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http://dx.doi.org/10.5467/JKESS.2007.28.7.857

Structure and Evolution of a Numerically Simulated Thunderstorm Outflow  

Kim, Yeon-Hee (Forecast Research Laboratory, National Institute of Meteorological Research)
Baik, Jong-Jin (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korean earth science society / v.28, no.7, 2007 , pp. 857-870 More about this Journal
Abstract
The structure and evolution of a thunderstorm outflow in two dimensions with no environmental wind are investigated using a cloud-resolving model with explicit liquid-ice phase microphysical processes (ARPS: Advanced Regional Prediction System). The turbulence structure of the outflow is explicitly resolved with a high-resolution grid size of 50m. The simulated single-cell storm and its associated Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) billows are found to have the lift stages of development maturity, and decay. The secondary pulsation and splitting of convective cells resulted from interactions between cloud dynamics and microphysics are observed. The cooled downdrafts caused by the evaporation of rain and hail in the relatively dry lower atmosphere result in thunderstorm cold-air outflow. The outflow head propagates with almost constant speed. The KH billows formed by the KH instability cause turbulence mixing from the top of the outflow and control the structure of the outflow. Ihe KH billows are initiated at the outflow head, and pow and decay as moving rearward relative to the gust front. The numerical simulation results of the ratio of the horizontal wavelength of the fastest growing perturbation to the critical shear-layer depth and the ratio of the horizontal wavelength of the billow to its maximum amplitude are matched well with the results of other studies.
Keywords
thunderstorm outflow; Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability; KH billow; ARPS;
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