One-level diagnostic modeling of mesoscale surface winds in complex terrain. Part I: comparison with three-dimensional modeling in Israel

In a detailed, high-resolution analysis of the summer mesoscale flow, the surface horizontal winds from the one-level high-resolution model and the three-dimensional model are compared to the relatively dense network of wind observations in Israel every three hours, for an averaged diurnal cycle. Several features of the surface flow are revealed and illustrated, including i) flow convergence in the evening near the coast; ii) a convergence line south of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) that forms in the morning, moves southward along the Jordan Rift Valley, and finally merges with the SBF in the afternoon; iii) relatively strong nocturnal flow at the southern Mediterranean coast of Israel, possibly due to the concave shoreline there. -from Authors