The mistral and its effect on air pollution transport and vertical mixing

Within the framework of ESCOMPTE, the influence of local wind systems like land–sea/mountain–valley winds on the distribution of air pollutants in the southern part of the Rhône valley and the coastal regions of southern France was investigated. In addition, the influence of the mistral on the long-range transport and vertical mixing of such substances on July 1, 2001 was analyzed. The results of the measurements of this mistral situation show high concentrations of O₃ and NO₂ in the layer just above the PBL at the southern exit of the Rhône valley near Avignon. By measurements from airborne and ground-based platforms and numerical simulations with the “Local Model” (LM) of the German Weather Service (DWD), it is shown that the mistral develops according to the theory conceived by Pettré [J. Atmos. Sci. 39 (1982) 542–554]. The synoptic-scale northerly flow through the Rhône valley is accelerated up to a Froude number (Fr) of 2.1, while the valley widens. Then, near the Mediterranean coast, a hydraulic jump occurs and Fr drops down to values below 1.0. High ozone concentrations of 112 ppb measured above the mistral layer disappear due to enhanced mixing after the flow has passed the hydraulic jump. There is some evidence that the ozone-rich air originates from the source region of greater Paris or upwind. The results confirm that regional wind systems associated with transport of trace gases in the high-grade industrialized Rhône valley can be successfully predicted using data of operational weather forecast models.     

Impact of the Rhône and Durance valleys on sea-breeze circulation in the Marseille area

Sea-breeze dynamics in the Marseille area, in the south of France, is investigated in the framework of the ESCOMPTE experiment conducted during summer 2001 in order to evaluate the role of thermal circulations on pollutant transport and ventilation. Under particular attention in this paper is the sea-breeze channelling by the broad Rhône valley and the narrow Durance valley, both oriented nearly-north–south, i.e., perpendicular to the coastline, and its possible impact on the sea-breeze penetration, intensity and depth, which are key information for air pollution issues. One situation of slight synoptic pressure gradient leading to a northerly flow in the Rhône valley (25 June 2001) and one situation of a weak onshore prevailing synoptic wind (26 June 2001) are compared. The impact of the Rhône and Durance valleys on the sea-breeze dynamics on these two typical days is generalized to the whole ESCOMPTE observing period.The present study shows by combining simple scaling analysis with wind data from meteorological surface stations and Doppler lidars that (i) the Durance valley always affects the sea breeze by accelerating the flow. A consequence is that the Durance valley contributes to weaken the temperature gradient along the valley and thus the sea-breeze circulation. In some cases, the acceleration of the channelled flow in the Durance valley suppresses the sea-breeze flow by temperature gradient inhibition; (ii) the Rhône valley does not generally affect the sea breeze significantly. However, if the sea breeze is combined with an onshore flow, it leads to further penetration inland and intensification of the low-level southerly flow. In this situation, lateral constriction may accelerate the sea breeze. Simple scaling analysis suggests that Saint Paul (44.35°N, about 100 km from the coastline) is the lower limit where sea breeze can be affected by the Rhône valley. These conclusions have implications in air quality topics as channelled sea breeze may advect far inland pollutants which may be incorporated into long-range transport, particularly in the Durance valley.     

La pénétration de l'air froid dans une vallée alpine

Résumé Les observations de deux stations situées à l'entrée de la vallée du Rhône et à l'intérieur de celle-ci permettent de déterminer dans une certaine mesure comment l'air froid pénètre dans cette longue vallée des Alpes suisses. L'accès se fait beaucoup plus souvent par-dessus les montagnes de l'Ouest ou du Nord que par le chenal de la vallée seulement.

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Summary The observations of two stations at the entrance and in the interior of the Rhône valley allow to a certain degree to determine how cold air penetrates this long extended valley of the Swiss Alps. The influx of air takes much more frequently place over the mountains in the West and North than through the trough of the valley.

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Zusammenfassung Die Beobachtungen von zwei Stationen, die am Eingang und im Inneren des Rhonetals gelegen sind, erlauben einigermaßen festzustellen, wie die Kaltluft in dieses langgestreckte Tal der Schweizeralpen eindringt. Dabei erfolgt der Luftzustrom viel häufiger über die Berge im W und N als ausschließlich durch die Talrinne.

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Avec 1 Figure     

Characteristics of nocturnal low-level jets over Ulsan airport

We analyzed wind profiler data collected over Ulsan airport during the period from 2008 to 2009 to examine the characteristics of low level jets (LLJs). The Ulsan airport is located within the narrow valley with north-south axis. The frequency analysis results indicates that the nearly 19% of the total nocturnal periods have the presence of jets and LLJ occurrence rate is high in winter (32%) and low in summer (10%). The mode in the wind speed histogram is 4?C6 m s^?1. A majority of jet occurs below 100 m (about 77.8 m) above ground. The predominant wind direction of jet is northerly. In order to examine the favorable conditions for LLJ formation of Ulsan airport, we investigated temperature difference between valley and plain at the surface and synoptic wind direction and speed at 850 hPa. Our results show that air temperature in the valley is lower than over the plain during the nighttime, indicating the existence of thermal forcing for along-valley wind. Under a significant temperature difference along the valley, westerly wind speed at 850 hPa is slightly weaker on LLJs event night than no event night, indicating weaker north-south large-scale pressure gradient on LLJ event night. The magnitude of northerly wind at 850 hPa is much stronger on event night than no event night, implying higher downward transfer of northerly wind on event night. Our findings suggest that jet formation over Ulsan airport is related to the strong northerly wind at 850 hPa in the presence of thermal forcing due to temperature contrast between valley and plain.     

Bora und Mistral — Ein Vergleich

Zusammenfassung Es werden die beiden Windphänomene Bora und Mistral vergleichend gegenübergestellt. Die aerologischen Daten zeigen, daß dieBora bevorzugt von kontinentaler Kaltluft gespeist wird und in Richtung solcher Vorstöße weht. Sie ist als echter Fallwind gegen Änderungen der Bodendruckverteilung recht unempfindlich. DerMistral dagegen führt vorwiegend maritime Kaltluft zum Mittelmeer. Er weht meist senkrecht zu deren Verlagerungsrichtung. Für sein Auftreten ist ein bestimmtes Druckfeld im Küstengebiet erforderlich, derart, daß der Druckgradient eine ausgeprägte küstenparallele Komponente hat. Der zeitliche und räumliche Verlauf einzelner meteorologischer Elemente — insbesondere des Dampfdruckes —deutet an, daß der Mistral insgesamt kein Fallwind ist, sondern seine Geschwindigkeit einer im Bodenrelief begründeten Düsenwirkung verdankt.

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Summary The author compares the two wind phenomena bora and mistral. The aerological results show that the bora is essentially kept by cold continental air and pushed forward in the corresponding direction. Being a real katabatic wind it is indifferent to the distribution of the surface pressure. The mistral on the other hand sends predominantly maritime cold air to the Mediterranean. Mostly he blows perpendicularly to the direction of removal. A definite field of pressure is necessary for its appearance, in order that the pressure gradient has a distinct component parallel to the coast. The temporal and spatial march of the different meteorological elements, especially of the vapour pressure, indicates that the mistral is not a katabatic wind, but that his velocity is due to the jet effects of the orographic profile.

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Résumé L'auteur compare les deux phénomènes de la bora et du mistral. D'après les données aérologiques, la bora est essentiellement alimentée par de l'air froid continental et souffle dans la direction des poussées de cet air; en qualité de vent catabatique typique, elle se montre peu sensible à l'égard des changements du champ de pression au sol. Le mistral par contre amène en Méditerranée surtout de l'air froid maritime et souffle le plus souvent perpendiculairement à la trajectoire principale de cette masse; il apparaît lorsque le gradient régional de pression présente une nette composante parallèle à la côte. La distribution temporelle et spatiale de certaines grandeurs — en particulier la pression de vapeur — semble indiquer que le mistral n'est pas un vent catabatique, mais qu'il doit sa vitesse à un effet d'étranglement par le relief.

