Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A numerical study of the interactions of urban breeze circulation with mountain slope winds

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The two-dimensional interactions of urban breeze circulation with mountain slope winds are investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with the Seoul National University Urban Canopy Model (SNUUCM). A city is located near an isolated mountain, and there is no basic-state wind. Circulation over the urban area is asymmetric and characterized by the weakened mountain-side urban wind due to the opposing upslope wind and the strengthened plain-side urban wind in the daytime. The transition from upslope wind to downslope wind on the urban-side mountain slope occurs earlier than that on the mountain slope in a simulation that includes only an isolated mountain. A hydraulic jump occurs in the late afternoon, when the strong downslope wind merges with weaker mountain-side urban wind and stagnates until late evening. The sensitivities of the interactions of urban breeze circulation with mountain slope winds and urban heat island intensity to mountain height and urban fraction are also examined. As mountain height decreases and urban fraction increases, the transition from urban-side upslope wind to downslope wind occurs earlier and the urban-side downslope wind persists longer. This change in transition time from urban-side upslope wind to downslope wind affects the interactions between urban breeze circulation and mountain slope winds. Urban heat island intensity is more sensitive to urban fraction than to mountain height. Each urban fraction increase of 0.1 results in an average increase of 0.17 °C (1.27 °C) in the daytime (nighttime) urban heat island intensity. A simulation in which a city is located in a basin shows that the urban-side downslope wind develops earlier, persists longer, and is stronger than in the simulation that includes a city and an isolated mountain.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Chen F, Dudhia J (2001) Coupling an advanced land surface–hydrology model with the Penn State–NCAR MM5 modeling system. Part I: model implementation and sensitivity. Mon Weather Rev 129:569–585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen SH, Sun WY (2002) A one-dimensional time dependent cloud model. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 80:99–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Wekker SFJ, Zhong S, Fast JD, Whiteman CD (1998) A numerical study of the thermally driven plain-to-basin wind over idealized basin topographies. J Appl Meteorol 37:606–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dudhia J (1989) Numerical study of convection observed during the winter monsoon experiment using a mesoscale two-dimensional model. J Atmos Sci 46:3077–3107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernando HJS (2010) Fluid dynamics of urban atmospheres in complex terrain. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 42:365–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hidalgo J, Masson V, Pigeon G (2008a) Urban-breeze circulation during the CAPITOUL experiment: numerical simulations. Meteorol Atmos Phys 102:243–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hidalgo J, Pigeon G, Masson V (2008b) Urban-breeze circulation during the CAPITOUL experiment: observational data analysis approach. Meteorol Atmos Phys 102:223–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong SY, Noh Y, Dudhia J (2006) A new vertical diffusion package with an explicit treatment of entrainment processes. Mon Weather Rev 134:2318–2341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura F, Kuwagata T (1993) Thermally induced wind passing from plain to basin over a mountain range. J Appl Meteorol 32:1538–1547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura F, Kuwagata T (1995) Horizontal heat fluxes over complex terrain computed using a simple mixed-layer model and a numerical model. J Appl Meteorol 34:549–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee SH, Kim HD (2010) Modification of nocturnal drainage flow due to urban surface heat flux. Asia-Pac J Atmos Sci 46:453–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee SH, Kimura F (2001) Comparative studies in the local circulations induced by land-use and by topography. Bound-Layer Meteorol 101:157–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemonsu A, Masson V (2002) Simulation of a summer urban-breeze over Paris. Bound-Layer Meteorol 104:463–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mlawer EJ, Taubman SJ, Brown PD, Iacono MJ, Clough SA (1997) Radiative transfer for inhomogeneous atmospheres: RRTM, a validated correlated-k model for the longwave. J Geophys Res 102:16663–16682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohashi Y, Kida H (2002) Effects of mountains and urban areas on daytime local-circulations in the Osaka and Kyoto regions. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 80:539–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pielke RA (2002) Mesoscale meteorological modeling, 2nd edn. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryu YH, Baik JJ (2013) Daytime local circulations and their interactions in the Seoul metropolitan area. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 52:784–801

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryu YH, Baik JJ, Lee SH (2011) A new single-layer urban canopy model for use in mesoscale atmospheric models. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 50:1773–1794

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryu YH, Baik JJ, Han JY (2013a) Daytime urban breeze circulation and its interaction with convective cells. Q J R Meteorol Soc 139:401–413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryu YH, Baik JJ, Kwak KH, Kim S, Moon N (2013b) Impacts of urban land-surface forcing on ozone air quality in the Seoul metropolitan area. Atmos Chem Phys 13:2177–2194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savijarvi H, Liya J (2001) Local winds in a valley city. Bound-Layer Meteorol 100:301–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson JE (1994) Sea breeze and local winds. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Skamarock WC, Klemp JB, Dudhia J, Gill DO, Barker DM, Duda MG, Huang XY, Wang W, Powers JG (2008) A description of the advanced research WRF version 3. NCAR, Boulder

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong KK, Dirks RA (1978) Mesoscale perturbations on airflow in the urban mixing layer. J Appl Meteorol 17:677–688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang N, Wang X, Peng Z (2014) Large-eddy simulation of mesoscale circulations forced in inhomogeneous urban heat island. Bound-Layer Meteorol 151:179–194

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers and Jaemyeong Mango Seo for providing valuable comments on this work. This work was funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) (No. 2012-0005674).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, South Korea

    Gantuya Ganbat, Jong-Jin Baik & Young-Hee Ryu

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Young-Hee Ryu

Authors
  1. Gantuya Ganbat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jong-Jin Baik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Young-Hee Ryu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jong-Jin Baik.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ganbat, G., Baik, JJ. & Ryu, YH. A numerical study of the interactions of urban breeze circulation with mountain slope winds. Theor Appl Climatol 120, 123–135 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1162-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1162-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation