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Laboratory experiments on mountain‐induced rotors
Author(s) -
Knigge C.,
Etling D.,
Paci A.,
Eiff O.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.564
Subject(s) - inversion (geology) , obstacle , geology , range (aeronautics) , mechanics , meteorology , boundary layer , planetary boundary layer , physics , aerospace engineering , seismology , engineering , geography , archaeology , tectonics
In this article we present some laboratory experiments on stratified flows over isolated obstacles which were aimed at the simulation of atmospheric rotors as induced by the interaction of mountain waves and the boundary layer. For this purpose we modified the classical tank experiments on mountain waves performed with constant density gradients by introducing an elevated density inversion above the obstacle height. This kind of inversion seems to favour very much the development of mountain‐induced rotors as was shown in recent numerical simulations. In fact our experimental set‐up was guided by the simulations of Vosper, which provided systematically the upstream conditions under which mountain rotors are expected. We were able to confirm the results from these numerical simulations over a wide range of parameters. Detailed analyses of flow structures for some selected cases, as obtained by particle image velocimeter analysis, are presented. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society