Nonlinear Waves ahead of Fronts in the Great Australian Bight

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates nonlinear waves ahead of cold fronts in the Great Australian Bight, south of the Australian continent. These waves often form a series of roll clouds on their crests analogous to the “morning glory,” which is observed around the Gulf of Carpentaria in northeastern Australia. High-resolution visible satellite imagery from NASA’s polar-orbiting Aqua and Terra satellites between 23 October 2004 and 29 February 2008 is used to determine how frequently these cloud lines occur ahead of cold fronts. A total of 14 cases are identified with the most cases occurring in summer and none occurring in winter. The authors hypothesize that the summer maximum is due to a combination of lower cloud amounts associated with summertime cold fronts, and a stronger maritime stable layer, which is produced as hot continental air, is advected offshore. Three cloud line events are modeled using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU–NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5, version 3.6). In each case the low-level divergence field reveals convergence lines, which coincide with the cloud lines as identified on the satellite images. In two cases vertical cross sections of virtual potential temperature and horizontal and vertical velocity through the disturbances show a cold front advancing into a stratified environment leading to wave production at the leading edge of the cold air mass. Modeled maximal upward velocities range between 0.8 and 2.5 m s−1. Surface pressure jumps of about 1 hPa associated with the propagating waves occur in each case, which coincides with that predicted by simple bore theory. In two cases the front moves at supercritical speed (i.e., the frontal speed is larger than the speed of the fastest mode of small-amplitude long waves). In the third case the front does not propagate and the nonlinear waves produced become stationary as well.