Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Umek, L.
• Gohm, A.
• Haid, M.
• Ward, H. C.
• Rotach, M. W.

Titel

Large‐eddy simulation of foehn–cold pool interactions in the Inn Valley during PIANO IOP 2

Ist Teil von

• Quarterly journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 2021-01, Vol.147 (735), p.944-982

Ort / Verlag

Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Wiley Blackwell Single Titles

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Processes of cold‐air pool (CAP) erosion in an Alpine valley during south foehn are investigated based on a real‐case large‐eddy simulation (LES). The event occurred during the second Intensive Observation Period (IOP 2) of the PIANO field experiment in the Inn Valley, Austria, near the city of Innsbruck. The goal is to clarify the role of advective versus turbulent heating, the latter often being misrepresented in mesoscale models. It was found that the LES of the first day of IOP 2 outperforms a mesoscale simulation, is not yet perfect, but is able to reproduce the CAP evolution and structure observed on the second day of IOP 2. The CAP exhibits strong heterogeneity in the along‐valley direction. It is weaker in the east than in the west of the city with a local depression above the city. This heterogeneity results from different relative contributions and magnitudes of turbulent and advective heating/cooling, which mostly act against each other. Turbulent heating is important for faster CAP erosion in the east and advective cooling is important for CAP maintenance to the west of Innsbruck. The spatial heterogeneity in turbulent erosion is linked to splitting of the foehn into two branches at the mountain range north of the city, with a stronger eastward deflected branch. Intensification of the western branch at a later stage leads to complete CAP erosion also to the west of Innsbruck. Above the city centre, turbulent heating is strongest, and so is advective cooling by enhanced pre‐foehn westerlies. These local winds are the result of CAP heterogeneity and gravity‐wave asymmetry. This study emphasizes the importance of shear‐flow instability for CAP erosion. It also highlights the large magnitudes of advective and turbulent heating compared to their net effect, which is even more pronounced for individual spatial components. Turbulent erosion of a cold‐air pool in the Austrian Inn Valley during foehn is investigated based on a large‐eddy simulation and a comprehensive heat budget analysis. It is found that cold‐pool erosion is governed by a complicated interplay between turbulent and advective heating/cooling that is strongly variable in time and space. The figure illustrates turbulent cold‐pool erosion by shear‐flow instability induced by the foehn flow.