Katabatic Winds over Steep Slopes: Overview of a Field Experiment Designed to Investigate Slope-Normal Velocity and Near-Surface Turbulence

We describe a new field campaign over steep, snowy $$30^{\circ }$$ alpine slope, designed to investigate three recurrent issues in experimental studies of steep-slope katabatic winds. (1) Entrainment is known be present jets and has been estimated at the interface between jet boundary layer above it. However, our knowledge, slope-normal velocity component never measured jet. (2) It hard accurately measure turbulence first tens centimetres surface using standard sonic anemometry due filtering effect long instrument path. The experiment used three-dimensional multi-hole pitot-type probe with high sampling frequency (1250 Hz) that was positioned as close 3 cm. provides mean Reynolds stress tensor from which dissipation can estimated, well spectra for turbulent quantities. Energy reveal well-developed inertial range capture scales some dissipative scales. (3) Measuring on mast usually information about quantities certain discrete heights because sensors are sparsely located inside measurements flows where full wind-speed temperature profiles acquired, tethered balloon available location measurement mast, comprises thermometry.