Finescale Vertical Structure and Dynamics of Some Dryline Boundaries Observed in IHOP

Abstract

Several radar fine lines, all with a humidity contrast, were sampled in the central Great Plains during the 2002 International H2O Project (IHOP). This study primarily uses aircraft and airborne millimeter-wave radar observations to dynamically interpret the presence and vertical structure of these fine lines as they formed within the well-developed convective boundary layer. In all cases the fine line represents a boundary layer convergence zone. This convergence sustains a sharp contrast in humidity, and usually in potential temperature, across the fine line. The key question addressed herein is whether, at the scale examined here (?10 km), the airmass contrast itself, in particular the horizontal density (virtual potential temperature) difference and resulting solenoidal circulation, is responsible for the sustained convergence and the radar fine line. For the 10 cases examined herein, the answer is affirmative.