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Título: Numerical study of a tornado-like vortex in a supercell storm
Autores: Santos, Jorge Ruben.
Fecha: 2008
Publicador: McGill University - MCGILL
Fuente:
Tipo: Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Tema: Vortex-motion -- Mathematical models.
Tornadoes -- Forecasting.
Descripción: Recent observations and numerical simulations have significantly improved our understanding of tornadic storms. However, our knowledge of tornado-genesis remains rudimentary. Necessary atmospheric conditions favoring the formation of tornadoes in supercell storms are known, but sufficient conditions remain elusive. The underlying reason is that the processes involved in environment-storm and storm-tornado interactions are not fully understood, as numerical models in the past lacked sufficient resolution to resolve these interactions satisfactorily. In this thesis, an attempt is made to fill this gap by performing a multi-grid high resolution simulation of a supercell storm spawning a tornado-like vortex. Four grids, with grid sizes of 600 m, 200 m, 70 m, and 30 m, are used to allow explicit simulation of storm-tornado interactions. Diagnostic analysis of the modeling results allows an investigation of the origin of rotation at both the storm scale and the tornado scale.
The simulation results showed that the origin of vertical rotation at storm scale during the early stage of storm development is due to tilting of the horizontal vorticity in the environment. This so called mesocyclone then further strengthens by the mechanism of stretching and Dynamic Pipe Effect and descends downwards. During the time of mesocyclone intensification, incipient surface vertical vortices form along the outflow boundary created by the rear flank downdraft due to the process of horizontal shear instability.
One of the surface vortices experiences an initial exponential growth in its vorticity by interacting with the descending mesocyclone and merging with multiple smaller satellite vortices. The tornado-like vortex (TLV) which forms has a maximum horizontal wind of 103 m s-1 and a minimum central pressure of 927 hPa. Vorticity budgets of the mesocyclone and the TLV are computed to assess quantitatively the importance of various processes for rotation.
Sensitivity experiments were also performed to determine the effect of varying the environmental conditions on the mesocyclone and surface vorticity. It was found that as the low-level vertical shear of the environmental wind increases, the mesocyclone intensifies and favors the intensification of near surface vorticity. The presence of drier layers in the upper and middle troposphere eventually produces a weaker mesocyclone and weaker outflow boundaries. On the other hand, inclusion of the ice phase processes produces a stronger mesocyclone and more intense outflow boundaries to enhance the intensification of near surface vorticity.
Idioma: en