Applied Conceptual Models on the Space and the Earth Views

#2361 "Singleton Sunset Swirl" 
with Conceptual Models Applied
as viewed from the Earth Vantage

The last several Blogs laid the foundation for this next step - practical practice. We are about to apply the conveyor belt and deformation zone conceptual models to an actual weather situation and painting - from the satellite, atmosphere and earth frames of reference. The features are all the same from the three different vantages – and we can learn about the weather. Stay with me… you can do this. 

In “The Swirls and Deformation Zone Revisited”  I concentrated on the view from space. I thought the explanation of the cloud features would be easier from a single satellite perspective. Let’s revisit those cloud features but this time from the ground up as well. After all, we do our paddling and cloud gazing from the earth’s surface. 

Top Down Space View - Images Oriented North Up

The Water Vapour and Visible Satellite Imagery for this painting are all that you really need. The Water Vapour Imagery senses the high level moisture and depicts the leading edge deformation zone that is followed by the cirrostratus (CS). The thinnest CS is essentially invisible in the Visible Imagery while the thicker and more opaque altocumulus (AC), is well depicted. All of these images have north pointing upward on the page. 

In the following graphic, I have turned the imagery so that it closely fits the earth view that I enjoyed while doing the painting. North is pointing to the right on the page. 

Across the top of the graphic, I have again included the Water Vapour image from satellite, followed by the view looking downward at duckweed from my kayak which is followed by the conveyor belt and deformation zone conceptual models. The view as identified on the water vapour imagery is toward the southwest and Lake Ontario. The dynamic features identified are the same in every image, including my painting which was my interpretation of the same sunset sky on May 22nd, 2020. If you faithfully paint what you observe, the physics, mathematics and meteorology must be true and accurate. Nature always tells the truth... 

Top Down Space View Application of the
Conceptual Models at  the Top of the Graphic
Superimposed on the Earth View Painting

From the space view one can only see the tops of the cloud. The earth bound view allows one to see the bottom structure of the cloud. Both views are complementary in that they provide unique information about the features that might not be apparent in the other displays. The more facts that fit together like pieces in a puzzle, the more confidence we can place in our solution of the weather riddle. 

The highest level of the warm conveyor belt leading the spring storm, has already passed east of Singleton. The sky above is not the deep blue of clear skies but is blanketed by thin cirrostratus that follows behind that highest level deformation zone. 

The swells in the mid level altocumulus layer of moisture of the warm conveyor belt are not easily discernible from the satellite view. The details of the mid level cloud are masked by the highest layer of increasingly thick cirrostratus. Those swells are readily apparent from the earth bound view! Recall that atmospheric swells, like those in the ocean, are large amplitude and long wavelength gravity waves located far from the strong winds that originated them. Atmospheric swells are very common on the jet stream side of the deformation zone. Swells propagate right to the deformation zone largely unaffected by the divergence of the atmospheric frame relative winds at the col.

Atmospheric Gravity Waves
Swells and Wind Waves

I even observed and painted the gravity waves created by the wind swirling behind the mid level deformation zone. One can only expect these wind waves where there is sufficient atmospheric frame winds blowing – ie some distance away from the col. You will not witness significant atmospheric frame of reference winds near the col which is where the winds diverge from. Winds increase with distance from the col when you move along the divergent confluent asymptotes. 

Note that the winds are calm in the sheltered eastern bay of Singleton Lake. This is the calm before the storm commonly found in the cold conveyor belt region of the conceptual model. The calm waters mirror the red sunset on the western horizon. The easterly breeze does create some ripples with the extended fetch by the time the breeze reaches the western basin of Singleton Lake. These ripples reflect the bluer, thin cirrostratus of the sky overhead and not the fiery sunset. I describe the Calm Before the Storm in "Weather Lessons for Everyone from the Cold Conveyor Belt Wizard". 

These conceptual models and the associated science were in the back of my mind while I paint. When I am deep within the creative zone with a brush in my hand, the colours and shapes required to interpret the beauty of nature are all that matter. The science and the art can be fused together at a later, more contemplative time such as this. 

Keep you paddle in the water and warmest regards... 

Phil the Forecaster Chadwick