The Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP) is an international program that, inter alia, offers an unprecedented opportunity to quantify understanding of airflow dynamics in the vicinity of complex terrain. The Principal Investigator will participate in the MAP and will focus on the following specific topics: mountain wave/boundary-layer interactions, instability dynamics and evolution, generation of potential vorticity (PV) banners, momentum transport and deposition aloft, and flow intermittency over three-dimensional terrain.
The Principal Investigator will address these topics through a coordinated program of numerical simulations and observational efforts performed as a component of the U. S. participation in MAP. One class of numerical studies will examine the excitation and evolution of strong wave events in the presence of realistic boundary-layer flows and three-dimensional terrain. Other simulations will address wave breaking over complex terrain, the origins and scales of PV banners arising from localized wave instability and dissipation, and the influences of these processes on momentum transports and flow intermittency. Observational efforts will include participation in the MAP field program, inputs to aircraft flight planning and instrument measurement modes (dependent on model mountain wave forecasts, measurement objectives, and available instrumentation), and data analysis efforts aimed at quantifying the dynamics of mountain wave excitation, breaking, momentum transports, and intermittency.
Successful completion of this research will lead to a better understanding of airflow near complex terrain including a better understanding and potentially better forecasts of clear air turbulence.
