Meteorological observations collected during the Storms and Precipitation Across the continental Divide Experiment (SPADE), April–June 2019

Author:

Thériault Julie M.,Déry Stephen J.ORCID,Pomeroy John W.ORCID,Smith Hilary M.,Almonte Juris,Bertoncini AndréORCID,Crawford Robert W.,Desroches-Lapointe Aurélie,Lachapelle Mathieu,Mariani Zen,Mitchell Selina,Morris Jeremy E.,Hébert-Pinard Charlie,Rodriguez Peter,Thompson Hadleigh D.

Abstract

Abstract. The continental divide along the spine of the Canadian Rockies in southwestern Canada is a critical headwater region for hydrological drainages to the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic oceans. Major flooding events are typically attributed to heavy precipitation on its eastern side due to upslope (easterly) flows. Precipitation can also occur on the western side of the divide when moisture originating from the Pacific Ocean encounters the west-facing slopes of the Canadian Rockies. Often, storms propagating across the divide result in significant precipitation on both sides. Meteorological data over this critical region are sparse, with few stations located at high elevations. Given the importance of all these types of events, the Storms and Precipitation Across the continental Divide Experiment (SPADE) was initiated to enhance our knowledge of the atmospheric processes leading to storms and precipitation on either side of the continental divide. This was accomplished by installing specialized meteorological instrumentation on both sides of the continental divide and carrying out manual observations during an intensive field campaign from 24 April–26 June 2019. On the eastern side, there were two field sites: (i) at Fortress Mountain Powerline (2076 m a.s.l.) and (ii) at Fortress Junction Service, located in a high-elevation valley (1580 m a.s.l.). On the western side, Nipika Mountain Resort, also located in a valley (1087 m a.s.l.), was chosen as a field site. Various meteorological instruments were deployed including two Doppler light detection and ranging instruments (lidars), three vertically pointing micro rain radars, and three optical disdrometers. The three main sites were nearly identically instrumented, and observers were on site at Fortress Mountain Powerline and Nipika Mountain Resort during precipitation events to take manual observations of precipitation type and microphotographs of solid particles. The objective of the field campaign was to gather high-temporal-frequency meteorological data and to compare the different conditions on either side of the divide to study the precipitation processes that can lead to catastrophic flooding in the region. Details on field sites, instrumentation used, and collection methods are discussed. Data from the study are publicly accessible from the Federated Research Data Repository at https://doi.org/10.20383/101.0221 (Thériault et al., 2020). This dataset will be used to study atmospheric conditions associated with precipitation events documented simultaneously on either side of a continental divide. This paper also provides a sample of the data gathered during a precipitation event.

Publisher

Copernicus GmbH

Subject

General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Reference46 articles.

1. Atlas, D. and Ulbrich, C. W.: Path-and area-integrated rainfall measurement by microwave attenuation in the 1–3 cm band, J. Appl. Meteor., 16, 1322–1331, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1977)016<1322:PAAIRM>2.0.CO;2, 1977.

2. Banta, R. M., Shepson, P. B., Bottenheim, J. W., Anlauf, K. G.,Wiebe, H. A., Gallant, A., Biesenthal, T., Olivier, L. D., Zhu, C.-J., McKendry, I. G., and Steyn, D. G.: Nocturnal cleansing flows in a tributary valley, Atmos. Environ., 31, 2147–2162, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(96)00359-7, 1997.

3. Banta, R. M., Darby L. S., Kaufman, P., Levinson, D. H., and Zhu, C.-J.: Wind flow patterns in the Grand Canyon as revealed by Doppler lidar, J. Appl. Meteorol., 38, 1069–1083, 1999.

4. Conway, J. P., Pomeroy, J. W., Helgason, W. D., and Kinar, N. J.: Challenges in modelling turbulent heat fluxes to snowpacks in forest clearings, J. Hydrometeorol, 19, 1599–1616, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-18-0050.1, 2018.

5. Darby, L. S., Neff, W. D., and Banta, R. M.: Multiscale analysis of a meso-β frontal passage in the complex terrain of the Colorado Front Range, Mon. Weather Rev., 127, 2062–2081, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1999)127<2062:MAOAMF>2.0.CO;2, 1999.

Cited by 6 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3