Estudo dos fluxos turbulentos de calor sensível e latente no fundo do vale do Rio da Prata

Abstract

Three observational campaigns have been conducted in the region of Nova Roma do Sul, southern Brazil. In the last one of them, a micrometeorological tower was deployed above the river surface, at the bottom of the Prata river valley. The purpose was to characterize the exchange between the river surface and the atmosphere. The micrometeorological parameters measured at this tower were analyzed and compared to the synoptic meteorological variables. The comparisons showed a connection between the large-scale flow and the local circulations. Differently than usually observed, the vertical turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes were directed towards the surface at daytime. The physical processes responsible for this behavior are analyzed, using a large eddy simulation model. Seven simulations were performed, to understand how the exchange is affected by the topography, and by the magnitude and direction of the large scale flow. The results show that the vertical fluxes are directed towards the surface, independently of the existence of slopes besides the river. Large scale wind direction has a stronger effect on the flux magnitude than does its magnitude. Two additional simulations were performed, to understand how the fluxes at the valley bottom are affected by the river width. For these simulations, rivers twice and for times as wide as in the previous runs were considered. The results show that, even when the river occupied as much as one third of the total horizontal domain, it still remains with a passive behavior, with the exchange above its surface being controlled by the characteristics of the air that is transported from above the land portion of the domain. The river, in this case is a heat and moisture sink, at daytime. Furthermore, the horizontal fluxes, that converge from the slopes towards the air above the river have a fundamental role on the exchange process between the river and local atmosphere.