Low‐level wind jets (LLJs) and strong surface winds are frequently observed near the sea ice edge in the presence of strong thermal contrast between open water and sea ice. Two LLJ cases near the sea ice edge in the Beaufort Sea are examined using dropsonde observations made from Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Survey flights. Ensembles of Polar Weather Research and Forecast simulations with and without sea ice demonstrate the contribution of the surface thermal contrast to the boundary layer structure, the LLJ, and surface ice edge jets. Because the surface temperature contrast only influences the lower most hundreds of meters in the atmospheric boundary layer, its contribution to the temperature gradient and wind speed at the level of the LLJ is limited. The sea ice does strengthen the LLJ by extending the LLJ northward over sea ice and increasing the maximum LLJ wind speeds by up to 13% and as much as 29% further north at a lower altitude. However, the primary reason for the observed strong winds in these two cases are the synoptic interactions between anticyclones and approaching cyclones. The effect of the surface thermal contrast on surface winds is controlled by a separate mechanism. The cold and stable boundary layer over sea ice prevents the momentum transport from the LLJ to the surface. This leads to weaker surface winds over sea ice and confines the strong surface winds close to the sea ice edge. This mechanism contributes to the frequent occurrence of the surface "ice edge jets."

176th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America 5-9 November 2018, Victoria, BC, Canada.

Our goal is an office-based, handheld ultrasound system to target, detach, break, and/or expel stones and stone fragments from the urinary collecting system to facilitate natural clearance. Repositioning of stones in humans (maximum 2.5 MPa, and 3-second bursts) and breaking of stones in a porcine model (maximum 50 cycles, 20 Hz repetition, 30 minutes, and 7 MPa peak negative pressure) have been demonstrated using the same 350-kHz probe. Repositioning in humans was conducted during surgery with a ureteroscope in the kidney to film stone movement. Independent video review confirmed stone movements (≥ 3 mm) in 15 of 16 kidneys (94%). No serious or unanticipated adverse events were reported. Experiments of burst wave lithotripsy (BWL) effectiveness on breaking human stones implanted in the porcine bladder and kidney demonstrated fragmentation of 7 of 7 stones on post mortem dissection. A 1-week survival study with the BWL exposures and 10 specific pathogen-free pigs, showed all findings were within normal limits on clinical pathology, hematology, and urinalysis. These results demonstrate that repositioning of stones with ultrasonic propulsion and breaking of stones with BWL are safe and effective.

The authors use the Polar Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to simulate atmospheric conditions during the Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Survey (SIZRS) in the summer of 2013 over the Beaufort Sea. With the SIZRS dropsonde data, the performance of WRF simulations and two forcing datasets is evaluated: the Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) and the Global Forecast System (GFS) analysis. General features of observed mean profiles, such as low-level temperature inversion, low-level jet (LLJ), and specific humidity inversion are reproduced by all three models. A near-surface warm bias and a low-level moist bias are found in ERA-Interim. WRF significantly improves the mean LLJ, with a lower and stronger jet and a larger turning angle than the forcing. The improvement in the mean LLJ is likely related to the lower values of the boundary layer diffusion in WRF than in ERA-Interim and GFS, which also explains the lower near-surface temperature in WRF than the forcing. The relative humidity profiles have large differences between the observations, the ERA-Interim, and the GFS. The WRF simulated relative humidity closely resembles the forcings, suggesting the need to obtain more and better-calibrated humidity data in this region. The authors find that the sea ice concentrations in the ECMWF model are sometimes significantly underestimated due to an inappropriate thresholding mechanism. This thresholding affects both ERA-Interim and the ECMWF operational model. The scale of impact of this issue on the atmospheric boundary layer in the marginal ice zone is still unknown.