Meteorology 6210: Assignment 1


Due September 30

Purpose:

To apply Helmholtz Theorem in order to evaluate rotational and divergent components of the wind

On a workstation in the lab, bring up the Garp program from the program menu

Select the Model Plan Projection Option

Select under Area: North America

Select the MRF model run for September 23 (990923/0000F000-990923/0000F120), i.e., hours 0-120 h only

Select under Vector: Wind_kts . In the box add @300 to specify the 300 mb level

How does the wind change over the 5 day period over North America? What are the major weather features at the initial time? Where are jets located as a function of time?

Select under Scalar: VorWind_s-1 (relative vorticity).

Where are regions of strong cyclonic and anticylonic vorticity at the initial time? How do these features evolve with time?

Select under Scalar: Srm_func (stream function)

How does the streamfucntion field relate to the observed winds?

Select under Vector: Rot_Wind_kts (rotational component of the wind)

How does the magnitude and direction of the roational wind compare to the total wind? What is the relationship between streamfunction and rotational wind?

Select under Scalar: DivWind_s-1 (divergence of the wind)

How does the divergence evolve over time compared to the location of jets?

Select under Scalar: VelPot (velocity potential)

How does the velocity potential field relate to the divergence of the wind?

Select under Vector: Div_wind_kts

How does the divergent component of the wind relate to the velocity potential? In what regions is the flow primarily divergent? non-divergent? rotational and divergent winds comparable?