Modification of air flow over an escarpment — Results from the Hjardemål experiment

Mean flow, turbulence, and surface pressure measurements over an escarpment are presented. The speed-up in the mean wind field shows the known dependence on stratification. Cross-sections of the standard deviation of horizontal and vertical wind components and of the friction velocity are derived from the data and compare favorably with the numerical model of Zeman and Jensen (1987). The modification of turbulent power spectra at intermediate frequencies can be explained by rapid distortion theory. At very low frequencies, there is a quasi-stationary response to the disturbance. Except for speed-up and standard deviations of the wind components, which are also shown for downslope wind, all results in this paper refer to upslope winds.An analysis of the vertical momentum flux reveals that upstream of the escarpment, most of the flux is transported in sweeps of fast, sinking motion to the ground. Downstream of the escarpment, ejections of slow, rising motion dominate the turbulent transport.