Research Summaries

Back Sundowner Winds Experiment (SWEX)

Fiscal Year 2021
Division Graduate School of Engineering & Applied Science
Department Meteorology
Investigator(s) Bucholtz, Anthony
Sponsor National Science Foundation (NSF)
Summary The NPS-CIRPAS Twin Otter research aircraft will conduct research flights in support of the NSF Sundowner Winds Experiment (SWEX). The SWEX mission will study the downslope windstorms that frequently occur in the lee of the Santa Ynez Mountains (SYM) in Santa Barbara County, CA. These strong wind events, which are most prevalent in the spring, are considered one of the most significant fire weather conditions in the region. They are locally called Sundowner winds because they generally peak from early evening to mid-morning.
The main scientific objectives of the flight operations component of SWEX are to obtain thermodynamic (temperature and humidity) and wind profiles over the Santa Barbara Channel (boundary layer to ~6000m), along the Santa Ynez Valley and across the Santa Ynez Mountains to investigate the mechanisms driving the strong, gusty downslope Sundowner winds in the lee of the narrow Santa Ynez Mountains that are influenced by complex interactions with a cool, stable, and shallow marine boundary layer.
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Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal