A mixed-layer model for regional evaporation

A simple mixed-layer model is developed to describe evaporation into a convective planetary boundary layer (PBL). The model comprises volume budget equations for temperature and humidity, equations to describe transport through the surface layer which is treated as part of the lower boundary, and equations to describe entrainment at the top of the PBL. The ground surface is modelled as a canopy resistance. The model was integrated with canopy resistance, surface-layer resistance and available energy, (R _n – G), input as given functions of time, and the simulated PBL was allowed to grow into an atmosphere with known temperature and humidity profiles.Two variants of the mixed-layer model were tested using data from the KNMI tower site at Cabauw in the Netherlands. These variants differed only in the formulation of entrainment: one used a formulation developed by Driedonks (1982) while the other was a simpler formulation. Simulated evaporation agreed very well with observations irrespective of which entrainment formulation was used, despite discrepancies between simulated and observed PBL height growth which were sometimes quite large for the simpler formulation. Sensitivity analysis of the model confirms that good PBL height-growth predictions are not always a prerequisite for good evaporation predictions.