The North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment

Andreas Schäfler (1) , Maxi Craig (2) , Heini Wernli (3) , Philippe Arbogast (4) , James Doyle (5) , Ron Mctaggart-Cowan (6) , John Methven (7) , Gwendal Rivière (8) , Felix Ament (9, 10) , Maxi Boettcher (11) , Martin Bramberger (1) , Quitterie Cazenave (12) , Richard Cotton (13) , Susanne Crewell (14) , Julien Delanoë (12) , Andreas Dörnbrack (1) , André Ehrlich (15) , Florian Ewald (1) , Andreas Fix (1) , Christian M. Grams (11) , Suzanne L. Gray (7) , Hans Grob (2) , Silke Gross (1) , Martin Hagen (1) , Ben Harvey (7) , Lutz Hirsch (16) , Marek Jacob (17) , Tobias Kölling (2) , Heike Konow (16) , Christian Lemmerz (1) , Oliver Lux (1) , Linus Magnusson (18) , Bernhard Mayer (2) , Mario Mech (17) , Richard Moore (19) , Jacques Pelon (20) , Julian Quinting (11, 21) , Stephan Rahm (1) , Markus Rapp (1) , Marc Rautenhaus (22) , Oliver Reitebuch (1) , Carolyn Reynolds (5) , Harald Sodemann (23, 24) , Thomas Spengler (23, 24) , Geraint Vaughan (25) , Manfred Wendisch (15) , Martin Wirth (1) , Benjamin Witschas (1) , Kevin Wolf (26) , Tobias Zinner (2)

1 IPA - DLR Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre
2 LMU - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
3 IAC - Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science [Zürich]
4 CNRM - Centre national de recherches météorologiques
5 NRL - Naval Research Laboratory
6 CMC - Canadian Meteorological Centre
7 Department of Meteorology [Reading]
8 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
9 UHH - Universität Hamburg
10 MPI-M - Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
11 ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich]
12 SPACE - LATMOS
13 United Kingdom Met Office [Exeter]
14 Institut für Geophysik und Meteorologie [Köln]
15 LIM - Leipziger Institut für Meteorologie
16 MPI-M - Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie
17 Universität zu Köln = University of Cologne
18 ECMWF - European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
19 MET - Norwegian Meteorological Institute [Oslo]
20 TROPO - LATMOS
21 Monash University [Clayton]
22 TUM - Technische Universität Munchen - Université Technique de Munich [Munich, Allemagne]
23 GFI / BiU - Geophysical Institute [Bergen]
24 BCCR - Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research
25 NCAS - National Centre for Atmospheric Science [Manchester]
26 Universität Leipzig

Multi-aircraft and ground-based observations were made over the North Atlantic in fall 2016 to investigate the importance of diabatic processes for midlatitude weather. The North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment (NAWDEX) explored the impact of diabatic processes on disturbances of the jet stream and their influence on downstream high-impact weather through the deployment of four research aircraft, each with a sophisticated set of remote-sensing and in situ instruments, and coordinated with a suite of ground-based measurements. A total of 49 research flights were performed, including, for the first time, coordinated flights of the four aircraft; the German High Altitude and LOng Range Research Aircraft (HALO), the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) Dassault Falcon 20, the French Service des Avions Français Instrumentés pour la Recherche en Environnement (SAFIRE) Falcon 20, and the British Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAe 146. The observation period from 17 Sep to 22 Oct 2016 with frequently occurring extratropical and tropical cyclones was ideal to investigate midlatitude weather over the North Atlantic. NAWDEX featured three sequences of upstream triggers of waveguide disturbances, their dynamic interaction with the jet stream, subsequent development, and eventual downstream weather impact on Europe. Examples are presented to highlight the wealth of phenomena that were sampled, the comprehensive coverage and the multi-faceted nature of the measurements. This unique dataset forms the basis for future case studies and detailed evaluations of weather and climate predictions to improve our understanding of diabatic influences on Rossby waves and downstream impact of weather systems affecting Europe.

Domains: Climatology; Meteorology

Andreas Schäfler, Maxi Craig, Heini Wernli, Philippe Arbogast, James Doyle, et al.. The North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 2018, 99 (8), pp.1607-1637. ⟨10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0003.1⟩. ⟨insu-01760458⟩