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1 January 2010 Impact of a Golf Course on Nocturnal Katabatic Flow Within Gold Canyon, Arizona: A Case Study
Matthew Pace
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Abstract

With an increasing number of golf courses within Gold Canyon, Arizona, located at the foot of the Superstition Mountains, this study determines if characteristics of nocturnal katabatic flow, with respect to temperature, dew point, wind speed and direction, were altered due to a golf course. To answer this question, I devised a four transect plan in which four weather stations measured temperature and dew point at three levels (0.70 m, 1.25 m and 2.5 m), along with wind speed at two levels (1.25 m and 2.5 m), as well as wind direction at 2.5 m. I positioned two stations above the golf course, considered natural stations, and two stations below the golf course, considered to be anthropogenically influenced stations. I then collected data over a six-night period starting at 1700 MST on January 3 and ending at 0945 MST on January 9. A golf course community appears to significantly modify katabatic flow. Using Analysis of Variance, coupled with Tukey's comparison test, at the 95 percentile confidence interval, the mean temperature and dew point at 0.70 m, 1.25 m and 2.5 m were significantly different from the top of the course when compared to the bottom. Wind speeds at 1.25 m and 2.5 m were appreciably dissimilar. Locations below the golf course had considerably lower temperatures and higher dew points, with relation to proximity to the course. The most notable finding was directly down slope of the course where katabatic flow was found to be near non-existent, even when a strong katabatic flow event occurred just upslope of the golf course. This near elimination of katabatic flow is likely to be the result of cool/moist and, subsequently, dense air residing over the golf course due to the grass surface. As the katabatic flow moving off the nearby Superstition Mountains reached this cooler and more moist/dense air, it slowed as the density differences between the two air masses were lowered.

Matthew Pace "Impact of a Golf Course on Nocturnal Katabatic Flow Within Gold Canyon, Arizona: A Case Study," Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 42(1), 36-43, (1 January 2010). https://doi.org/10.2181/036.042.0106
Published: 1 January 2010
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