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Large-eddy Simulations of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer over an Alpine Glacier: Impact of Synoptic Flow Direction and Governing Processes by Goger, Brigitta; Stiperski, Ivana; Nicholson, Lindsey; Sauter, Tobias is a scholarly article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Large-eddy Simulations of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer over an Alpine Glacier: Impact of Synoptic Flow Direction and Governing Processes about?

The mass balance of mountain glaciers is of interest for several applications (local hydrology or climate projections), and turbulent fluxes can be an important contributor to glacier surface mass balance during strong melting events. The underlying complex terrain leads to spatial heterogeneity and non-stationarity of turbulent fluxes. Due to the contribution of thermally-induced flows and gravity waves, exchange mechanisms are fully three-dimensional, instead of only vertical. Additionally, glaciers have their own distinct microclimate, governed by a down-glacier katabatic wind, which protects the glacier ice and interacts with the surrounding flows on multiple scales. In this study, we perform large-eddy simulations with the WRF model with dx=48 m to gain insight on the boundary-layer processes over an Alpine valley glacier, the Hintereisferner (HEF). We choose two case studies from a measurement campaign (August 2018) with different synoptic wind directions (South-West and North-West). Model evaluation with an array of eddy-covariance stations on the glacier tongue and surroundings reveals that WRF is able to simulate the general glacier boundary-layer structure. Under southwes

Author

Goger, Brigitta; Stiperski, Ivana; Nicholson, Lindsey; Sauter, Tobias

Published

2021

Language

EN