Numerical investigation into effects of complex terrain on spatial and temporal variability of precipitation
This study is part of an ongoing research effort at Los Alamos to understand the hydrologic cycle at regional scales by coupling atmospheric, land surface, river channel, and groundwater models. In this study the authors examine how local variation of heights of the two mountain ranges representative of those that surround the Rio Grande Valley affects precipitation. The lack of observational data to adequately assess precipitation variability in complex terrain, and the lack of previous work has prompted this modeling study. Thus, it becomes imperative to understand how the local terrain affects snow accumulations and rainfall during winter and summer seasons respectively so as to manage this valuable resource in this semi-arid region. While terrain is three dimensional, simplifying the problem to two dimensions can provide some valuable insight into topographic effects that may exist at various transects across the Rio Grande Valley. The authors induce these topographic effects by introducing variations in heights of the mountains and the width of the valley using an analytical function for the topography. The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) is used to examine these effects.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 296871
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-98-2441; CONF-980854-; ON: DE99001224; TRN: AHC29903%%269
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 8. conference on mountain meteorology, Flagstaff, AZ (United States), 3-7 Aug 1998; Other Information: PBD: [1998]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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