Mesoscale History of a Small Patch of Clear Air Turbulence

Abstract

Sequential analyses of data from a network of eight special rawinsonde stations 100 km apart demonstrate the important effects of mesoscale disturbances in a 2½-hr episode of light-to-moderate clear air turbulence (CAT). The most significant feature was the development of two turbulent fields below and above a 2-km region of a wind minimum which passed over Wallops Island, Va., near 1530 GMT 4 February 1970. The small scale of these features preclude their detection in the standard 12-hr observation sequence. The rawinsonde network utilized here incorporating fine-scale details in both space and time is adequate to provide a very useful current CAT depiction and an excellent source for the preparation of a short range forecast of CAT.