Thermally Driven Flow Lab

Due: November 1

Objectives:

To improve knowledge of thermally driven flows, including interactions between slope winds, valley winds, and other thermally driven flows (e.g., lake/land breezes).

To gain an understanding of the thermally driven flow climatology over the western United States.

Problem 1:
Read the paper by Stewart et al (2002) entitled A Climatological Study of Thermally Driven Wind Systems of the US Intermountain West. Based on the paper, and the electronic supplement, answer the following questions:

1. Do winds along the benches of the Salt Lake Valley conform to the Hawkes (1947) conceptual model? Explain.
2. Are thermally driven winds in the Rush Valley driven by the adjacent topography or by regional-scale topographic/land surface contrasts? Explain.
3. What is the impact of canyons in the Central Idaho Mountains on winds over the Snake River Plain?

Problem 2:
Select three stations from the Mountain West wind climatology and explain the diurnal evolution of summer-season wind roses at each site. You should be able to find some unique and interesting wind climatologies since every NWS/FAA site in the western United States is available. Topographic maps from TopoZone may be useful for wind rose interpretation. There is no need to hand in the wind roses, but please identify each site and clearly identify important times and time periods.