Airflow within major Alpine river valleys under heavy rainfall

This study documents the airflow within major Alpine river valleys in the presence of precipitation. The analysis seeks a conceptual understanding of the effect of rain on the valley flow. Ground‐based and airborne Doppler radar and surface data from the Mesoscale Alpine Programme show that during p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quarterly journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 2003-01, Vol.129 (588), p.411-431
Main Authors: Steiner, Matthias, Bousquet, Olivier, Houze, Robert A., Smull, Bradley F., Mancini, Marco
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Doppler radar
Drainage flow
Evaporation
Melting
Mesoscale Alpine Programme
Orographic precipitation
Subsidence
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study documents the airflow within major Alpine river valleys in the presence of precipitation. The analysis seeks a conceptual understanding of the effect of rain on the valley flow. Ground‐based and airborne Doppler radar and surface data from the Mesoscale Alpine Programme show that during persistent rainy periods the subsidence caused by melting and evaporation of precipitation particles contributes to the formation of a down‐valley flow. This down‐valley flow opposes moist southerly flow aloft, which is lifted over the topographic barrier and in which precipitation particles are formed. Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society.
ISSN:0035-9009
1477-870X
DOI:10.1256/qj.02.08