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Mit 3 Textabbildungen.     

The Summertime Great Plains Low Level Jet And The Effect of Its Origin On Moisture Transport

Radiosonde data from six stations in Kansas and Oklahoma for the period of June 16–24, 1993 indicate that a low-level jet (LLJ) occurred almost every day except on the 20th. Major characteristics of these LLJs are documented in this paper. The maximum wind speed (the jet speed) varied from 13 to 32 m s^-1 and heights ranged from 167 to 910 m. All the jets were southerly except the one on June 19 which changed its direction dramatically from a southerly to a northerly direction in about three hours although its intensity did not change appreciably. Thermal stability of the boundary layer during these LLJ occurrences ranged from near-neutral to highly stable. All the low-level jets exhibited significant diurnal variations. Analyses show that relatively weak large-scale forcing existed for the LLJs on June 21 and June 22, while strong forcing was present on other days. Analyses also show that moisture transport by the LLJ from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Plains depends on the location of the LLJ origin. In the two weeks of June 13–19 and 20–26, 1993, powerful storms swept through the central United States, accompanied by tornadoes, strong wind, large hail and heavy rainfall. The analyses indicate that these weather events could be a result of the interactions of the LLJs with synoptic-scale flow.     

Nocturnal Low-Level Jet Characteristics Over Kansas During Cases-99

Characteristics and evolution of the low-level jet (LLJ)over southeastern Kansas were investigated during the 1999 Cooperative Surface-AtmosphereExchange Study (CASES–99) field campaign with an instrument complement consisting of ahigh-resolution Doppler lidar (HRDL), a 60 m instrumented tower, and a triangle of Dopplermini-sodar/profiler combinations. Using this collection of instrumentation we determined thespeed U_X, height Z_X and direction D_X of the LLJ. We investigate here the frequencyof occurrence, the spatial distribution, and the evolution through the night, of these LLJcharacteristics. The jet of interest in this study was that which generates the shear and turbulencebelow the jet and near the surface. This was represented by the lowest wind maximum.We found that this wind maximum, which was most often between 7 and 10 m s¹,was often at or just below 100 m above ground level as measured by HRDL at the CASEScentral site. Over the 60 km profiler–sodararray, the topography varied by 100 m. The wind speed anddirection were relatively constant over this distance (with some tendency for strongerwinds at the highest site), but Z_X was more variable. Z_X was occasionally about equal at allthree sites, indicating that the jet was following the terrain, but more often it seemed to berelatively level, i.e., at about the same height above sea level. Z_X was also more variable thanU_X in the behaviour of the LLJ with time through the night, and on some nights $U_X wasremarkably steady. Examples of two nights with strong turbulence below jet level were furtherinvestigated using the 60 m tower at the main CASES–99 site. Evidence of TKE increasing withheight and downward turbulent transport of TKE indicates that turbulence was primarilygenerated aloft and mixed downward, supporting the upside–down boundary layer notion in thestable boundary layer.     

Observations of the Daytime Boundary Layer in Deep Alpine Valleys

Mixing depth structure and its evolution have been diagnosed from radar wind profiler data in the Chamonix and the Maurienne valleys (France) during summer 2003. The behaviour of refractive index structure parameter C _n ² peaks coupled with the vertical velocity variance σ _w ² was used to estimate the height of the mixed layer. Tethersonde vertical profiles were carried out to investigate the lower layers of the atmosphere in the range of approximately 400–500 m above ground level. The tethersonde device was especially useful to study the reversal of the valley wind system during the morning transition period. Specific features such as wind reversal and the convective mixed layer up to approximately the altitude of the surrounding mountains were documented. The wind reversal was observed to be much more sudden in the Maurienne valley than in the Chamonix valley     

