Diurnal Cycle of Surface Flows during 2004 NAME and Comparison to Model Reanalysis

Abstract

Abstract During the North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME), an unprecedented surface dataset was collected over the core monsoon region. Observations from 157 surface sites in this region along with twice-daily Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) oceanic winds were quality controlled and processed into a gridded dataset covering the domain (15°–40°N, 90°–120°W) at 1-h, 0.25° resolution for the period from 1 July to 15 August. Using this dataset, the mean, temporal variability, and diurnal characteristics of the monsoon surface flow are documented with detail not previously possible. Being independent of model data over land, these objectively analyzed surface products are compared to similar analyses from a special North American Regional Reanlysis for NAME (NARR_NAME) that was produced for the same period. Observed surface fields indicate that a robust land–sea breeze circulation is present over most of the Gulf of California (GoC) region in response to the strong diurnal heating of landmasses on both sides of the gulf. Many details of this land–sea breeze circulation are either missing (e.g., the nighttime/early morning land breeze) or poorly represented in the NARR_NAME. Observations from high elevation sites in the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) show weak downslope flows (∼0.5 m s−1), near-saturated conditions, and low cloud bases during nighttime hours. These observations are consistent with the notion that high-terrain nocturnal clouds limit radiational cooling and, thus, nocturnal downslope flows as well. Over land, a cool and dry bias is observed in the NARR_NAME surface fields. This dry bias appears to limit the formation of nighttime cloudiness at high elevations, resulting in stronger radiational cooling at night and slope flows in the NARR_NAME that are 2–3 times stronger than observed. In addition, the daytime transition to surface convergence and rising motion over the western slopes of the SMO occurs about 3 h earlier in the NARR_NAME than observed, which indicates the tendency in the reanalyses to initiate the daily convective cycle too early, similar to that observed in operational forecast models over this region. Following significant rainfall events, increased soil moisture and evapotranspiration due to vegetative green-up result in a smaller diurnal temperature signal over land and weaker slope flows over the SMO. In response to this weaker heating cycle, the magnitude and offshore extent of the land–sea breeze circulation is observed to diminish as the monsoon progresses.