Coherent Turbulence in the Boundary Layer of Hurricane Rita (2005) during an Eyewall Replacement Cycle

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dc.contributor.authorGuimond, Stephen
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Jun A.
dc.contributor.authorSapp, Joseph W.
dc.contributor.authorFrasier, Stephen J.
dc.date.accessioned2018-09-10T19:26:07Z
dc.date.available2018-09-10T19:26:07Z
dc.date.issued2018-08-17
dc.description.abstractThe structure of coherent turbulence in an eyewall replacement cycle in Hurricane Rita (2005) is presented from novel airborne Doppler radar observations using the Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (IWRAP). The IWRAP measurements and three-dimensional (3D) wind vector calculations at a grid spacing of 250 m in the horizontal and 30 m in the vertical reveal the ubiquitous presence of organized turbulent eddies in the lower levels of the storm. The data presented here, and the larger collection of IWRAP measurements, currently are the highest-resolution Doppler radar 3D wind vectors ever obtained in a hurricane over the open ocean. Coincident data from NOAA airborne radars, the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer, and flight-level data help to place the IWRAP observations into context and provide independent validation. The typical characteristics of the turbulent eddies are the following: radial wavelengths of ~1ā€“3 km (mean value is ~2 km), depths from the ocean surface up to flight level (~1.5 km), aspect ratio of ~1.3, and horizontal wind speed perturbations of 10ā€“20 m sāˆ’1. The most intense eddy activity is located on the inner edge of the outer eyewall during the concentric eyewall stage with a shift to the inner eyewall during the merging stage. The evolving structure of the vertical wind shear is connected to this shift and together these characteristics have several similarities to boundary layer roll vortices. However, eddy momentum flux analysis reveals that high-momentum air is being transported upward, in contrast with roll vortices, with large positive values (~150 m2 sāˆ’2) found in the turbulent filaments. In the decaying inner eyewall, elevated tangential momentum is also being transported radially outward to the intensifying outer eyewall. These results indicate that the eddies may have connections to potential vorticity waves with possible modifications due to boundary layer shear instabilities.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipWe thank the University of Massachusetts Amherst Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory for its engineering efforts. The first author thanks Dr. Paul Reasor for discussions on this work. Author Guimond was partially supported by the NASA Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics program (Grant NNH16ZDA001N-WEATHER) directed by Ramesh Kakar. Coauthor Zhang was funded through NOAA Grant NA14NWS4680028. The NASA Ocean Vector Winds Science Team and the NOAA/NESDIS/ Center for Satellite Applications and Research Ocean Remote Sensing program provided support for IWRAP research flights and coauthors Sapp and Frasier. Finally, we thank two anonymous reviewers and Ralph Foster for their valuable comments that improved the quality of this paper.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JAS-D-17-0347.1en_US
dc.format.extent23 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/M2DR2PC6T
dc.identifier.citationGuimond, Stephen R., Jun A. Zhang, Joseph W. Sapp, and Stephen J. Frasier. " Coherent Turbulence in the Boundary Layer of Hurricane Rita (2005) during an Eyewall Replacement Cycle", Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 75, 9 (2018): 3071-3093, accessed Feb 13, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-17-0347.1en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-17-0347.1
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/11268
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherAmerican Meteorological Society (AMS)en_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Physics Department Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Faculty Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET)
dc.rightsThis item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the author.
dc.subjectEddiesen_US
dc.subjectRemote sensingen_US
dc.subjectRadars/Radar observationsen_US
dc.subjectAlgorithmsen_US
dc.subjectTurbulenceen_US
dc.subjectHurricanesen_US
dc.titleCoherent Turbulence in the Boundary Layer of Hurricane Rita (2005) during an Eyewall Replacement Cycleen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dcterms.creatorhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7185-5629

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