Wind Channeling by the Dead-Sea Wadis

• Published in: The open atmospheric science journal Vol. 2; no. 1; pp. 139 - 152
• Main Authors: Shafir, H., Jin, F. J., Lati, Y., Cohen, M., Alpert, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 18.07.2008
• ISSN: 1874-2823; 1874-2823
• DOI: 10.2174/1874282300802010139

Wind channeling by small wadis of few kilometers width at the Dead-Sea area is demonstrated with highresolution modeling. Previous works have not shown such channeling in very small rivers due to computation difficulties on the meso-γ and the lack of suitable observations for verification. The wind channeling is demonstrated in three wadis, and was verified by meteorological model simulations on the meso-γ scale, as well as by surface and upper layers observations. There are two dominant mechanisms for the wind channeling, the geometrical forcing and the thermal katabatic effect as shown by the model negative divergence zone inside the wadis. The unique features of the Dead-Sea i.e., the absence of vegetation cover and urban areas can serve as a proposed natural model for the wind-wadi interaction.