Initiation of shallow convection in the Black Forest mountains

Influence of the wind profile on the initiation of convection in mountainous terrain

“…The observed features are also in agreement with other observations or simulations in the COPS region by Barthlott et al (2006) or Meissner et al (2007). They confirm the initiation of convection at the mountain ridge by a convergence of thermally driven flow from valleys to the ridge.…”

“…The region is well known for convective events during summertime, and several studies have shown the effects of orography on convection (e.g. Hannesen, 1998;Gysi, 1998;Dotzek, 2001;Barthlott et al, 2006;Meissner et al, 2007;Behrendt et al, 2011;Corsmeier et al, 2011;Weckwerth et al, 2011).…”

Initiation of convection over the Black Forest mountains during COPS IOP15a

“…In this article, we extend the work of Meissner et al (2008) by comparing the location and timing of the initiation of convection in the Black Forest Mountains simulated with the WRF model run at 700 m resolution, with observations made with the Doppler-On-Wheels radar. The processes found by the model to be responsible for the initiation are examined and some emphasis is placed on the role of small-scale terrain features.…”

“…Results of the Vertical Exchange and Orography (VERTIKATOR) project discussed by Barthlott et al (2006), for example, showed that these convergence zones are responsible for triggering deep convection. Meissner et al (2008) studied the initiation of shallow convection in the mountains of the Black Forest with extensive observations made in a specific case on 1 June 2002 during VERTIKATOR. They compared the observations with the Deutscher Wetterdienst Local Model at 2.8 km and 7 km horizontal resolution.…”

The dependence of convection‐related parameters on surface and boundary‐layer conditions over complex terrain

“…Thus, a feedback between soil, surface and boundary-layer conditions and convective precipitation is likely and has already been observed for relatively flat terrain with sparse vegetation (Taylor and Lebel, 1998;Taylor and Ellis, 2006). South-western Germany and eastern France, meaning the upper Rhine valley, enclosed by the Black Forest and Vosges mountains, is well known as a favourable area for the triggering of convection (Bertram et al, 2004;Barthlott et al, 2006;Meißner et al, 2007;Groenemeijer et al, 2009). Additionally, considerable information about the spatial distribution of the energy balance (Kalthoff et al, 1999) as well as about the spatial and temporal variability of the CBL height is available (Kalthoff et al, , 2000Koßmann et al, 1998).…”