%0 Journal Article
%T Local nocturnal circulations in the island of Majorca: mesoscale modelling and verification
%A M. A. Jim¨¦nez
%A J. Cuxart
%A A. Mira
%A D. Mart¨ªnez
%J Tethys : Journal of Mediterranean Meteorology & Climatology
%D 2006
%I Associaci¨® Catalana de Meteorologia (ACAM)
%X A mesoscale simulation for the island of Majorca in the Western Mediterranean Sea is used to study the nocturnal system of winds under weak synoptic pressure gradients. A very high vertical resolution is used in the first 500 meters above ground level to characterize with large detail the thin circulations close to ground, namely basin and katabatic flows. It is found that the island, the basin and the slope scales interact strongly, especially when a quasi-steady state is reached in the second part of the night. A high mountain range creates a high pressure area upwind where local winds can develop. Katabatic flows converge to the valleys, where they interact with a cold pool, which is advected slowly to sea by the land-sea night-breeze effect combined with a topographic forcing. To see how realistic is this run, the outputs are compared against available observations: data from Automatic Weather Stations and satellite images. Although verification is a difficult task, the modelled patterns of wind and temperature agree with the observed ones.
%U http://www.tethys.cat/sites/default/files/pdf/articles/3tethys-09-eng.pdf