Quantifying the Spatial Variability of Surface Fluxes Using Data from the 2002 International H2O Project

Spatial variability in the exchange of energy and moisture is a key control on numerous atmospheric, hydrologic, and environmental processes. Using observations made on fair weather days during the 2002 International H2O Project, four methods for quantifying the spatial variability of surface fluxes are investigated. The first two methods utilize applied statistical techniques to describe the spatial variability of the surface fluxes, while the third method is a geostatistical technique rooted in variography. Typically, the methods yield similar results, with median values of horizontal variability consistent to within 5%. The geostatistical technique, however, provides much more information than the other statistical methods; it not only provides an estimate of the spatial variability, but also provides estimates of the total variability, the non-spatial variability due to measurement error, and the range of spatial correlation among the data points. The fourth method is based on the relationship between the components of the surface energy budget. This method describes the variability in the fluxes in terms of the slope of the best-fit line relating the time-averaged latent and sensible heat fluxes from different locations along the flight path. The meaning of the slopes can also be interpreted in terms of the spatial variability in the available energy. For four of the five days analyzed, the key control on the spatial variability in the turbulent heat fluxes was horizontal variability in the soil heat flux. In turn, the soil heat flux varied as a function of surface properties including surface temperature, soil moisture content, and leaf area index. On the remaining day, 25 May, the primary control was the variability in net radiation.     

Spatial and Temporal Occurrences of Intermittent Turbulence During CASES-99

Occurrences of intermittent turbulence in very stable conditions during theCASES-99 field study near Leon, Kansas were detected at several sites separatedby horizontal distances from 1 km to 25 km using sonic anemometers, minisodarsand a laser scintillometer. Periods with significant turbulent heat fluxes wereseparated by extended quiescent periods with little or no flux, and most of theflux during a night was realized in relatively small fractions (<20%) of thetotal time. There appeared to be no relationship between this intermittencyfraction and the median z/L (z being height and L the Obukhov length)value for the night, although overall sensible heat flux values on very stablenights were significantly less than those on less stable nights. The intermittencyfraction at 7 m was found to increase with mean wind speed at 20 m and, to alesser extent, with wind shear between 20 m and 30 m. While correspondenceof turbulent episodes at two sites separated by 1 km was common, it was less common at separations on the order of 20 km. There were time periods, however, during which enhanced turbulence levels were seen nearly simultaneously at large separation distances. Turbulence episodes were found to propagate upward or downward at different times with no readily defined large-scale controlling mechanism.     

Atmospheric turbulence within and above a douglas-fir stand. Part II: Eddy fluxes of sensible heat and water vapour

This is the second paper describing a study of the turbulence regimes and exchange processes within and above an extensive Douglas-fir stand. The experiment was conducted on Vancouver Island during a two-week rainless period in July and August 1990. Two eddy correlation units were operated in the daytime to measure the fluxes of sensible heat and water vapour and other turbulence statistics at various heights within and above the stand. Net radiation was measured above the overstory using a stationary net radiometer and beneath the overstory using a tram system. Supplementary measurements included soil heat flux, humidity above and beneath the overstory, profiles of wind speed and air temperature, and the spatial variation of sensible heat flux near the forest floor.The sum of sensible and latent heat fluxes above the stand accounted for, on average, 83% of the available energy flux. On some days, energy budget closure was far better than on others. The average value of the Bowen ratio was 2.1 above the stand and 1.4 beneath the overstory. The mid-morning value of the canopy resistance was 150–450 s/m during the experiment and mid-day value of the Omega factor was about 0.20. The daytime mean canopy resistance showed a strong dependence on the mean saturation deficit during the two-week experimental period.The sum of sensible and latent heat fluxes beneath the overstory accounted for 74% of the available energy flux beneath the overstory. One of the reasons for this energy imbalance was that the small number of soil heat flux plates and the short pathway of the radiometer tram system was unable to account for the large horizontal heterogeneity in the available energy flux beneath the overstory. On the other hand, good agreement was obtained among the measurements of sensible heat flux made near the forest floor at four positions 15 m apart.There was a constant flux layer in the trunk space, a large flux divergence in the canopy layer, and a constant flux layer above the stand. Counter-gradient flux of sensible heat constantly occurred at the base of the canopy.The transfer of sensible heat and water vapour was dominated by intermittent cool downdraft and warm updraft events and dry downdraft and moist updraft events, respectively, at all levels. For sensible heat flux, the ratio of the contribution of cool downdrafts to that of warm updrafts was greater than one in the canopy layer and less than one above the stand and near the forest floor.     

