Coefficients of Resistance to Cold-Air-Drainage Winds of a Grass-Covered Slope

Abstract

The cold-air-drainage (CAD) wind is one of the most familiar local winds in Japan. It is driven by the surplus of density, or the deficit of potential temperature produced by radiative cooling in the surface air layer on a slope, and is resisted by the ground surface and the surrounding atmosphere. The coefficients of resistance of the ground surface and the surrounding atmosphere change with the CAD wind speed. The observations made on a grass-covered slope of Mt. Kuju showed that the resistance exerted by the surrounding atmosphere was much larger than that by the ground surface, and the sum of two coefficients of resistance decreased by one order of magnitude when the CAD wind speed exceeded some critical value