The influence of thermally driven circulation on PM10 concentration in the Salt Lake Valley

2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga A. Alexandrova ◽  
Don L. Boyer ◽  
James R. Anderson ◽  
Harindra J.S. Fernando
Keyword(s):  
Salt Lake ◽  
Pm10 Concentration ◽  
Salt Lake Valley ◽  
Thermally Driven

Downslope Flows on a Low-Angle Slope and Their Interactions with Valley Inversions. Part I: Observations

2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 2023-2038 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. David Whiteman ◽  
Shiyuan Zhong
Keyword(s):  
Salt Lake ◽  
Temperature Inversion ◽  
Maximum Speed ◽  
Salt Lake Valley ◽  
Typical Situation ◽  
Thermally Driven ◽  
Downslope Flows ◽  
Downslope Flow ◽  
Deep Temperature ◽  
Using Data

Abstract Thermally driven downslope flows were investigated on a low-angle (1.6°) slope on the west side of the floor of Utah’s Salt Lake Valley below the Oquirrh Mountains using data from a line of four tethered balloons running down the topographic gradient and separated by about 1 km. The study focused on the evolution of the temperature and wind structure within and above the slope flow layer and its variation with downslope distance. In a typical situation, on clear, undisturbed October nights a 25-m-deep temperature deficit of 7°C and a 100–150-m-deep downslope flow with a jet maximum speed of 5–6 m s−1 at 10–15 m AGL developed over the slope during the first 2 h following sunset. The jet maximum speed and the downslope volume flux increased with downslope distance. The downslope flows weakened in the late evening as the stronger down-valley flows expanded to take up more of the valley atmosphere and as ambient stability increased in the lower valley with the buildup of a nocturnal temperature inversion. Downslope flows over this low-angle slope were deeper and stronger than has been reported previously by other investigators, who generally investigated steeper slopes and, in many cases, slopes on the sidewalls of isolated mountains where the downslope flows are not subject to the influence of nighttime buildup of ambient stability within valleys.

scholarly journals Orographic Influences on a Great Salt Lake–Effect Snowstorm

2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (7) ◽  
pp. 2432-2450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor I. Alcott ◽  
W. James Steenburgh
Keyword(s):  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Salt Lake ◽  
Great Salt Lake ◽  
Salt Lake Valley ◽  
Wasatch Mountains ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
Thermally Driven ◽  
Precipitation Band ◽  
Northern Utah ◽  
Snow Water

Abstract Although several mountain ranges surround the Great Salt Lake (GSL) of northern Utah, the extent to which orography modifies GSL-effect precipitation remains largely unknown. Here the authors use observational and numerical modeling approaches to examine the influence of orography on the GSL-effect snowstorm of 27 October 2010, which generated 6–10 mm of precipitation (snow-water equivalent) in the Salt Lake Valley and up to 30 cm of snow in the Wasatch Mountains. The authors find that the primary orographic influences on the event are 1) foehnlike flow over the upstream orography that warms and dries the incipient low-level air mass and reduces precipitation coverage and intensity; 2) orographically forced convergence that extends downstream from the upstream orography, is enhanced by blocking windward of the Promontory Mountains, and affects the structure and evolution of the lake-effect precipitation band; and 3) blocking by the Wasatch and Oquirrh Mountains, which funnels the flow into the Salt Lake Valley, reinforces the thermally driven convergence generated by the GSL, and strongly enhances precipitation. The latter represents a synergistic interaction between lake and downstream orographic processes that is crucial for precipitation development, with a dramatic decrease in precipitation intensity and coverage evident in simulations in which either the lake or the orography are removed. These results help elucidate the spectrum of lake–orographic processes that contribute to lake-effect events and may be broadly applicable to other regions where lake effect precipitation occurs in proximity to complex terrain.

NEW GEOLOGIC MAPPING OF THE SALT LAKE VALLEY

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam P. McKean ◽  
◽  
Zachary W. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Salt Lake ◽  
Geologic Mapping ◽  
Salt Lake Valley

scholarly journals Unmasking the Essential Realities of COVID ‐19: The Pasifika Community in the Salt Lake Valley

Oceania ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (S1) ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Kēhaulani Vaughn ◽  
Jacob Fitisemanu ◽  
Inoke Hafoka ◽  
Kehaulani Folau
Keyword(s):  
Salt Lake ◽  
Salt Lake Valley

Characterization of the morning transition from downslope to upslope winds and its connection with the nocturnal inversion breakup at the foot of a gentle slope

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Farina ◽  
Dino Zardi ◽  
Silvana Di Sabatino ◽  
Mattia Marchio ◽  
Francesco Barbano
Keyword(s):  
Salt Lake ◽  
Vertical Direction ◽  
Blow Down ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Morning Transition ◽  
Thermally Driven ◽  
Slope Wind ◽  
Slope Flow ◽  
Nocturnal Inversion

<p>Thermally driven winds observed in complex terrain are characterized by a daily cycle dominated by two main phases: a diurnal phase in which winds blow upslope (anabatic), and a nocturnal one in which they revert their direction and blow down slope (katabatic). This alternating pattern also implies two transition phases, following sunrise and sunset respectively. </p><p>Here we study the up-slope component of the slope wind with a focus on the morning transition based on from the MATERHORN experiment, performed in Salt Lake Desert (Utah) between Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. </p><p>The analysis develops along three main paths of investigation. The first one is the selection of the suitable conditions for the study of the diurnal component and the characterization of the morning transition. The second one focuses on the deep analysis of the erosion of the nocturnal inversion at the foot of the slope in order to investigate the physical mechanisms driving it. And the third one consists in the comparison between the experimental data and the results of an analytical model (Zardi and Serafin, 2015). The study of the morning transition in the selected case studies allowed its characterization in terms of the relation with the solar radiation cycle, in terms of its seasonality and in terms of its propagation along the slope and along the vertical direction. Most of the results of this investigation are related to the identification of the main mechanisms of erosion of the nocturnal inversion at the foot of the slope and to its role to the beginning of the transition itself. Finally, it is shown how the above model can fairly reproduce the cycle between anabatic and katabatic flow and their intensity.</p><p>Zardi, D. and S. Serafin, 2015: An analytic solution for daily-periodic thermally-driven slope flow. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 141, 1968–1974.</p>

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