Numerical simulation of the Maui Vortex in the trade winds

Abstract

On the island of Maui, the dispersion of air pollutants associated with the field burning of biomass is complicated because the persistent Maui Vortex in the lee of Haleakala tends to trap smoke making pollution concentration worse in the central valley. In the present study we describe the spatially as well as temporally continuous short-term climatology of the airflow in the central valley of Maui during a summer month under trade wind conditions, simulated by a high-resolution mesoscale model initialized and forced by large-scale objective analyses. These simulations are compared with station observations. Under persistent trade wind conditions, an eddy would form in the central valley, and would remain steady and stationary regardless of the time of the day with little indications of vortex shedding even if the Froude number Fr=Nx

Citation

Ueyoshi, Kyozo; Roads, John O.; Fujioka, Francis; Stevens, Duane E. 1996. Numerical simulation of the Maui Vortex in the trade winds. Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan 74(6):723-744.