Identification

Title

Lee waves on the boundary-layer inversion and their dependence on free-atmospheric stability

Abstract

This study examines gravity waves that develop at the boundary-layer capping inversion in the lee of a mountain ridge. By comparing different linear wave theories, we show that lee waves that form under these conditions are most accurately described as forced interfacial waves. Perturbations in this type of flow can be studied with a linear two-dimensional model with constant wind speed and a sharp density discontinuity separating two layers, a neutral one below and a stable one above. Defining the model parameters on the basis of observations taken in the Madeira archipelago, we highlight the impact of upper-level stability on interfacial waves. We demonstrate that stable stratification aloft limits the possible range of lee wavelengths and modulates the length of the stationary wave mode. Finally, we show that the stable stratification aloft strongly constrains the validity of the shallow-water (or long-wave) approximation by permitting only short-wave modes to be trapped at the interface.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7fx7c0p

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2015-11-18T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact