Airflow over a two-dimensional escarpment. II: Hydrostatic flow

✍ Scribed by R. O. Pitts; T. J. Lyons

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 1003 KB
• Volume: 116
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0035-9009
• DOI: 10.1002/qj.49711649207

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Hydrostatically dominated forced flow over the asymmetric topography of the Darling Scarp, Western Australia, is modelled using a hydrostatic numerical mesoscale model and compared with observations. Simulations reproduce the essential features of wave overturning and the development of a shooting hydraulic flow. This response is dependent on the wind profile but not on the existence of a critical level. the high backsheared environment leads to a high ratio of the Brunt‐Väisälä frequency to wind speed throughout the profile, resulting in short wavelengths, high nonlinearity and overturning. With the ratio of the halfwidth of the topography to the boundary‐layer depth being small, the flow fields are shown to be sensitive to the boundary layer.