Numerical Studies of Meteor Crater Cold Pool Responses to Realistic Dynamical and Radiative Forcing and Comparisons with METCRAX Measurements

该奖项由2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助。流星陨石坑实验(METCRAX)于2006年10月在亚利桑那州的流星陨石坑进行，因为那里经常出现稳定的冷池并伴随着良性的边界层流动。METCRAX研究的动机是更好地了解影响冷池形成、演化和解体的动力和辐射过程。小的空间尺度使得能够广泛地测量和量化一些非常有趣的冷池反应，包括平均和可变的外部边界层流的强迫、辐射加热和冷却的强迫、不稳定和混合以及不同时期的潮汐反应。到目前为止，METCRAX数据分析和数值研究导致了对冷池动力学的一些重要见解。这项新的研究将通过应用于1)更复杂和真实的边界层流动，2)真实的边界层层结廓线，3)真实的而不是理想轴对称的陨石坑地形，4)辐射强迫的冷池流动，以及5)特定的模拟和与METCRAX观测的辐射强迫流动的比较来扩展迄今进行的数值研究。这些努力将采用高分辨率光谱元素(SE)数值模拟代码。智力价值：这项额外的METCRAX研究将有助于对1)动力和辐射强迫反应的多样性，2)冷池层结侵蚀的主要机制，3)实际冷池流动与理想化描述的不同程度，以及4)高分辨率模拟是否对于描述这种影响至关重要的更多的定量理解。更广泛的影响：更全面地了解冷池动态，包括它们的形成和分解，对于边界层研究社区之外是高度相关的，这对NWP很重要，对于许多位于盆地或山谷中经历持续冷池层结的城市来说，冷池层结捕获排放和颗粒物，导致重大污染事件和健康危害，并可能影响企业、学校、地方政府、发电和交通。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The Meteor Crater Experiment (METCRAX) was performed in Arizona's Meteor Crater in October 2006 because of the frequent occurrence there of stable cold pools accompanied by benign boundary layer flows. Motivations for the METCRAX studies were a better understanding of the dynamical and radiative processes influencing cold pool formation, evolution, and breakup. The small spatial scale enabled extensive instrumentation and quantification of a number of very interesting cold pool responses, including forcing by mean and variable external boundary layer flows, forcing by radiative heating and cooling, instability and mixing, and seiche responses at various periods. METCRAX data analyses and numerical studies led to a number of important insights into cold pool dynamics to date. This new research will expand on the numerical studies performed to date through applications to 1) more complex and realistic boundary layer flows, 2) realistic boundary layer stratification profiles, 3) real, rather than idealized axisymmetric, crater terrain, 4) cold pool flows that are radiatively forced, and 5) specific simulations of, and comparisons to, METCRAX observations of seiches, instability and mixing, and radiatively-forced flows. These efforts will employ a high-resolution spectral element (SE) numerical simulation code. Intellectual Merit: This additional METCRAX research will contribute a much more quantitative understanding of 1) the diversity of responses to dynamical and radiative forcing, 2) the dominant mechanisms accounting for erosion of cold pool stratification, 3) the extent to which real cold pool flows differ from idealized descriptions, and 4) whether high-resolution modeling is essential to describing such effects. Results will also be valuable in understanding cold pool dynamics in more general basins, and thus to a broader research community.Broader Impacts: A more complete understanding of cold pool dynamics, including their formation and breakup, is highly relevant outside the boundary layer research community, important to NWP, and to many cities located in basins or valleys experiencing persistent cold pool stratification that traps emissions and particulates, causes significant pollution episodes and health hazards, and may impact businesses, schools, local government, power generation, and transportation.