Laboratory simulations of the atmospheric mixed-layer in flow over complex topography

A laboratory study of the influence of complex terrain on the interface between a well-mixed boundary layer and an elevated stratified layer was conducted in the towing-tank facility of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The height of the mixed layer in the daytime boundary layer can have a strong influence on the concentration of pollutants within this layer. Deflections of streamlines at the height of the interface are primarily a function of hill Froude number (Fr), the ratio of mixed-layer height (z _i ) to terrain height (h), and the crosswind dimension of the terrain. The magnitude of the deflections increases as Fr increases and z _i /h decreases. For mixing-height streamlines that are initially below the terrain top, the response is linear with Fr; for those initially above the terrain feature the response to Fr is more complex. Once Fr exceeds about 2, the terrain-related response of the mixed layer interface decreases somewhat with increasing Fr (toward more neutral flow). Deflections are also shown to increase as the crosswind dimensions of the terrain increase. Comparisons with numerical modeling, limited field data, and other laboratory measurements reported in the literature are favorable. Additionally, visual observations of dye streamers suggest that the flow structure exhibited for our elevated inversions passing over three dimensional hills is similar to that reported in the literature for continuously stratified flow over two-dimensional hills.