Significance of atmospheric fallout on the upper layer water chemistry of the North-Western Mediterranean

The atmospheric input is established for almost forty trace and major elements at a coastal site on the North-Western Mediterranean. Comparison with the Rhône River input at the scale of the Gulf of Lions shows that the total atmospheric input dominates for elements of anthropogenic origin such as Cd, Pb, Sb and Zn. Dissolved input of atmospheric origin is very important for these elements and for those of terrigenous origin (Al and Fe). In the coastal zone, both dissolved external sources (atmosphere and Rhône River) can explain the high Mediterranean Surface waters concentrations. Atmospheric input becomes rapidly the predominant factor, while the riverine influence being negligible in the few tens' kilometers outside the river mouth.Paper submitted to the 7th International Symposium of the Commission for Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution on the Chemistry of the Global Atmosphere held in Chamrousse, France, from 5 to 11 September 1990.     

The UHF wind profiler at Vienna airport – data quality control and comparisons to rawinsonde data

Summary A 1290MHz wind profiler (Radian Lap-3000), at present one of three operational wind profilers in Austria, is operated at Vienna airport. In spite of quality assurance procedures as consensus averaging included in the data evaluation process from profiler raw data, some spurious peaks of wind speed and unrealistic changes of the wind vector in time or height occur in the wind measurements. This is especially true for sampling intervals of only 5 minutes which are used to resolve the temporal evolution of summer thunderstorms and frontal passages. Averaging periods of only a few minutes are rather the lower limit apt for wind profiler observations and result in a low data availability of 28%, whereas about 55% of data (relative to the maximum height range according to the parameter setting) are available for 10 to 30 minutes profiles.Approaches to a posteriori quality control using checks for automatic error detection are proposed and tested on a one and a half year data-set: Flagging data when the three-dimensional wind divergence exceeds a predefined limit (0.5s^–1) is in most cases successful in combination with thresholds for wind speed (2 times the median of the daily data-set) or wind shear (0.2s^–1).The wind profiler data is compared to wind profiles from the next radiosonde station where soundings are launched 4 times a day at Hohe Warte, approx. 20km northwest, at the hill-side of the Viennese Woods. Deviations of about 1m s^–1 in wind speed are found between the observations of the two systems. Differences between the wind profiles within the boundary layer can be explained by local differences in the wind regime observed at the airport and the radiosounding – blocking effects of the Viennese Woods during south-easterly flow. Comparing the profiler data to radiosoundings on a monthly basis gives a tool to monitor the profiler performance.     

Mesoscale diagnostics of prefrontal and frontal precipitation in the Southeast Alps during MAP IOP 5

Summary In terms of heavy precipitation, the MAP IOP 5 was a two-phase event. During the first phase – on 3 October 1999 – there was strong precipitation in the Lago Maggiore MAP target area, while the prefrontal precipitation was mainly limited to the mountain ranges of the MAP mission area in the Julian and the Karnic Alps involving a series of thunderstorms developing continuously for about 15 hours and contributing most to precipitation levels. During the second phase – on 4 October – the main precipitation was limited to the Julian and the Karnic Alps where a frontal passage was noted by a squall line moving from Veneto region towards the east, accompanied by a strong SW upper-level jet. At the same time, a strong low-level cold flow invaded the region to the north of Adriatic Sea from the east as a significant amount of cold air moving ageostrophically around the eastern edge of the Alps was arriving in the area. To study MAP IOP 5 in detail, we describe the development for mesoscale features of the events radar images, time-height cross-sections and estimates of Convective Available Poteintial Energy (CAPE) based on radio-sounding data, and how surface-measured precipitation offers some smaller scale information. Surface potential temperature and winds are also studied. Very large precipitation accumulation gradients are diagnosed (150mm per day/25km in S–N direction) and time distributions of hourly precipitation shows completely diverse regimes in the Friuli plain and in the Alps with peak intensities in the Julian Alps. The mesometeorological mechanisms for high precipitation rate in the SE Alps are diagnosed and some characteristics of the squall line are discussed.     

