Abstract
We present a comprehensive analysis of four south föhn events observed during the Penetration and Interruption of Alpine Foehn (PIANO) field campaign in the Inn Valley, Austria, in the vicinity of Innsbruck. The goal is to detect and quantify processes of cold-air pool (CAP) erosion by föhn as well as processes of föhn breakdown. Despite differences in föhn breakthrough and strength, the four cases exhibit similarities in CAP evolution: initially, the CAP experienced strongest warming in the centre of Innsbruck, where the föhn jet from the Wipp Valley interacted with the CAP in the Inn Valley. The resulting shear-flow instability at the föhn–CAP interface caused turbulent CAP erosion and, together with vertical warm-air advection, led to CAP depression over the city centre. This depression drove pre-föhn westerlies near the surface that caused cold-air advection inside the CAP west of the city centre and warm-air advection in the east. Ultimately, the latter contributed to stronger CAP erosion in the east than in the west. This stronger heating also explains the preferential initial föhn breakthrough at the valley floor east of Innsbruck. In two of the cases, subsequent westward propagation of the föhn–CAP boundary across the city accompanied by northerly (deflected) föhn winds led to a complete föhn breakthrough. Föhn breakdown occurred either by a backflow of the CAP remnant or by a cold-frontal passage. This study emphasizes the importance of both turbulence and advection in the CAP heat budget and reveal their large spatio–temporal variability.
Highlights
A föhn is a terrain-induced downslope wind that is often strong, dry, and warm compared to pre- and post-föhn conditions (American Meteorological Society 2020)
We will first give a general overview of all four IOPs, before we compare these cases with respect to periods of föhn breakthrough and interruption as well as processes of shear flow instability and associated turbulent mixing
This study focuses on IOP2, IOP4b, IOP6, and IOP7
Summary
A föhn is a terrain-induced downslope wind that is often strong, dry, and warm compared to pre- and post-föhn conditions (American Meteorological Society 2020). They, stated that this was the result of the combination of moderate wind shear and a strong capping inversion of the CAP and might be different for other cases This last statement was corroborated by Jaubert et al (2005) who found a major contribution of turbulent mixing in the CAP heat budget for a simulation of föhn in the Rhine Valley. A similar result was found by Umek et al (2020) based on large-eddy simulations for the same event They noted that turbulent CAP erosion exhibits large spatial heterogeneity due to the complex three-dimensional flow structure in valleys.
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