During MAP IOP 15, a strong Mistral case has been well investigated experimentally and documented with the high resolution numerical simulations of MESO-NH model. During this IOP, two UHF profilers, located respectively near Berre pond and Toulon, give the temporal evolution of the Mistral event, up to 3000m height, in the two locations. On the 6 November, the four aircraft ( Merlin, ARAT, P3 and Electra), describe, at different levels, a vertical plan perpendicular to the Mistral wind axis above the Ligurian sea. The general features of the flights made within the marine atmospheric boundary layer are characterized by (i) a strong wind reaching 60 kt during the leg at 3000 ft, (i) moderate to high turbulence and (ii) strong latent heat fluxes reaching 500 Wm^-2 during the leg at 500ft.

The analysis presented here concerns: (i) the comparison between MESO-NH simulations and the experimental data concerning the mean structure of the Mistral wind and turbulent fluxes and turbulent kinetic energy terms above the sea, (ii) the structure of the PV banners observed with the numerical simulation along the flight axis and the weight of the different terms of PV equation, (iii) the estimation of the mean gradients and of high frequency turbulent parameters evolution in relation to the PV banner and (iv) the LIDAR observation.