Foehn signals detected by sodar wind and turbulence measurements in the Rhine Valley, Austria, during the MAP field phase

Summary Within the Mesoscale Alpine Programme MAP conducted in autumn 1999, the vertical structure and the temporal evolution of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in the Rhine Valley 2km south of Lake Constance were observed with a Remtech PA2 sodar (sound-detection-and-ranging instrument) rendering half-hour averages of the three-dimensional wind profile within the lowest kilometre above ground. During Foehn events, tethered balloon soundings and wind profiler measurements were conducted in addition to the rawinsonde network which was built up for the MAP field campaign.The remote sensing instrument renders a surprisingly high number of valid data during south Foehn. Due to the frequent formation of a cold air pool with stable conditions below the Foehn flow with near-neutral static stability, even more sodar data is valid during Foehn periods than during no Foehn periods. A significant reduction of the sodar data quality is only observed during Foehn events with grounding of the Foehn at the sodar site due to high background noise. At higher levels, a Foehn signal can be detected from the sodar wind and turbulence intensitiy information. With Foehn, higher wind speeds and larger turbulence intensities occur than without Foehn. Comparisons to rawinsonde and tethersonde soundings and wind profiler measurements at sites nearby reveal the spatial inhomogeneity of the Foehn flow within this part of the valley as well as instrumental short-comings. Different methods to determine the mixing height using the vertical sounding devices lead to some uncertainty of mixing height estimates which however can reasonably be explained.     

Modeling of Diffusion in a Wide Alpine Valley

Summary  A K-type diffusion model coupled with a massconsistent wind model is applied for one of the rural biological waste disposal sites in Austrian Alps. The site is situated in the P?ls valley in the eastern Alps, 250 km south-west of Vienna in Austria Aim of the study is to demonstrate dispersion of H₂S from the site to near by village. Model simulations are carried out each for an evening and a morning transition case characterized by flow reversals. The role of locally generated wind in changing the pollutant distribution over nearby residential area is investigated. Surface observations at two stations toward the open boundaries of the main valley are used to derive the turbulence parameters and then to obtain initial inputs of wind profiles. The turbulence parameters behave analogous to that over a plane terrain after the establishment of the valley wind. The model simulations are done for eight hours during the evening transition and eighteen hours for the morning transition by incorporating the wind field from a mass consistent wind model. The results are compared with SF₆ tracer experiments conducted during those periods. The model outputs and the observations at various points inside the valley are in good correlation except for NW part of the valley after the reversal of valley wind. The results also reveal the potential of a simple approach with minimized inputs. Received August 15, 1997 Revised August 15, 1998     

Comparative Studies In The Local Circulations Induced By Land-Use And By Topography

A two-dimensional numerical model witha simplified land-use paramaterizationis used to investigate the effects of land usetopography on local circulationsystems. A criterion is presented indicating therelative importance of land use onlocal circulations.Land-use contrast in the numerical model is parameterized by moisture availability and roughness length. Numerical experiments were carried out under various atmospheric stabilities with various dimensions for the mountains.Numerical results show the following: (1) Anabatic winds prevail in high mountains,while the land–land breeze is stronger when the horizontal contrast of the heat fluxfrom each land surface is large. (2) In the early morning, anabatic winds tend to prevailover land–land breezes, but the land–land breeze tends to prevail in the later afternoon.(3) While atmospheric stability has a large influence on the mesoscale circulation, thehorizontal scale of the mountain is not as important for the intensity of the mesoscalecirculation. (4) In strong stable conditions or weak insolation, the anabatic wind tendsto be more active than the land–land breeze; namely, the heat flux from inhomogeneousland use becomes a less important factor for the generation of a mesoscale disturbancethan the orographic forcing in the case of strong atmospheric stability. (5) The predominantmesoscale circulation is predicted by a criterion based upon the horizontal adjustmenttheory of the mixed layer. The criterion proposed in this study is based on the mountainheight, the ratio of the heat flux from the different land use patterns, the atmospheric staticstability, and the time-integrated heat flux. The criterion gives results that generally agreewith the numerical results.     

