• Wind and Structures
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.637-656
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• 2017

In Japan, at least 28 local winds are known by name, most of them associated with downslope windstorms and gap winds. To review these windstorms, we categorize them based largely on the atmospheric conditions and formation mechanisms, and then focus on representative examples. These representative cases include the "Yamaji­kaze", a typical downslope windstorm, the "Hirodo-­kaze", a downslope windstorm induced by a nearby typhoon (intense tropical cyclone), and the "Karak-kaze", a downslope wind with a clear diurnal variation. Other downslope winds such as the "Inami-kaze" and the gap wind "Kiyokawa­dashi" are also described. Among these winds, the "Yamaji-kaze", "Hirodo-kaze", and "Kiyokawa-dashi" are considered the three most notorious due to their destructive power. After describing and comparing these winds, we discuss remaining issues to be considered in future studies.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.1245-1254
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• 2003

A numerical simulation for 11 February 1996 has been done to grasp main mechanisms of the occurrence of strong downslope winds near Gangnung area. The simulation performed by using ARPS (Advanced Regional Prediction System) showed that enhanced surface winds were not related with a reflection of vertically propagating gravity waves. Froude numbers were about 1.0, 0.4 and 0.6 for the atmosphere above Daekwanryoung and above a place located 220km upstream, and above another place located 230km downstream from the Taebak mountains, respectively. This suggested that as a subcritical flow ascended the upslope side of the Taebak mountains, Froude numbers would tend to increase according to the increase in wind speed, and near the crest the flow would become supercritical and continue to accelerate as it went down the downslope side until it was adapted back to the ambient subcritical conditions in a turbulent hydraulic jump. Simulated Froude numbers corroborated the hydraulic jump nature of the strong downslope wind. In addition, the inversion was found near the mountain top height upstream of the mountains, and it was favorable for the occurrence of strong downslope winds.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.613-635
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• 2017

Strong downslope windstorms often occur in the Liguria Region. This part of North-Western Italy is characterised by an almost continuous mountain range along its West-East axis consisting of Maritime Alps and Apennines, which separate the Padan Plain to the North from the Mediterranean Sea to the South. Along this mountain range many valleys occur, frequently perpendicular to the mountain range axis, where strong gap flows sometimes develop from the top of the mountains ridge to the sea. In the framework of the European projects "Wind and Ports" and "Wind, Ports, and Sea", an anemometric monitoring network made up of 15 (ultra)sonic anemometric stations and 2 LiDARs has been realised in the three main commercial ports of Liguria. Thanks to this network two investigations are herein carried out. First, the wind climatology and the main statistical parameters of one Liguria valley have been studied through the analysis of the measurements taken along a period of 4 years by the anemometer placed at its southern exit. Then, the main characteristics of two strong gap flows that occurred in two distinct valley of Liguria are examined. Both these studies focus, on the one hand, on the climatological and meteorological characterisation of the downslope wind events and, on the other hand, on their most relevant quantities that can affect wind engineering problems.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.529-564
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• 2017

The Santa Ana winds occur in Southern California during the September-May time frame, bringing low humidities across the area and strong winds at favored locations, which include some mountain gaps and on particular slopes. The exceptionally strong event of late October 2007, which sparked and/or spread numerous fires across the region, is compared to more recent events using a numerical model verified against a very dense, limited-area network (mesonet) that has been recently deployed in San Diego County. The focus is placed on the spatial and temporal structure of the winds within the lowest two kilometers above the ground within the mesonet, along with an attempt to gauge winds and gusts occurring during and after the onset of October 2007's Witch fire, which became one of the largest wildfires in California history.

• Atmosphere
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.361-376
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• 2021

"Gangwon Yeongdong Wind Experiments (G-WEX) Pilot Study: Downslope windstorms in the Taebaek Mountains, South Korea" is promoted based on joint organization by Gangwon Regional Office of Meteorology and National Institute of Meteorological Research and participation by 12 institutions to understand the mechanism in development of Yeongdong wind phenomena. The special observation (G-WEX) involved total of 5 intensive observations in March 2020 and April 2020. To collect the data necessary for the research on Yeongdong wind phenomena, (1) high-resolution surface observation network was used to examine surface wind and (2) atmospheric soundings were observed by using Rawinsonde, Wind profiler, Wind Lidar, and Drone. This study covers the detailed information on the special observational experiments for downslope windstorms in the leeward of the Taebaek Mountains, named as the Yeongdong wind, including the observational strategies, experimental designs, and pilot studies during the Intensified Observing Period (IOPs). According to 2020 G-WEX observation results, downslope windstorms were observed in 2~3 km of upper atmosphere when the strong winds happened around the top of the mountain near Daegwallyeong. Also, dry adiabatic expansion related to downslope windstorms caused temperature rise and led to formation of an inversion layer in altitude below 2.5 km. Bands of strong wind were located right under the altitude where downslope windstorms are observed with temporal rise of the temperature. As these are preliminary observation results, there needs to be continuous related researches and high-resolution weather observation.