The Spatial Variability of Energy and Carbon Dioxide Fluxes at the Floor of a Deciduous Forest

Fluxes of carbon dioxide, water and sensible heat were measured using three different eddy covariance systems above the forest floor of a closed deciduous forest (leaf area index approx 6). The primary objective was to examine the representativeness of a single eddy covariance system in estimating soil respiration for time scales ranging from one-half hour to more than one week. Experiments were conducted in which the eddy covariance sensors were in one of three configurations: i) collocated, ii) separated horizontally or iii) separated vertically. A measure of the variation between the three systems (CV',related to the coefficient of variation) for half-hour carbon dioxide fluxes was 0.14 (collocated systems), 0.34 (vertically separated systems at 1, 2 and 4 m above the surface), and 0.57 (systems horizontally separated by 30 m). A similar variation was found for other scalar fluxes (sensible and latent heat). Variability between systems decreased as the number of half-hour sampling periods used to obtain mean fluxes was increased. After forty-eight hours (means from ninety-six half-hour samples), CV' values for carbon dioxide fluxes were 0.07, 0.09 and 0.16 in the collocated, vertically separated and horizontally separated experiments, respectively. The time dependence of variability has implications on the appropriateness of using short-term measurements in modelling validation studies. There are also implications concerning the appropriate number of half-hour samples necessary to obtain reliable causal relationships between flux data and environmental parameters. Based on the longer-term measurements, we also discuss the representativeness of a single eddy covariance system in long-term monitoring of soil respiration and evaporation beneath forest canopies using the eddy covariance method.     

Intra-field variability of scalar flux densities across a transition between a desert and an irrigated potato field

This paper reports on measurements of sensible and latent heat and CO₂ fluxes made over an irrigated potato field, growing next to a patch of desert. The study was conducted using two eddy correlation systems. One measurement system was located within the equilibrium boundary layer 800 m downwind from the edge of the potato field. The other measurement system was mobile and was placed at various downwind positions to probe the horizontal transition of vertical scalar fluxes. Latent (LE) and sensible (H) heat fluxes, measured at 4 m above the surface, exhibited marked variations with downwind distance over the field. Only after the fetch to height ratio exceeded 75 to 1 didLE andH become invariant with downwind distance. When latent and sensible heat fluxes were measured upwind of this threshold, significant advection of humidity-deficit occurred, causing a vertical flux divergence ofH andLE.The measured fluxes of momentum, heat, and moisture were compared with predictions from a second-order closure two-dimensional atmospheric boundary layer model. There is good agreement between measurements and model predictions. A soil-plant-atmosphere model was used to examine nonlinear feedbacks between humidity-deficits, stomatal conductance and evaporation. Data interpretation with this model revealed that the advection of hot dry air did not enhance surface evaporation rates near the upwind edge of the potato field, because of negative feedbacks among stomatal conductance, humidity-deficits, andLE. This finding is consistent with results from several recent studies.     

青藏高原中东部地区地表感热通量的时空变化特征

基于1970—2015年青藏高原地区78个站点的观测资料,应用物理方法计算了高原中东部地区的感热通量。利用小波分析、相关性分析等研究了高原中东部感热通量的时空特征和影响因子。结果表明,高原年平均和春夏季节,感热通量周期为3~4 a,而秋冬季节为2~3 a;感热通量的变化趋势为,1970—1980年和2001—2015年感热通量呈增加趋势,而1981—2000年呈减小趋势;高原年平均和各季节的最强感热加热中心均位于高原南坡E区（除冬季外),最弱加热区域位于高原西北部A区（夏季除外);高原春秋季节感热通量的空间分布均匀,冬夏季节有明显的梯度分布且梯度相反,夏季呈现自东到西的梯度;春季、夏季及秋季,高原感热通量和降水呈负相关;高原10 m风速的极值中心随季节北上南撤变化与地气温差的强弱变化共同决定了感热通量的季节变化。     

