Observational Evidence And Modelling Of An Internal Hydraulic Jump At The Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Top During A Tramontane Event

A hydraulic jump has been observed with the airborne backscatter lidar LEANDRE 1 (Lidar embarqué pour l'Etude des Aérosols, des Nuages, des interactions Dynamique-Rayonnement etdu cycle de l'Eau) at the top of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) during a Tramontane event in the framework of the Pyréneés experiment. An analytical fluid mechanics model is used to interpret lidar observations in connection with in situ measurements andto study the sensitivity of the hydraulic jump triggering to the boundary conditions. This model, which generalizes the reduced-gravity shallow-water theory for two-dimensional stratified flows over a topograpy, is diagnostic (i.e., the reduced gravity g' = g _vv is prescribed) and uses boundary conditions defined in terms of Riemann invariants. Using inflow and outflow boundary conditions as well as the reduced gravity prescribed from in situ measurements, the model is able to diagnose the presence of a hydraulic jump at the location suspected from the lidar observations. The wind speed, ABL height and Froude number derived from the model are in good agreement with the observations (within about 20–30%).