Atmospheric Flow over a Mountainous Region by a One-Way Coupled Approach Based on Reynolds-Averaged Turbulence Modelling

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2016

Authors

José Laginha Palma (Author) FEUP; Álvaro Rodrigues (Author) FEUP; C. Veiga Rodrigues (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Boundary-Layer Meteorology

Vol. 159

Pages: 407-437

ISSN: 0006-8314

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 6 Citations

ISI Web of Science

Scopus - 13 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00K-10Z

DOI: 10.1007/s10546-015-0116-7

Abstract (EN): The atmospheric flow over a mountainous region has been simulated using a model-chain approach, whereby the flow in a larger region was simulated using a mesoscale model with three nesting levels, down to a 3-km horizontal resolution, within which a fourth nesting level was set with a microscale flow solver and a domain with varying horizontal resolution, around 300 m at the site of interest. Two periods in the summer (July) and autumn (November-December) 2005, each with a duration of two weeks, were selected to test the present approach. Two sites were chosen, comprising a total of seven meteorological masts with wind vanes and anemometers at two heights. The microscale solver improved the wind-speed prediction of the mesoscale model in 10 of the 14 anemometers and replicated the high wind speeds, which were under-predicted in the mesoscale model. The wind conditions in summer varied with the daily cycle, related to regional-scale sea breezes and their interaction with local circulations induced by the topography. Regarding the turbulence intensity, the predicted decay with wind-speed increase was in agreement with the measurements. This study shows the need of both models: the microscale model captures the details of the boundary-layer physics, which would not be possible without the boundary conditions provided by the mesoscale model.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 31