The following e-mail message was sent on September 19, 1997: Dear colleague, You are getting this message because you were involved in some way with meteorological measurements in the Labrador Sea region last winter. Two field programs which ocurred last winter were the Labrador Sea Deep Convection Experiment (LSDCE) and the Fronts and Atlantic Storm-Track Experiment (FASTEX). The former was an ONR-sponsored project with a field program centered on the Labrador Sea using the R/V Knorr, aircraft and satellites as platforms, along with a numerical modelling component. FASTEX was a large multi-national project involving several ships and aircraft in the North Atlantic during the 1996-1997 winter. There were also some other atmosphere-related field programs performed in conjunction with LSDCE and FASTEX. The primary goals of LSDCE and FASTEX (and the other projects) were significantly different from each other (ocean deep convection vs. storm prediction) but there were many areas of scientific overlap (e.g. surface fluxes). Researchers from the various projects also shared equipment and agreed to share data. Here we are focusing on those aspects of LSDCE, FASTEX and the other projects that involve the atmosphere over the Labrador Sea in winter. Many of us have discussed the idea of having a workshop or meeting to coordinate meteorological studies of the Labrador Sea. That may still happen, but in the meantime we think that it is a good idea to let each other know what we are doing (or plan to do) and coordinate our efforts to maximize the scientific gains. I am proposing to form an informal working group for anyone interested in Labrador Sea meteorology issues, in particular, those issues most related to air-sea interactions. Basically this will just be an e-mail list of people who will exchange ideas and plans. I am interested in coordinating studies based on the meteorogical measurements on the R/V Knorr LSDCE (2 Feb - March 20, 1997) and concurrent aircraft, satellite and model information. The general objectives listed below reflects my bias and I'm sure I missed some important issues, so please put in your two cents worth if you have some ideas for collaborative research. Because everybody has different funding sources and different scientific interests, we are not going to come up with some great unifying goal that we will all strive for. Rather, the idea is to avoid duplication and inefficiency in data analysis and to stimulate the interchange of ideas and results. We assume everybody is familiar with the general overall objectives of LSDCE and FASTEX so we'll skip that. (Both have websites with plenty of info.) Kent Moore, Ian Renfrew and their colleagues at the University of Toronto have studied several aspects of meteorology in the Labrador Sea. Check out http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/LABSEA/gallery.html Before last winter's field program, Kent Moore prepared an unpublished manuscript "Atmospheric Forcing of Deep Convection in the Labrador Sea" which contains the important met objectives related to the ONR-sponsored LSDCE. (I think he still has copies.) This provides a good starting point for organizing various research efforts, but now that we have completed successful field programs it is time to really decide how best to make use of the various data sets. Here is a general plan of action (open for discussion and modification): 1. Prepare a list of anyone interested with e-mail addresses. 2. Create an outline of research topics with interested people. 3. Decide on specific tasks and exactly who will do what. 4. Publish, propose or perish (I (Peter Guest) will maintain the list; contact me to add, subtract, edit the list.) Action item 1: Here is an initial list of people who will get this message. I'm sure I missed some people that might be interested so please give me any potential additions. Please let me know if you want to be removed (I won't be offended) or if you have a different e-mail address. Otherwise, we'll assume you want to participate and we have your correct address. Serhad Atakturk serhad@atmos.washington.edu Bob Anderson r_anderson@bionet.bio.dfo.ca Karl Bumke kbumke@ifm.uni-kiel.de Simon Chang changs@nrlfs1.nrl.navy.mil Dave Costa dcosta@etl.noaa.gov Tom Curtin curtint@onrhq.onr.navy.mil Marco De la Cruz marco@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca Fred Dobson fred.dobson@scotia.dfo.ca Chris Fairall cfairall@etl.noaa.gov Manny Fiadeiro fiadeim@onrhq.onr.navy.mil Ken Fischer ken_fischer.ERIM@notes.erim.org Roland Garwood garwood@nps.navy.mi Peter Guest pguest@nps.navy.mil Jeff Hare jhare@etl.noaa.gov Teddy Holt holt@nrlmry.navy.mil Randall Jacobson jacobsr@onr.navy.mil Uwe Karger ukarger@ifm.uni-kiel.de John Marshall marshall@plume.mit.edu John Mavriyannakis john@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca Kent Moore moore@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca Mariusz Pagowski mariusz@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca Ola Persson opersson@etl.noaa.gov Jeff Piepmeier gt2930b@prism.gatech.edu Ian Renfrew ian@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca Sudharshan Sathiyamoorthy sathy@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca Stu Smith