Topographically induced flows and nocturnal cooling in the atmospheric boundary layer

Resumen

The study of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) has been historically addressed considering that it evolves over homogeneous and flat terrain. However, in real world such surfaces hardly exist. Actually, terrain complexity represents a major effect on the behaviour of the ABL, specially under fair weather conditions in nighttime. When no well-defined synoptic gradients exist over complex topography, flows develop at a large variety of scales. The main generators of these circulations are spatial thermal differences induced by terrain heterogeneity. This thesis seeks to contribute in the analysis of the nocturnal ABL by considering the terrain influence, with especial regard to the temperature and wind structure close to the ground.