• Atmosphere
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.331-344
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• 2009

A sensitivity study has been performed using ARPS (Advanced Regional Prediction System) version 5.2.10 in a downslope windstorm case of 12-13 February 2006. The purpose of this study was to find out the role of the inversion layer of temperature mainly in relation to the strength of the downslope winds over the Yeongdong region located downstream of the Taebaek mountains. Under the conditions of N (Brunt-$V{\ddot{a}}is{\ddot{a}}la$ frequency)=0.008 and N=0.016, the effects of the presence of the inversion layer, its variation of height of the layer, and the depth of the layer were identified. The sensitivity experiments suggested that the inversion layer effected the downstream wind speed of the mountains under both conditions of N=0.008 and N=0.016, and notably when the inversion layer was located near the mountain crest the downstream wind speed of the mountains was strong (~ $27ms^{-1}$) only under the condition of N=0.016. In addition, when the atmosphere was rather stable (N=0.016) and the depth of the layer was relatively thin (765 m) the downstream wind speed of the mountains was the strongest (~ $30ms^{-1}$) among the sensitivity experiments.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.401-412
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• 2016

A 3D sonic anemometer has been installed at Yongpyong alpine slope since Oct. 23th 2014 to observe the slope winds and to analyze turbulent characteristics with the change in surface cover (grass and snow) and the synoptic wind strength. Eddy covariance method has been applied to calculate the turbulent quantity after coordinate transformation of a planar-fit rotation. We have carefully selected 3 good episodes in the winter season (23 October 2014 to 28 February 2015) for each category (9 days in total), such as grass and snow covers in case of weak synoptic wind condition, and grass cover of strong synoptic wind. The diurnal variations of the slope winds were well developed like the upslope wind in the daytime and downslope wind in the nighttime for both surface covers (grass and snow) in the weak synoptic forcing, when accordingly both heat and momentum fluxes significantly increased in the daytime and decreased in the nighttime. Meanwhile, diurnal variation of heat flux was not present on the snow cover probably in associated with significant fraction of sunlight reflection due to high albedo especially during the daytime in comparison to those on the grass cover. In the strong synoptic regime, the most dominant feature at Yongpyong, only the southeasterly downslope winds were steadily generated irrespective of day and night with significant increases in momentum flux and turbulent kinetic energy as well, which could suggest that local circulations are suppressed by the synoptic scale forcing. In spite of only one season analysis applied to the limited domain, this kind of an observation-based study will provide the basis for understanding of the local wind circulation in the complex mountain domain such as Gangwon in Korea.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.565-578
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• 2017

The meteorological model WRF is used to investigate the wind circulation in Valle Camonica, Italy, an alpine valley that includes a large subalpine lake. The aim was to obtain the information necessary to evaluate the wind potential of this area and, from a methodological point of view, to suggest how numerical modeling can be used to locate the most interesting spots for wind exploitation. Two simulations are carried out in order to analyze typical scenarios occurring in the valley. In the first one, the diurnal cycle of thermally-induced winds generated by the heating-cooling of the mountain range encircling the valley is analyzed. The results show that the mountain slopes strongly affect the low-level winds during both daytime and nighttime, and that the correct setting of the lake temperature improves the quality of the meteorological fields provided by WRF significantly. The second simulation deals with an event of strong downslope winds caused by the passage of a cold front. Comparisons between simulated and measured wind speed, direction and air temperature are also shown.

• International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Korean Journal of Geophysical Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.29-45
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• 1996

Before (March 26, 1994) or after the occurrence of a downslope windstorm (March 29), the NO, $NO_2$, and $SO_2$ at the ground level of Kangnung city were monitored with high concentrations in the afternoon, due to a large amount of gases emitted from combustion of motor vehicle and heating apparatus, especially near 1600-1800 LST and 2000-2100 LST, but at night, they had low concentrations, resulting from small consumptions of vehicle and heating fuels. When both moderate westerly synoptic-scale winds flow over Mt. Taegwallyang and easterly meso-scale sea breeze during the day, atmospheric pollutants should be trapped by two different wind systems, resulting in higher concentration at Kangnung city in the afternoon. At night, the association of westerly synoptic wind and land breeze can produce relatively strong winds and the dissipation by the winds cause these low concentrations to lower and lower, as nightime goes on. From March 27 through 28, an enforced localized windstorm could be produced along the lee side of the mountain near Kangnung, generating westerly internal gravity waves with hydraulic jump motions. Sea breeze toward inland appartantly confines to the bottom of the eastern side of the mountain, due to the interruption of eastward violent internal gravity waves. As the windstorm moves down toward the ground, an encountering point of two opposite winds approaches Kangnung, and a great amount of NO and $NO_2$ were removed by the strong surface winds. Thus, their maximum concentrations are found to be near 18 and 20 LST, 17 and 21 LST. In the nighttime, the more developed storm should produce very strong surface winds and the NO and $NO_2$ could be easily dissipated into other place. The $SO_2$ concentration had no maximum value, that is, almost constant one all day long, due to its removal by the strong surface winds. Especially, the CO concentrations were slightly lower during the strom period than both before or after the strom, but they were nearly constant without much changes during the during the daytime and nighttime.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.95-104
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• 2023

The latest revision of AS/NZS 1170.2 incorporates some new research and knowledge on strong winds, climate change, and shape factors for new structures of interest such as solar panels. Unlike most other jurisdictions, Australia and New Zealand covers a vast area of land, a latitude range from 11° to 47°S climatic zones from tropical to cold temperate, and virtually every type of extreme wind event. The latter includes gales from synoptic-scale depressions, severe convectively-driven downdrafts from thunderstorms, tropical cyclones, downslope winds, and tornadoes. All except tornadoes are now covered within AS/NZS 1170.2. The paper describes the main features of the 2021 edition with emphasis on the new content, including the changes in the regional boundaries, regional wind speeds, terrain-height, topographic and direction multipliers. A new 'climate change multiplier' has been included, and the gust and turbulence profiles for over-water winds have been revised. Amongst the changes to the provisions for shape factors, values are provided for ground-mounted solar panels, and new data are provided for curved roofs. New methods have been given for dynamic response factors for poles and masts, and advice given for acceleration calculations for high-rise buildings and other dynamically wind-sensitive structures.