Spectra of surface wind speed and air temperature over the ocean in the mesoscale frequency range in JASIN-1978

✍ Scribed by Hiroshi Ishida

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 779 KB
• Volume: 47
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0006-8314
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00122323

✦ Synopsis

Based on the data from an array of buoys during the JASIN-1978 field experiment made in an area northwest of Scotland, power spectra of surface wind speed and air temperature over the ocean in the mesoscale frequency range were studied. The averaged composite spectrum of wind speed for the whole period shows the existence of a spectral gap in the frequency range from lo-" to 5 x 10m3 Hz. However, significant peaks in this range are often seen in particular spectra under certain weather conditions. Mesoscale spectral peaks of wind speed occur in 14 segments of the data record, approximately 10% of the total duration of the observations. In 4 of these segments, the mesoscale spectral peaks of both wind speed and air temperature occurred simultaneously. Several wave patterns of mesoscale atmospheric disturbances when mesoscale spectral peaks were seen are derived from phase differences between buoys. Significant mesoscale peaks in spectra appear in relatively strong winds and unstable or near-neutral atmospheric conditions, and none in stable atmospheric conditions. A criterion of wind speed and atmospheric stability is found for the mesoscale spectral peak appearance.