Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II
Online ISSN : 2186-9057
Print ISSN : 0026-1165
ISSN-L : 0026-1165
Katabatic Wind on Melting Snow and Ice Surfaces (II)
Application of a Theoretical Model
Tetsuo Ohata
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1989 Volume 67 Issue 1 Pages 113-122

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Abstract

Theoretical consideration of the katabatic wind occurring on melting snow and ice surfaces, which is usually called a glacier wind, is made and is compared with observational results. The source of cooling is the constant 0°C surface; this is different from the usual katabatic wind which occurs as a result of radiation deficit at the surface. The katabatic wind model of Manins and Sawford (1979), which is a two-layer model incorporating entrainment at the top of the katabatic layer, will be applied to glacier wind. The needed parameters are simplified from the result of measurements of vertical profile of air temperature and wind speed in the present case of katabatic wind on melting snow and ice surfaces. The calculation result shows that on relatively large snow and ice masses, wind speed and thickness are∝s, and sensible heat flux at the surface ∝s-s2 where s is the distance from the upper end of the snow or ice mass. This is different from the result obtained for katabatic wind occurring from a radiational deficit, for which the wind speed is usually ∝√s and thickness is ∝s. The effect of stability of the ambient atmosphere is such that when the stability is low, wind develops faster along the slope. However, there is no destruction of wind due to adiabatic warming of the katabatic wind layer. This modified model can explain the observed wind speed, depth and surface sensible heat flux at a certain site on snow and ice masses quantitatively and can explain the areal development qualitatively.

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