Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

The METCRAX II Field Experiment: A Study of Downslope Windstorm-Type Flows in Arizona’s Meteor Crater

Manuela Lehner University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

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C. David Whiteman University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

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Sebastian W. Hoch University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

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Erik T. Crosman University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

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Matthew E. Jeglum University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

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Nihanth W. Cherukuru Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

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Ronald Calhoun Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

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Bianca Adler Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

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Norbert Kalthoff Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

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Richard Rotunno National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

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Thomas W. Horst National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

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Steven Semmer National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

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William O. J. Brown National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

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Steven P. Oncley National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

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Roland Vogt University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

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A. Martina Grudzielanek Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

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Jan Cermak Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

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Nils J. Fonteyne Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

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Christian Bernhofer Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

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Andrea Pitacco University of Padua, Padua, Italy

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Petra Klein University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma

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Print Publication:
01 Feb 2016
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00238.1
Page(s):
217–235
Restricted access

Abstract

The second Meteor Crater Experiment (METCRAX II) was conducted in October 2013 at Arizona’s Meteor Crater. The experiment was designed to investigate nighttime downslope windstorm−type flows that form regularly above the inner southwest sidewall of the 1.2-km diameter crater as a southwesterly mesoscale katabatic flow cascades over the crater rim. The objective of METCRAX II is to determine the causes of these strong, intermittent, and turbulent inflows that bring warm-air intrusions into the southwest part of the crater. This article provides an overview of the scientific goals of the experiment; summarizes the measurements, the crater topography, and the synoptic meteorology of the study period; and presents initial analysis results.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Manuela Lehner, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, 135 S 1460 E, Rm 819, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0110, E-mail: manuela.lehner@utah.edu

Abstract

The second Meteor Crater Experiment (METCRAX II) was conducted in October 2013 at Arizona’s Meteor Crater. The experiment was designed to investigate nighttime downslope windstorm−type flows that form regularly above the inner southwest sidewall of the 1.2-km diameter crater as a southwesterly mesoscale katabatic flow cascades over the crater rim. The objective of METCRAX II is to determine the causes of these strong, intermittent, and turbulent inflows that bring warm-air intrusions into the southwest part of the crater. This article provides an overview of the scientific goals of the experiment; summarizes the measurements, the crater topography, and the synoptic meteorology of the study period; and presents initial analysis results.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Manuela Lehner, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, 135 S 1460 E, Rm 819, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0110, E-mail: manuela.lehner@utah.edu
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