Turbulence in a Katabatic Flow

Abstract

Turbulence measurements performed in a stable boundary layer over the sloping ice surface of the Vatnajokull in Iceland are described. The boundary layer, in which katabatic forces are stronger than the large-scale forces, has a structure that closely resembles that of a stable boundary layer overlying a flat land surface, although there are some important differences. In order to compare the two situations the set-up of the instruments on an ice cap in Iceland was reproduced on a flat grass surface at Cabauw, the Netherlands. Wind speed and temperature gradients were calculated and combined with flux measurements made with a sonic anemometer in order to obtain the local stability functions φm and φh as a function of the local stability parameter z/L. Unlike the situation at Cabauw, where φm was linear as a function of z/L, in the katabatically forced boundary layer, the dependence of φm on stability was found to be non-linear and related to the height of the wind maximum. Thermal stratification and the depth of the stable boundary layer however seem to be rather similar under these two different forcing conditions.