Open AccessAnalysis of a southerly buster event and associated solitary waves
Author(s) -
Shuang Wang,
Lance M. Leslie,
Tapan Rai,
Milton S. Speer,
Yuriy Kuleshov
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of southern hemisphere earth systems science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 7
ISSN - 2206-5865
DOI - 10.1071/es19015
Subject(s) - geology , current (fluid) , meteorology , range (aeronautics) , satellite , event (particle physics) , geodesy , seismology , physics , oceanography , astronomy , astrophysics , engineering , aerospace engineering
This paper is a detailed case study of the southerly buster of 6–7 October 2015, along the New South Wales coast. It takes advantage of recently available Himawari-8 high temporal- and spatial-resolution satellite data, and other observational data. The data analyses support the widespread view that the southerly buster is a density current, coastally trapped by the Great Dividing Range. In addition, it appeared that solitary waves developed in this event because the prefrontal boundary layer was shallow and stable. A simplified density current model produced speeds matching well with observational southerly buster data, at both Nowra and Sydney airports. Extending the density current theory, to include inertia-gravity effects, suggested that the solitary waves travel at a speed of ~20% faster than the density current. This speed difference was consistent with the high-resolution satellite data, which shows the solitary waves moving increasingly ahead of the leading edge of the density current.