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Proceedings with Extended Abstracts (single PDF file) - Radio ...

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FOEHN IN THE RHINE VALLEY AS SEEN BY A WIND-PROFILER-RASS SYSTEM AND COMPARISON WITH THE NONHYDROSTATICMODEL MESO-NH.S. Vogt 1 , G. Jaubert 21Siegfried Vogt Institut fuer Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Forschungszentrum76024 Karlsruhe, Germanysiegfried.vogt@imk.fzk.decorresponding author2Genevieve Jaubert Centre National de Recherches Meteorologiques31057 Toulouse, Francegenevieve.jaubert@meteo.fr1. IntroductionFoehn is the generic name for the strong and turbulent wind, which blows from the crests ofthe mountains towards the lee. This wind brings warm and dry air at the surface. Foehn eventsare quite common on the northern side of the Alps and represent very important phenomenafor the weather forecasting in the Alpine valleys, where a lot of people live.Different conceptual models have been proposed for the Foehn. However, the lack of data inmountainous regions limits the understanding and the validation of the numerical simulationsof the Foehn. The Foehn study in an Alpine valley has been recognized as a major scientificobjective of the Mesoscale Alpine Program (MAP), (Binder et al 1996, Bougeault et al 2001).2. Experimental Design290One of the scientific objectives of MAP addressed the four-dimensional variability of theFoehn flow in the Rhine valley. Of special interest were the investigation of the dynamicalprocesses which determine the spatial extension and the temporal variation of the Foehn. Thefield experiment FORM (Foehn in the Rhine Valley during MAP), dedicated to this objective,was conducted from September 7 th to November 15 th 1999, including 10 intensive observingperiods (IOP). A unique observing network was deployed, for details see Bourgeault et al.,2001. Fig.1 shows the FORM experimental area.One of the two wind pro<strong>file</strong>rs was the wind-temperature Radar (WTR) of our institute. TheWTR is a mobile system, especially designed for probing the lower atmosphere.The WTRworks in two modes: the RASS-mode and the clear-air-mode. In the RASS-mode the WTRrecords the air temperature by detecting the propagation of sound pulses <strong>with</strong> a RADAR. Inthe clear-air-mode the WTR observes the electro-magnetic structure parameter of the2,refractive index C n which in contrast to its acoustic counterpart is mainly dominated bymoisture fluctuations but much less by temperature fluctuations.The WTR has a five-beam geometry <strong>with</strong> two bistatic radiofrequency (rf) and one acoustic(ac) antenna. The rf antenna emits continuous waves that are frequency shifted <strong>with</strong> a sawtooth modulation (FM-CW Doppler Radar) in order to provide a fine range gate resolution.The sound source is not only used to measure the vertical sound velocity and hence thetemperature, but also to estimate the wind components in the so-called RASS-mode. This ispossible because the ac beam is simultaneously shifted in the same four oblique beamdirections like the rf beam. The combination of the RASS mode and the clear air mode allows

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