The dynamics of observed lee waves over the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland
On 20 October 2016, aircraft observations documented a significant train of lee waves above and downstream of the Sn AE fellsnes Peninsula on the west coast of Iceland. Simulations of this event with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model provide an excellent representation of the observed...
Published in: | Monthly Weather Review |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-20-0288.1 |
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ftncar:oai:drupal-site.org:articles_24732 2024-04-28T08:25:44+00:00 The dynamics of observed lee waves over the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland Colfescu, Ioana (author) Klemp, Joseph B. (author) Bollasina, Massimo A. (author) Mobbs, Stephen D. (author) Burton, Ralph R. (author) 2021-05 https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-20-0288.1 en eng Monthly Weather Review--0027-0644--1520-0493 articles:24732 doi:10.1175/MWR-D-20-0288.1 ark:/85065/d79z98bs Copyright 2021 American Geophysical Union. article Text 2021 ftncar https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-20-0288.1 2024-04-04T17:33:50Z On 20 October 2016, aircraft observations documented a significant train of lee waves above and downstream of the Sn AE fellsnes Peninsula on the west coast of Iceland. Simulations of this event with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model provide an excellent representation of the observed structure of these mountain waves. The orographic features producing these waves are characterized by the isolated Sn AE fellsjokull volcano near the tip of the peninsula and a fairly uniform ridge along its spine. Sensitivity simulations with the WRF Model document that the observed wave train consists of a superposition of the waves produced individually by these two dominant orographic features. This behavior is consistent with idealized simulations of a flow over an isolated 3D mountain and over a 2D ridge, which reproduce the essential behavior of the observed waves and those captured in the WRF simulations. Linear analytic analysis confirms the importance of a strong inversion at the top on the boundary layer in promoting significant wave activity extending far downstream of the terrain. However, analysis of the forced and resonant modes for a two-layer atmosphere with a capping inversion suggest that this wave train may not be produced by resonant modes whose energy is trapped beneath the inversion. Rather, these appear to be vertically propagating modes with very small vertical group velocity that can persist far downstream of the mountain. These vertically propagating waves potentially provide a mechanism for producing near-resonant waves farther aloft due to interactions with a stable layer in the midtroposphere. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) Monthly Weather Review 149 5 1559 1575 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) |
op_collection_id |
ftncar |
language |
English |
description |
On 20 October 2016, aircraft observations documented a significant train of lee waves above and downstream of the Sn AE fellsnes Peninsula on the west coast of Iceland. Simulations of this event with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model provide an excellent representation of the observed structure of these mountain waves. The orographic features producing these waves are characterized by the isolated Sn AE fellsjokull volcano near the tip of the peninsula and a fairly uniform ridge along its spine. Sensitivity simulations with the WRF Model document that the observed wave train consists of a superposition of the waves produced individually by these two dominant orographic features. This behavior is consistent with idealized simulations of a flow over an isolated 3D mountain and over a 2D ridge, which reproduce the essential behavior of the observed waves and those captured in the WRF simulations. Linear analytic analysis confirms the importance of a strong inversion at the top on the boundary layer in promoting significant wave activity extending far downstream of the terrain. However, analysis of the forced and resonant modes for a two-layer atmosphere with a capping inversion suggest that this wave train may not be produced by resonant modes whose energy is trapped beneath the inversion. Rather, these appear to be vertically propagating modes with very small vertical group velocity that can persist far downstream of the mountain. These vertically propagating waves potentially provide a mechanism for producing near-resonant waves farther aloft due to interactions with a stable layer in the midtroposphere. |
author2 |
Colfescu, Ioana (author) Klemp, Joseph B. (author) Bollasina, Massimo A. (author) Mobbs, Stephen D. (author) Burton, Ralph R. (author) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
The dynamics of observed lee waves over the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland |
spellingShingle |
The dynamics of observed lee waves over the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland |
title_short |
The dynamics of observed lee waves over the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland |
title_full |
The dynamics of observed lee waves over the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland |
title_fullStr |
The dynamics of observed lee waves over the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
The dynamics of observed lee waves over the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland |
title_sort |
dynamics of observed lee waves over the snã¦fellsnes peninsula in iceland |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-20-0288.1 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
Monthly Weather Review--0027-0644--1520-0493 articles:24732 doi:10.1175/MWR-D-20-0288.1 ark:/85065/d79z98bs |
op_rights |
Copyright 2021 American Geophysical Union. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-20-0288.1 |
container_title |
Monthly Weather Review |
container_volume |
149 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1559 |
op_container_end_page |
1575 |
_version_ |
1797585431069458432 |