Some aspects of the HAPEX-MOBILHY programme: The data base and the modelling strategy

The main thrust of the HAPEX-MOBILHY experiment was towards investigating techniques involved in integrating the turbulent surface fluxes measured at local sites to a larger scale approaching that used in general circulation models.Some aspects of the field data collected at various times and spatial scales are presented. Annual cycle of the soil moisture at many sites is discussed in relation with outputs of a large scale hydrological model. At shorter time scales, the spatial variability of surface energy partition is examined with regard to spatial contrasts in albedo, surface roughness and plant properties related to the two main vegetation classes found in the HAPEX square: A pine forest and the nearby agricultural area.Finally, examples of daily spatial integration with an atmospheric mesoscale model including a comprehensive treatment of land surface processes are presented.     

Turbulence structure in temperature inversions and in convection fields as observed by doppler sodar

The structure of turbulence in an inversion layer and in an homogeneous convective field of the planetary boundary layer is described. In the first part of the paper, we validate the sodar estimates of turbulent dissipation, by using measurements with an hot-wire anemometric system in situ. Limitations of an ε measurement technique using structure function calculations are given, taking account of atmospheric properties and acoustic Doppler instrumental effects. By comparison between isopleths of backscattering intensity and of turbulent dissipation rates, we observe that in the early morning, turbulence is advected by mechanical turbulence generated by wind shear. The same mechanism seems to be operating in the case of an inversion layer capping thermal instability, when the convective activity is not too greatly developed. A turbulent kinetic energy budget is examined using aircraft, sodar, and tower measurements. This indicates a constant turbulent dissipation profile through a deep convective layer.     

Post-rift volcanism and high heat-flow at the ocean-continent transition of the eastern Gulf of Aden

A high heat-flow (∼900 mW m⁻²) has been observed over a volcanic structure at the Ocean-Continent Transition in the Eastern Gulf of Aden (Oman margin). The anomaly is superposed to a progressive increase of heat-flow across the margin and can be interpreted either by (1) heat refraction, (2) fluid discharge or (3) cooling magma. The two first explanations cannot be ruled out definitely by modelling analysis, but require unlikely thermal conductivity or permeability values. The third one implies that the latest activity of the volcano was about 100 000 years old and therefore continued c. 18 Ma after the break-up of Africa and Arabia. This potential mechanism is consistent with other lines of evidence of post-rifting activity in the Gulf of Aden and could invalidate the conventional assumption that rifted-margins become passive after the break-up of continents.     

MUREX: a land-surface field experiment to study the annual cycle of the energy and water budgets

The MUREX (monitoring the usable soil reservoir experimentally) experiment was designed to provide continuous time series of field data over a long period, in order to improve and validate the Soil-vegetation-Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) parameterisations employed in meteorological models. Intensive measurements were performed for more than three years over fallow farmland in southwestern France. To capture the main processes controlling land-atmosphere exchanges, the local climate was fully characterised, and surface water and energy fluxes, vegetation biomass, soil moisture profiles, surface soil moisture and surface and soil temperature were monitored. Additional physiological measurements were carried out during selected periods to describe the biological control of the fluxes. The MUREX data of 1995, 1996, and 1997 are presented. Four SVAT models are applied to the annual cycle of 1995. In general, they succeed in simulating the main features of the fallow functioning, although some shortcomings are revealed.     

A mesoscale shear convective cell observed during the C.O.A.S.T. experiment: Acoustic sounder measurements

A mesoscale shear convective cell was observed with a Doppler sodar and a minisodar on May 22, 1983 near the Netherland Coast. Boundary-layer modifications associated with fair weather precipitating clouds were observed and a separation is undertaken between the different scales of the perturbations. There is difficulty in estimating the turbulent dissipation rate by the inertial method in the presence of mesoscale perturbations, which suggests the need for independent computation of spatial structure functions of velocity fluctuations and spectral density of velocity fluctuations as functions of frequency to observe the relationship between wave lengths and frequencies.C.O.A.S.T.: Cooperative Experiment with Acoustic Sounding Techniques.     

Heat flow of the eastern Canadian rifted continental margin revisited

Continental shelves are regions where heat flow is not measured directly by conventional marine techniques, but estimated from oil exploration data with possible bias. In order to overcome this problem, we recently proposed a method based on neural networks (Geophys J Int 2006, 166 :115) that provides better constraints on thermal conductivity: it allowed us to derive 161 heat flow estimates on the eastern margin of Canada, where previous studies had concluded to the existence of heat flow higher than that in the adjacent continent and ocean. We conversely found rather homogeneous values (∼45–55 mW m⁻²) all along and across the margins, from Labrador to Nova Scotia. The difference seems essentially related to the porosity of sediments that was not taken into account in previous studies. Our results support a high asymmetry for the conjugate Iberian‐Canadian margins, and could indicate that mantle heat flow increases abruptly from the Canadian shield to the margins.     

Regional estimates of heat and evaporation fluxes over non-homogeneous terrain. Examples from the HAPEX-MOBILHY programme

Questions related to the spatial integration of turbulent surface fluxes of heat and moisture up to horizontal scales of 100km are discussed. Results taken from the HAPEX-MOBILHY programme are presented, concerning either comparisons between surface-based and aircraft measurements, or estimates derived from numerical simulations of the large-scale hydrological balance, or finally area-averaged values obtained from atmospheric numerical mesoscale models. Conclusions are drawn from these results on how to estimate spatially-averaged surface fluxes efficiently.     

HAPEX-Sahel: a large-scale study of land-atmosphere interactions in the semi-arid tropics

The Hydrologic Atmospheric Pilot EXperiment in the Sahel (HAPEX-Sahel) was carried out in Niger, West Africa, during 1991 - 1992, with an intensive observation period (IOP) in August - October 1992. It aims at improving the parameterization of land surface atmosphere interactions at the Global Circulation Model (GCM) gridbox scale. The experiment combines remote sensing and ground based measurements with hydrological and meteorological modelling to develop aggregation techniques for use in large scale estimates of the hydrological and meteorological behaviour of large areas in the Sahel. The experimental strategy consisted of a period of intensive measurements during the transition period of the rainy to the dry season, backed up by a series of long term measurements in a 1^ by 1^ square in Niger. Three “supersites” were instrumented with a variety of hydrological and (micro) meteorological equipment to provide detailed information on the surface energy exchange at the local scale. Boundary layer measurements and aircraft measurements were used to provide information at scales of 100 - 500 km². All relevant remote sensing images were obtained for this period. This programme of measurements is now being analyzed and an extensive modelling programme is under way to aggregate the information at all scales up to the GCM grid box scale. The experimental strategy and some preliminary results of the IOP are described.     

Comparison of several BHT correction methods: a case study on an Australian data set

Bottom-hole temperatures (BHT) from oil exploration provide useful constraints on the subsurface thermal regime, but they need to be corrected to obtain the equilibrium temperature. In this work, we introduce several BHT correction methods and compare them using a large Australian data set of more than 650 groups of multiple BHT measurements in about 300 oil exploration boreholes. Existing and suggested corrections are classified within a coherent framework, in which methods are divided into: line/cylinder source; instantaneous/continuous heat extraction; one/two component(s). Comparisons with reservoir test temperatures show that most of the corrections lead to reliable estimates of the formation equilibrium temperature within ±10 °C, but too few data exist to perform an intercomparison of the models based on this criterion. As expected, the Horner method diverges from its parent models for small elapsed times (or equivalently large radii). The mathematical expression of line source models suffers from an unphysical delay time that also restrains their domain of applicability. The model that takes into account the difference of thermal properties between circulating mud and surrounding rocks—that is the two-component model—is delicate to use because of its high complexity. For these reasons, our preferred correction methods are the cylindrical source models. We show that mud circulation time below 10 hr has a negligible effect. The cylindrical source models rely on one parameter depending on the thermal diffusivity and the borehole radius, which are poorly constrained, but the induced uncertainty on the extrapolations remains reasonably low.