THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES AND ROLE OF THERMALS IN THE STRATUS-TOPPED BOUNDARY LAYER*

From results of two large-eddy simulation of stratus-topped boundary layer,the structure,thermodynamic properties and role of thermals are investigated by using conditional sampling methods,which divided the thermals into the warm/moist,cool/dry,warm/dry and cool/moist events.The results show that the main turbulent circulation in the stratus-topped boundary layer is composed of the warm/moist updraft and cool/dry downdraft.Below entrainment region,the warm/moist updrafts and cool/dry downdrafts are,respectively,positively and negatively buoyant and contribute most to total fluxes and variances.Evaporative cooling has important effect on the structure and thermodynamic properties of thermals in stratus-topped boundary layer.