Terrain-induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX)

People: Barbara Brooks, Ian Brooks, Ralph Burton, James Groves, Mat Hobby, Jennifer Hutton, Jim McQuaid, Stephen Mobbs, Felicity Perry, Victoria Smith.

Atmospheric rotors are intense low level vortices which form along an axis parallel to, and downwind of, a mountain ridge crest. They pose a serious aviation hazard and have been cited as contributing to numerous aircraft accidents. The eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, USA form one of the tallest, steepest, almost linear topographic barriers in the US, and are well known for generating large amplitude mountain waves and rotors (some of the world altitude records for glider soaring have taken place in this region). As such, the Sierra Nevada form a natural laboratory for the study of rotors.

T-REX represents a comprehensive study of the coupled mountain-wave, rotor and boundary layer system. Some complimentary scientific issues include stratospheric-tropospheric exchange and the structure and evolution of the boundary layer in the absence of rotors. The T-REX data sets will also provide a unique test bed for the validation of numerical models.

As well as the Leeds representation, T-REX involves participants from many American universities and research institutes, and the field phase of the experiment promises to be one of the biggest field experiments ever conducted into mountain waves and rotors.

Funded by: NERC

Start Date: 2004
End Date: 2007