Listen to the Wind - Case Study

Dave Fitzjarrald PhD
Senior Research Associate
Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC)
University of Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)

Strong winds off the coast of Santa Barbara, California are referred to as Sundowner winds. These winds can be quite intense. Dr. Dave Fitzjarrald and his technical support team from the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC) at the University at Albany, SUNY are testing a hypothesis that postulates that Sundowner winds depend on the presence of critical layers above the mountain crests that control the propagation of gravity waves in the lee of the coastal range. These winds, which can be aloft at a thousand meters or more in and above the boundary layer, haven’t yet reached the surface. Yet when these winds occur during a fire episode, which is becoming more and more commonplace, the results can be catastrophic.

The approach that Dr. Fitzjarrald employed might be viewed as radical by some camps. Fitzjarrald’s focus was to listen to the wind.  “I want to filter out the environmental sounds from the ocean and surf and listen specifically to the wind,” states Fitzjarrald. “My goal is to distinguish the local wind noise near the surface to examine how the marine layer moves beneath the convective boundary layer by the late afternoon. Another person’s ‘noise’ will be our signal.”