Dr. Stefano SERAFIN


stefano.serafin(at)univie.ac.at

Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2 (UZA II), 1090 Vienna
Roomnumber: 2G556
T: +43-1-4277-537 13


  • 2020: Senior Scientist, University of Vienna
  • 2018: National scientific qualification (Italy), disciplines 04/A4 (Geophysics) and 02/C1 (Astronomy, Astrophysics, Earth and Planetary Sciences)
  • 2018: Project leader, University of Innsbruck
  • 2010: Assistant professor, University of Vienna
  • 2006: Doctorate in Environmental Engineering, University of Trento (Italy)
  • 2002: Project scientist, CETEMPS/University of L'Aquila (Italy)
  • 2002: Degree in Environmental Science, University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy)
  • Complete curriculum vitae

Research Interests

  • Mountain meteorology
  • Dynamic meteorology
  • Numerical weather prediction
  • Boundary-layer meteorology

Projects

Publications

Boundary-layer plumes over mountainous terrain in idealized large-eddy simulations

Author(s)
Jan Weinkaemmerer, Matthias Göbel, Stefano Serafin, Ivan Bašták Ďurán, Jürg Schmidli
Abstract

Coherent plume structures in the convective boundary layer over non-flat terrain are investigated using large-eddy simulation. A conditional sampling method based on the concentration of a decaying passive tracer is implemented in order to identify the boundary-layer plumes objectively. Conditional sampling allows quantification of the contribution of plume structures to the vertical transport of heat and moisture. A first set of simulations analyzes the flow over an idealized valley, where the terrain elevation only varies along one horizontal coordinate axis. In this case, vertical transport by coherent structures is the dominant contribution to the turbulent components of both heat and moisture flux. It is comparable in magnitude to the advective transport by the mean slope-wind circulation, although it is more important for heat than for moisture transport. A second set of simulations considers flow over terrain with a complex texture, drawn from an actual digital elevation model. In this case, conditional sampling is carried out by using a simple domain-decomposition approach. We demonstrate that thermal updrafts are generally more frequent on hill tops than over the surroundings, but they are less persistent on the windward sides when large-scale winds are present in the free atmosphere. Large-scale upper level winds tend to reduce the vertical moisture transport by the slope winds.

Organisation(s)
Department of Meteorology and Geophysics
External organisation(s)
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck
Journal
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
Volume
149
Pages
3183-3197
No. of pages
15
ISSN
0035-9009
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4551
Publication date
08-2023
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
105207 Mountain meteorology, 105206 Meteorology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Atmospheric Science
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/dd8d8d36-d3ff-493d-9341-35b60eadaaf7