Barrier wind during the Greenland Flow Distortion experiment (GFDex)

An aircraft-based field campaign, the Greenland Flow Distortion experiment (GFDex), was based out of Keflavik, Iceland, in February and March 2007, observing intense weather phenomena in the vicinity of Greenland and Iceland. In total 12 missions were flown, using the UK Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurement (FAAM) BAE-146. During the field campaign detailed in situ observations of high wind speed events close to Greenland were obtained.

Here we describe the Greenland barrier wind, a low level jet parallel to the southeastern coast of Greenland. Barrier wind was observed on two consecutive days 1-2 March. The barrier wind speed increased during these two days from 17 m/s in the jet core on 1 March to 35 m/s on 2 March. The barrier wind had its maximum at about 900 hPa and just off the sea ice edge. Dropsonde observations and model simulations will be presented. The model simulations show that the representation of the sea surface is important for the location and strength of the low level jet.