Linear stability of katabatic Prandtl slope flows with ambient wind forcing

DOI10.1017/JFM.2019.1047zbMATH Open1460.86030arXiv1909.13150OpenAlexW3105726618WikidataQ126386094 ScholiaQ126386094MaRDI QIDQ5210679FDOQ5210679

Authors: Cheng-Nian Xiao, Inanc Senocak 

Publication date: 21 January 2020

Published in: Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We investigate the stability of katabatic slope flows over an infinitely wide and uniformly cooled planar surface subject to an additional forcing due to a uniform downslope wind field aloft. We adopt an extension of Prandtl's original model for slope flows (Lykosov & Gutman 1972) to derive the base flow, which constitutes an interesting basic state in stability analysis because it cannot be reduced to a single universal form independent of external parameters. We apply a linear modal analysis to this basic state to demonstrate that for a fixed Prandtl number and slope angle, two independent dimensionless parameters are sufficient to describe the flow stability. One of these parameters is the stratification perturbation number that we have introduced in Xiao & Senocak (2019). The second parameter, which we will henceforth designate the wind forcing number, is hitherto uncharted and can be interpreted as the ratio of the kinetic energy of the ambient wind aloft to the damping due to viscosity and stabilizing effect of the background stratification. For a fixed Prandtl number, stationary transverse and travelling longitudinal modes of instabilities can emerge, depending on the value of the slope angle and the aforementioned dimensionless numbers. The influence of ambient wind forcing on the base flow's stability is complicated as the ambient wind can be both stabilizing as well as destabilizing for a certain range of the parameters. Our results constitute a strong counter-evidence against the current practice of relying solely on the gradient Richardson number to describe the dynamic stability of stratified atmospheric slope flows.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.13150

Recommendations

• Stability of the Prandtl model for katabatic slope flows
• Stability of the anabatic Prandtl slope flow in a stably stratified medium
• Katabatic flow along a differentially cooled sloping surface
• Toward a nonlinear theory of katabatic winds
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zbMATH Keywords

stratified flowsatmospheric flows

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Free convection (76R10) Stability and instability of geophysical and astrophysical flows (76E20) Meteorology and atmospheric physics (86A10)

Cites Work

• Turbulent entrainment in stratified flows
• Unsteady convectively driven flow along a vertical plate immersed in a stably stratified fluid
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Stability of the Prandtl model for katabatic slope flows

Cited In (6)

• Speaker-wire vortices in stratified anabatic Prandtl slope flows and their secondary instabilities
• Stability of the Prandtl model for katabatic slope flows
• Stability of the anabatic Prandtl slope flow in a stably stratified medium
• Mean flow structure of katabatic winds and turbulent mixing properties
• Katabatic flow along a differentially cooled sloping surface
• Toward a nonlinear theory of katabatic winds

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