stu_smith@bionet.bio.dfo.ca Paul Twitchell gewex@cais.com Martin Visbeck visbeck@ldgo.columbia.edu Bernie Walter walter@nw.saic.com Allen White awhite@ra.isisnet.com (Allen - what is your work e-mail?) Other possible interested people (need e-mail addresses) Action item 2: Outline of research topics with interested people. Below is a first iteration which reflects my biases. Please feel free to add or comment. Some objectives are very general and some are specific. Some relate to measurement issues, some relate to science issues. I'll incorporate any suggestions over the next week or so. After that, people can attach their names to areas where they may be able to contribute. As a group, we will try to come up with some priorities and time lines. Then we will decide exactly which specific tasks should be performed and who will be responsible for completing each of these tasks. This outline is definitely a wish list, not a final plan of action. Even with our combined resources, only a small fraction of the possible goals will be accomplished. One reason for this exercise is to try to make sure that the fraction we address is the most important, in terms of overall scientific or logistical advancement. Kent Moore and others have prepared similar research topic/goal lists; we hope they don't mind a fresh start because its been a few months.... Research Topics/Objectives Related to Labrador Sea Meteorology in Winter I. Understand the relationship between atmospheric forcing and ocean deep convection in the Labrador Sea. A. Perform II, III and IV below. B. Compare results with ocean features observed in 1997. 1. Is there an obvious immediate connection? (e.g forced mixing) 2. Is there a possible connection? (e.g. deep convection event) 3. Is the ocean feature entirely internally-generated (e.g. baroclinic eddies) C. Use results to force numerical ocean models of deep convective and mixed layer processes 1. Compare model ocean effects vs. reality 2. Sensitivity studies of ocean responses to atmospheric forcing 3. Compare role of atmospheric vs. internal forcing for ocean deep convection. D. Can we treat the Labrador Sea as a "Laboratory" closed system both meteorologically and oceanographically for the purpose of studying the coupled processes in both media? 1. If not, determine the major outside (i.e. advective) influences. E. Understand the "big picture" role of atmospheric forcing over the Labrador Sea on deep ocean circulation in the world ocean. F. Determine what aspects of the "Labrador Sea Laboratory" deep convection/atmospheric forcing physics can be applied to other locations. II. Determine the microphysical turbulent and radiational characteristics of the lower atmosphere from ship and aircraft measurements in the Labrador Sea. A. Ship effects on measurements - computer "wind tunnel" tests B. Transfer and Drag coefficients (surface roughness) C. Stability effects - MO relations D. Spectral characteristics of turbulence E. Wind-wave coupling, sea state, fetch and wave/swell orientation effects F. Comparison of results with satellite-derived information. 1. Verify, improve, replace satellite algorithms. F. What are the accuracies of these results and their applicability to other situations? G. Cloud, Temperature, Humidity, Aerosol profile effects on surface radiation 1. 1-d Numerical modeling of radiation processes 2. Develop or verify previous surface radiation parameterizations H. Recommemdations for making micro-physical measurements in future projects. III. Identify important synoptic, mesoscale and atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) features which may affect surface fluxes and ocean convection. A. Satellite results B. Aircraft results C. Knorr rawinsonde results D. Operational and research model results E. Case studies using some or all of the above 1. ABL modification during cold-air outbreaks, effects on fluxes 2. Cloud streets (related to 1.) 3. Fronts, Synoptic Lows, Polar Low, Organized convection features IV. Quantify the spatial fields of the surface heat, salt and momentum fluxes for the Labrador Sea during the winter of 1997. A. Model Results 1. COAMPS runs - verification with ship/aircraft data 2. Identify systematic problems B. Remote sensing 1. Raw products - clouds, synoptic and mesoscale features 2. Derived surface fields of basic met parameters 3. Derived surface fields of surface fluxes C. Standard synoptic network - surface and upper-air D. Special LSDCE met buoys - What is available? Who has data? E. Use A,B,C,D to get spatial fields of basic met parameters (T, RH, U) Use published formula and results from II and III above to extrapolate flux fields away from ship. V. Surface waves - causes and effects A. Wind-wave coupling (see IIE above) B. Effects on remote sensing products 1. Effects on ship detection (BIO radarsat study) 2. Effects on SAR VI. Develop a plan (if feasible ) for determining point and spatial flux fields for the 1998 LSDCE field program. VII. Understand the relation between surface forcing and cyclogenesis, frontogenesis and storm tracks (FASTEX) This is the end of the first draft of the outline prepared for the Labrador Sea Met Working Group. Sincerely, Peter Guest (with contributions and suggestions from Fred Dobson)