| |
Bandelier Wilderness Area |
Site Name
IMPROVE:
BAND1
Region
Southern Rocky Mountains
Terrain
Terrain is shown in the
2 km terrain map and the
20 km terrain map.
The Bandelier Wilderness Area is located in north-central New Mexico, south
of Los Alamos. It occupies 23,267 acres on the east side of the Rio Grande
that flows through a canyon in this area. It extends from river level,
elevation near 1,700 m (5,600 ft), to highest elevations in its western
extent of 2,300 to 2,400 m (7,500 to 7,900 ft). The highest Wilderness
elevation is 2,580 m (8,463 ft) at the crest of St. Peters Dome on the
western boundary. Within the Wilderness, terrain consists gorges and canyons
that were formed by erosion of the Pajarita Plateau that slopes downwards
towards the east. Perennial and intermittent streams flow through these
drainages from the Jemez Mountains to the west southeastwardly through the
Wilderness to the Rio Grande.
The IMPROVE monitoring site representing the Bandelier Wilderness is BAND1,
located near a fire tower on a ridge crest just outside of the eastern
Wilderness boundary at an elevation of 1,987 m (6,517 ft).
Representativeness
The BAND1 IMPROVE site is in an exposed location at an elevation near the
middle of the range of Wilderness elevations and about 300 m above the Rio
Grande at the bottom of the canyon. Highest Wilderness elevations are
typically 300 to 400 m (~ 1,000 ft) above the monitoring site. BAND1 should
be very representative of Wilderness locations, although lower Wilderness
canyon bottom elevations, that comprise a very small part of the Wilderness
area, may at times be within a lower surface inversion.
Nearby Population/Industrial Centers and Local Sources
Nearby Meteorological Data Stations
Nearby meteorological monitoring network stations are shown in the data
network map. Locations and data from
nearby RAWS monitoring sites can also be accessed at the
RAWS station US Climate Archive
website. The
Tower RAWS site and
Water Canyon
RAWS site are near the northern Wilderness boundary at elevations of
1,982 m (6,500 ft) and 2,485 m (8,150 ft), respectively and should be
representative of climate and meteorology within the Wilderness, although
wind direction data may be subject to some orographic influence in this
terrain. The
Bandelier National Monument COOP site is located within the Wilderness
and provides long term climate data, excluding wind data. Meteorological
data from various New Mexico sites is also available from the
New Mexico Air
Quality Bureau Meteorological Data site.
The Bandelier Wilderness is about 50 miles north of the Albuquerque RAOB
site, down the Rio Grande. Twice daily soundings from Albuquerque should be
representative of upper air structure regionally and within the Bandelier
Wilderness.
Wind Patterns
Albuquerque wind roses
show regional wind patterns. Most of the year but especially in winter there
is a strong northerly component that varies according to the position of the
jet stream. During summer the jet stream migrates further north than usual,
so that synoptic westerly winds aloft are weaker and more southerly winds
dominate, coinciding with the
North American Monsoon.
During this period moisture bearing winds move into the region from the
southwest at the surface, from the Gulf of California, and aloft from the
southeast, from the Gulf of Mexico. Convective instability associated with
surface heating of the moist air, combined with orographic uplift as air is
transported towards higher terrain to the north, produces frequent
convective precipitation events often associated with intense rainfall,
lightning, hail, and damaging winds. Southerly winds may also transport
airborne particulate material into the Wilderness from sources and source
regions to the south and southeast, including Mexican sources
Locally, in the absence of strong regional pressure gradients, flows will be
dominated by upslope/downslope winds typical of mountainous areas. The
Wilderness may be influenced by upslope and return flow along the Rio Grande
drainage, upslope flow being from the south, the direction of Albuquerque,
with a potential for local transport from that area into the Wilderness via
Wilderness canyons and upward mixing.
Potential local transport routes into the Bandelier Wilderness include
southerly and upslope flow via the Rio Grande valley from nearby source
regions to the south, including the Albuquerque urban area 50 mi away.
Possible more distant source regions include Mexico and Gulf Coast areas
also to the south with transport into the Wilderness via upward mixing in
source regions and upper level transport to contribute to larger scale
regional haze.
Inversions/Trapping
Wang and Angell,
1999 describe two regions of the U.S. with high frequencies of regional
stagnation events, in the southwest and south-central U.S. The north central
New Mexico region that includes the Bandelier Wilderness is midway between
these two regions and according to long term data should typically have one
stagnation episode per month from May to October, where an air stagnation
episode is defined as stagnation conditions that persist for 4 days or
longer. During this period, pressure and temperature gradients in the region
are weakest, and wind circulations weakest. Subsidence inversions during
these conditions may trap regional haze with buildup over periods of several
days. The Wilderness may also be affected by surface based radiation
inversions within the upper Rio Grande, especially at interior tributary
canyon locations during the winter.
Climatological Statistics
Albuquerque
Normals Means and Extremes are representative of regional climatology at
lower elevations. More representative local data can be accessed at the
Tower RAWS site
and Water Canyon
RAWS site.
Meteorological Indicators for Local Sources
Keywords
|
Last updated 15 November 2004
|