Case studies of the wind field around Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, using unmanned aircraft

Martin  Schön; Irene Suomi; Barbara  Altstädter; Bram  van Kesteren; Kjell zum Berge; Andreas Platis; Birgit Wehner; Astrid Lampert; Jens Bange

doi:10.33265/polar.v41.7884

Martin Schön Department of Geosciences, Tübingen University, Germany https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8572-933X
Irene Suomi Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Barbara Altstädter Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
Bram van Kesteren Department of Geosciences, Tübingen University, Germany
Kjell zum Berge Department of Geosciences, Tübingen University, Germany
Andreas Platis Department of Geosciences, Tübingen University, Germany
Birgit Wehner Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
Astrid Lampert Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
Jens Bange Department of Geosciences, Tübingen University, Germany

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v41.7884

Keywords: Microscale meteorology, boundary layer, wind measurement, aircraft measurement, Kongsfjorden, Arctic fjord

Abstract

The wind field in Arctic fjords is strongly influenced by glaciers, local orography and the interaction between sea and land. Ny-Ålesund, an important location for atmospheric research in the Arctic, is located in Kongsfjorden, a fjord with a complex local wind field that influences measurements in Ny-Ålesund. Using wind measurements from UAS (unmanned aircraft systems), ground measurements, radiosonde and reanalysis data, characteristic processes that determine the wind field around Ny-Ålesund are identified and analysed. UAS measurements and ground measurements show, as did previous studies, a south-east flow along Kongsfjorden, dominating the wind conditions in Ny-Ålesund. The wind measured by the UAS in a valley 1 km west of Ny-Ålesund differs from the wind measured at the ground in Ny-Ålesund. In this valley, we identify a small-scale catabatic flow from the south to south-west as the cause for this difference. Case studies show a backing (counterclockwise rotation with increasing altitude) of the wind direction close to the ground. A katabatic flow is measured near the ground, with a horizontal wind speed up to 5 m s^-1. Both the larger-scale south-east flow along the fjord and the local katabatic flows lead to a highly variable wind field, so ground measurements and weather models alone give an incomplete picture. The comparison of UAS measurements, ground measurements and weather conditions analysis using a synoptic model is used to show that the effects measured in the case studies play a role in the Ny-Ålesund wind field in spring.

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