backscatter lidar at K¨uhlungsborn (54.1◦N, 11.8◦E) clearly identified cirrus clouds at between 9 and 11.4 km height. In the tropopause region high-vertical resolution radiosoundings showed layers of subsaturated water vapour over ice but with a relative humidity over ice >80%. Over Northern Germany radiosondes indicated anticyclonically rotating winds in agreement with backward trajectories of ECMWF analyses in the upper troposphere, which were accompanied by a relatively strong increase of the tropopause height on 14 February. Based on ECMWF data the strong link between the large-scale structure, updraft and ice water content was shown.
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    Stokes flows under random boundary velocity excitations
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2008) Sabelfeld, Karl
    A viscous Stokes flow over a disc under random fluctuations of the velocity on the boundary is studied. We give exact Karhunen-Loève (K-L) expansions for the velocity components, pressure, stress, and vorticity, and the series representations for the corresponding correlation tensors. Both the white noise fluctuations, and general homogeneous random excitations of the velocities prescribed on the boundary are studied. We analyze the decay of correlation functions in angular and radial directions, both for exterior and interior Stokes problems. Numerical experiments show the fast convergence of the K-L expansions. The results indicate that ignoring the boundary condition uncertainty dramatically underestimates the variance of the velocity and pressure in the interior/exterior of the domain.