`Surface-Layer' momentum fluxes in nocturnal slope flows over steep terrain

A common working definition for the `surface layer' is the lowest 10% of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) where the turbulent fluxes are essentially constant. The latter part of this definition is a critical assumption that must hold for accurate flux estimations from land-surface models, wall models, similarity theory, flux-gradient relations and bulk transfer methods. We present cases from observed momentum fluxes in nocturnal slope flows over steep (35.5 degree), alpine terrain in Val Ferret, Switzerland that satisfy the classical definitions of the surface layer and other cases where no traditional surface layer is observed. These cases broadly fall into two distinct flow regimes occurring under clear-sky conditions: (1) buoyancy-driven, `katabatic flow', characterized by an elevated velocity maximum (katabatic jet peak) and (2) `downslope winds', for which larger-scale forcing prevents formation of a katabatic jet. Velocity profiles in downslope wind cases are quite similar to logarithmic profiles typically observed over horizontal and homogeneous terrain, and the corresponding momentum fluxes roughly resemble a constant-flux surface-layer. Contrastingly, velocity profiles in the katabatic regime exhibit a jet-like shape. This jet strongly modulates the corresponding momentum fluxes, which exhibit strong gradients over the shallow katabatic layer and usually change sign near the jet peak, where the velocity gradients also change sign. However, a counter-gradient momentum flux is frequently observed near the jet peak (and sometimes at higher levels), suggesting strong non-local turbulent transport within the katabatic jet layer. We compare our observations with katabatic flow theories and observational studies over shallow-angle slopes and use co-spectral analyses to better identify and understand the non-local transport dynamics. Finally, we show that because of the counter-gradient momentum fluxes, surface layer stability and even local stability can be difficult to characterize because the counter-gradient momentum flux represents a sink in the shear term of turbulence kinetic energy budget equation. These results have broad implications for stability-based modeling and general definitions and assumptions used for the ABL and so-called `surface layer' over steep terrain.