Identification

Title

Analysis of turbulence and turbulence kinetic energy dynamics in complex terrain

Abstract

Boundary layer processes and turbulence in a complex terrain are influenced by thermally driven flows, as well as dynamically forced flows when ambient wind interacts with orography. This paper investigates the variability in turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) with elevation and topography in a shallow high mountain valley in the Canadian Rockies. The Fortress Mountain Research Basin in the Kananaskis Valley, Alberta, was chosen for this study. Data from three high‐frequency eddy‐covariance systems at a northwest‐facing slope, and at two ridgetops at the south and north valley sidewalls were used for the analysis, and combined with large‐eddy simulations at 90 m horizontal grid spacing. The observed data and simulations focused on a sunny summer day when turbulence was well‐developed, and cross‐ridge flows interacted with thermally driven circulations. The observed TKE time series compared reasonably well with simulations at the northwest‐facing slope and southern ridgetop. The model was then used to evaluate the vertical and horizontal TKE‐budget equation. Analysis of the TKE budget showed that horizontal shear production and advection of TKE driven by horizontal wind‐gradients in cross‐ridge flows, and the interaction of these flows with the up‐valley flow could be an important source of TKE production on the northwest‐facing slope station in the Fortress Valley. The variability observed in TKE budget components across different locations within this high mountain basin indicates the significance of both horizontal and vertical exchange processes in the mechanisms governing TKE production.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7k3602m

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

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keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

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date type

publication

effective date

2025-03-16T00:00:00Z

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<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;font-style:normal;" data-sheets-root="1">Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</span>

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact