Non-flat Terrain Research Articles

Micrometeorological simulations over a complex terrain with SUBMESO: a model study using a novel pre-processor

Effects of topography on micrometeorological fields may have a great impact on noise propagation. Consequently, we discuss some preliminary results from a modelling study of short-term evolution of wind and temperature over a smooth, non-flat terrain. The study is performed using the 3-D model SUBMESO. A new meteorological pre-processor (MPP) has been implemented to specify vertical profiles of wind, temperature and other scalar quantities, which can be used to drive the flow and set the model reference state. Numerical simulations have been performed in strongly convective and neutral shear-driven conditions. We obtain results similar to those from reference simulations over flat terrain and ascertain that the small-scale topography modifies the mean flow and the structure of the instantaneous velocity field in both cases. Unlike what is expected for stable stratification, no channelling effect is visible for the atmospheric conditions considered here. This study is a first validation of the MPP device.