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

A higher order closure model is applied to simulate the dynamics in an area with a deep valley characterized by complex terrain in the southwestern US. The simulation results show generally good agreement with measured profiles at two locations within the valley. Both the measurements and the simulations indicate that the flow dynamics in the area are highly influenced by the topography and meandering of the valley, and can be resolved only by the full three-dimensional model code. The wind veering simulated over the range of the topographic elevations is often larger than 100 deg and in some cases as large as 180 deg, as a consequence of topographic forcing. In the case of an infinitely long valley, as is assumed in two-dimensional test simulations, a strong low-level jet occurs within the valley during stable conditions. The jet is mainly a consequence of the Coriolis effect. However, the jet development is significantly reduced due to asymmetric effects of the actual topography treated in the three-dimensional simulations. Tests with the two-dimensional nonhydrostatic version of the model show significant wave responses for a stable stratified flow over the valley. The structure resembles nonlinear mesoscale lee waves, which are intrinsically nonhydrostatic. However, considering the three-dimensional nature of this valley system, a better understanding and verification of the nonhydrostatic effects requires both a three-dimensional nonhydrostatic numerical model and an observational data set which is fully representative in all three dimensions.List of symbols (unless otherwise defined in the text) B ₁ closure constant - f Coriolis parameter - g acceleration of gravity - K _M ,K _H ,K _R turbulent exchange coefficients for momentum, heat and moisture - k von Karman constant - L Monin-Obukhov length - q ² twice the turbulent kinetic energy - R specific humidity - s height of the model top - T _g ground surface temperature - t time - U, V horizontal components of wind - U _g ,V _g geostrophic wind components - u, w perturbation components ofU andW wind components - u _* friction velocity - W vertical wind component in the terrain-following coordinates - x, y horizontal coordinates - Z actual height above sea level - z actual height above ground - z ₀ roughness length - z _g terrain height - z _i depth of the convective boundary layer - ₁ closure constant - coefficient of thermal expansion - height in the terrain-following coordinate - master length scale in the turbulent parameterization - scaled pressure (Exner function) - potential temperature - _m normalized vertical wind shear