长江流域一次大暴雨过程的低空急流形成和影响机制分析

利用WRF模式对2016年6月30日—7月6日长江流域的一次大暴雨天气过程中的低空急流进行数值模拟,在成功模拟低空急流基础上,分析此次急流过程中可能的影响机制;同时对地形高度进行敏感性试验,分析地形因素对此次低空急流可能的影响。(1)此次低空急流发生时,东侧为西太平洋副热带高压,西侧则为西南涡。这种“东高西低”的高低压配置为低空急流的形成与发展提供了有利的背景场。(2)高空急流和低空急流的耦合作用是低空急流发展的一个重要背景条件。(3)垂直方向高空动量不断下传为低空系统的发展提供了动力支持,是低空急流发生的一个重要条件。(4)逆温和垂直风切变之间的正反馈机制是低空急流形成与加强的因素之一。(5)山体在急流生成及发展过程中对气流有摩擦和阻挡作用,这种阻挡作用随着山体地形高度的增加而有所加强,同时山脉的走向会改变原始的风向,使得急流前端超前或滞后。青藏高原有强背风波效应,它的绕流和挤压作用会使得低空气流表现为狭长的带状,使动量更加聚集从而风速增加形成低空急流。      

Application of a semi-spectral cloud water parameterization to cooling tower plumes simulations

In order to simulate the plume produced by large natural draft cooling towers, a semi-spectral warm cloud parameterization has been implemented in an anelastic and non-hydrostatic 3D micro-scale meteorological code. The model results are compared to observations from a detailed field experiment carried out in 1980 at Bugey (location of an electrical nuclear power plant in the Rhône valley in East Central France) including airborne dynamical and microphysical measurements. Although we observe a slight overestimation of the liquid-water content, the results are satisfactory for all the 15 different cases simulated, which include different meteorological conditions ranging from low wind speed and convective conditions in clear sky to high wind and very cloudy. Such parameterization, which includes semi-spectral determination for droplet spectra, seems to be promising to describe plume interaction with atmosphere especially for aerosols and cloud droplets.     

A numerical study of boundary-layer dynamics in a mountain valley

The characteristics of dynamics and thermodynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer in a part of the Colorado River Valley, centered around Lake Mohave, have been investigated by analysis of measurements conducted during a field program in late spring and early summer of 1986 and a series of numerical simulations by a three-dimensional second-moment turbulence-closure model. The model was validated against measurements described in a companion article (Engeret al., 1993). According to airsonde measurements performed on eight nights, the depth of the surface inversion was around 200 m with an average temperature gradient of about 30 K km^–1. Analysis of acoustic sounder data collected during one month revealed significant diurnal variations ofU andV wind-speed components related to slope and valley flows, respectively. Some of the dynamics properties have been explained by the simulation results. It has been shown that the appearance of supergeostrophic southerly valley flow is associated with the westerly component of the geostrophic flow. Since a westerly component of the geostrophic wind is quite common for this area in summer, this effect also explains the frequently observed southerly valley flow in summer. Elevated minima of the measured wind speed around valley ridges appear to be related to the interaction of conservation of momentum in theX andY directions. The critical direction of the geostrophic wind relevant for reversal of up-valley flow to down-valley flow has also been studied. The critical direction is about 300° for one of the measurement sites and, depending on the angle between valley axis and south-north direction, the critical direction is expected to vary by about 15–20°. The scale analysis of the simulated equations of motion and turbulence kinetic energy emphasizes the strong impact of meandering of the flow due to actual topographic complexity.     

大风出现的位置与地形的关系

根据边界层理论，对大风出现的位置与地形的关系作了分析。解释了阿尔金山北侧低空偏东风急流出现的地形原因。