Anabatic Flow along a Uniformly Heated Slope Studied through Large-Eddy Simulation

Abstract

Anabatic flows are common phenomena in the presence of sloping terrains, which significantly affect the dynamics and the exchange of mass and momentum in the low-atmosphere. Despite this, very few studies in the literature have tackled this topic. The present contribution addresses this gap by utilising high-resolved large-eddy simulations for investigating an anabatic flow in a simplified configuration, commonly used in laboratory experiments. The purpose is to analyse the complex thermo-fluid dynamics and the turbulent structures arising from the anabatic flow near the slope. In such a flow, three main dynamic layers are identified and reported: the conductive layer close to the surface, the convective layer where the most energetic motion develops, and the outer region, which is almost unperturbed. The analysis of instantaneous fields reveals the presence of thermal plumes, which are stable turbulent structures enhancing vertical transport and mixing of momentum and temperature. Such structures are generated by thermal instabilities in the conductive layer that trigger the rise of the plumes above them. Their evolution along the slope is described, identifying three regions responsible for the plumes generation, stabilisation, and merging. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first numerical experiment describing the along-slope behaviour of the thermal plumes in the convective layer.