Synopses & Reviews
This book provides readers with a broad understanding of the fundamental principles driving atmospheric flow over complex terrain and provides historical context for recent developments and future direction for researchers and forecasters. The topics in this book are expanded from those presented at the Mountain Weather Workshop, which took place in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, August 5-8, 2008. The inspiration for the workshop came from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Mountain Meteorology Committee and was designed to bridge the gap between the research and forecasting communities by providing a forum for extended discussion and joint education. For academic researchers, this book provides some insight into issues important to the forecasting community. For the forecasting community, this book provides training on fundamentals of atmospheric processes over mountainous regions, which are notoriously difficult to predict. The book also helps to provide a better understanding of current research and forecast challenges, including the latest contributions and advancements to the field. The book begins with an overview of mountain weather and forecasting challenges specific to complex terrain, followed by chapters that focus on diurnal mountain/valley flows that develop under calm conditions and dynamically-driven winds under strong forcing. The focus then shifts to other phenomena specific to mountain regions: Alpine foehn, boundary layer and air quality issues, orographic precipitation processes, and microphysics parameterizations. Having covered the major physical processes, the book shifts to observation and modelling techniques used in mountain regions, including model configuration and parameterizations such as turbulence, and model applications in operational forecasting. The book concludes with a discussion of the current state of research and forecasting in complex terrain, including a vision of how to bridge the gap in the future. Fotini (Tina) Katopodes Chow
Synopsis
This monograph will provide readers with a broad understanding of the fundamental principles driving flow over complex terrain and provide historical context for recent developments and future direction for researchers and forecasters.
Synopsis
This monograph is the result of a multi-year effort that began with the organization of a workshop designed to bring researchers and forecasters together to discuss current progress and challenges in mountain weather. The chapters in this monograph represent the topics from this workshop, the Mountain Weather Workshop, which took place in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, August 5-8, 2008. The inspiration for the workshop arose under the guidance of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Mountain Meteorology Committee. This monograph will provide readers with a broad understanding of the fundamental principles driving flow over complex terrain and provide historical context for recent developments and future direction for researchers and forecasters. For academic researchers, the monograph will provide some insight into issues important to the forecasting community. For the forecasting community, we hope the monograph will provide training on fundamentals of flows specific to mountainous regions which are notoriously difficult to predict, understanding of current research challenges, and an opportunity to learn about the latest contributions and advancements to the field. The monograph begins with an overview of mountain weather and forecasting challenges specific to complex terrain. This is followed by chapters that focus on diurnal mountain/valley flows that develop under calm conditions
About the Author
Landscape heterogeneities can have pronounced effects on atmospheric boundary layer processes. Examples include a modification of the boundary layer growth and the generation of mesoscale circulations. Dr. de Wekker's research focuses primarily on the investigation of these processes in hilly and mountainous terrain using a combination of field studies, data analysis, and numerical modeling techniques. He seeks to apply his expertise to problems in a multi-disciplinary context such as found at the interface with ecology, atmospheric chemistry, and hydrology. Examples include the venting and regional transport of aerosols and the estimation of regional CO2 fluxes. Dr. de Wekker has a PhD in Atmospheric Science (University of British Columbia, Canada) and is currently employed as Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia.
Table of Contents
Mountain Weather Prediction: Phenomenological Challenges and Forecast Methodology.- Diurnal Mountain Wind Systems.- Dynamically-driven Winds.- Understanding and Forecasting Alpine Foehn.- Boundary Layers and Air Quality in Mountainous Terrain.- Recent Progress on the Theory, Observations, and Predictions of Orographic Precipitation.- Microphysical Processes Within Winter Orographic Cloud and Precipitation Systems.- Observational Techniques: Sampling the Mountain Atmosphere.- Mescoscale Modeling Over Complex Terrain: Numerical and Predictability Perspectives.- Meso- and Fine-scale Numerical Modeling Over Complex Terrain: Parameterizations and Applications.- Numerical Weather Prediction and Weather Forecasting in Complex Terrain.- Bridging the Gap Between Operations and Research To Improve Weather Prediction in Mountainous Regions.