EVALUATION OF CORRECTIONS ON TURBULENT FLUXES OBTAINED BY EDDY COVARIANCE METHOD IN HIGH WINDS

This paper investigates processing of fast-response data and corrections of turbulent fluxes obtained by using eddy covariance method based on data collected at an offshore observation tower during three Cold-intrusion(CI)events in the South China Sea in 2010. This study presents the data processing procedure in detail and compares frictional velocities(u*), sensible heat fluxes(H) and latent heat fluxes(LE) yielded by using different averaging periods and different coordinate rotation methods; evaluates the sonic temperature correction for sensible heat flux and the Webb correction for latent heat flux as a function of 10 m wind speed(u10) during the CIs. The results show(1) that the different averaging periods of 30 min and 10 min cause biases of u*(H, LE) within 5%(15%, 62%). The values of u*(H,LE) averaged from 30 mins are mostly larger than those averaged from 10 mins. We suggest that the averaging period of 10 min is not sufficiently long to capture all scale eddies and recommend 30 min averaging period in calculating turbulent fluxes using eddy covariance method during CIs;(2) that the values of u*(H, LE) obtained from double rotation(DR2) and those obtained from planar fit rotation(PF) have good agreements and correlation coefficients between them are larger than 0.99. Because PF method requires unchanged environment and it is easier to apply DR2 method, we suggest DR2 coordinate rotation method in processing fast-response data; and(3) that the median values of frictional velocity(sensible heat flux and latent heat flux) binned according to 2 m s~(-1) intervals of u_(10) increase(decrease,increase) by less than 9%(4%, 10%) by Coriolis corrections(sonic temperature corrections, Webb corrections), which decreases(decreases, increases) with increasing u10 when u10 are 5-17 m s~(-1).     

Turbulent fluxes from Helipod flights above quasi-homogeneous patches within the LITFASS area

Turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat were measured with the helicopter-borne turbulence probe Helipod over a heterogeneous landscape around the Meteorological Observatory Lindenberg during the STINHO-2 and LITFASS-2003 field experiments. Besides the determination of area-averaged heat fluxes, the analysis focused on different aspects of the response of the turbulent structure of the convective boundary layer (CBL) on the surface heterogeneity. A special flight pattern was designed to study flux profiles both over quasi-homogeneous sub-areas of the study region (representing the major land use types—forest, farmland, water) and over a typical mixture of the different surfaces. Significant differences were found between the heat fluxes over the individual surfaces along flight legs at about 80 m above ground level, in agreement with large-aperture scintillometer measurements. This flux separation was still present during some flights at levels near the middle of the CBL. Different scales for the blending height and horizontal heterogeneity were calculated, but none of them could be identified as a reliable indicator of the mixing state of the lower CBL. With the exception of the flights over water, the latent heat flux measurements generally showed a larger statistical error when compared with the sensible heat flux. Correlation coefficients a nd integral length scales were used to characterise the interplay between the vertical transport of sensible and latent heat, which was found to vary between ‘fairly correlated’ and ‘decoupled’, also depending on the soil moisture conditions.     

Time and height variability of the sensible heat flux in the surface layer

The energy-budget concept is used together with a high resolution spectral radiation model to study the time and height variation of the sensible heat flux and of the eddy thermal diffusivity for an actual case up to 50 m above ground. A data set of 32 h is chosen for this study. Time-height cross-sections of the local enthalpy changes, and the radiative and the sensible heat flux divergences are presented, which show the interaction of the two energy fluxes. It can be seen, for example, that during the transient hours from night to day the sensible heat flux divergence plays an outstanding role in the warming of the atmosphere, while during the clear night radiative cooling exceeds the cooling caused by the sensible heat flux. For the layer under consideration (0-50 m) a constancy of the sensible heat flux within 10% is obtained for seven hours only, namely for the time around noon and in the early afternoon. Selected night-time profiles of the thermal diffusivity are shown, which have their maximum below 48.3 m.The accuracy of the energy-budget method is studied in detail. The tests show that a high accuracy, with errors even less than 10% for some hours, can be expected, if special micrometeorological studies are made during the field phase and a layer depth of 50 cm or less is used in the radiation model.     

城市近地层湍流通量及CO2通量变化特征

利用北京325m气象塔47m高度上2006年全年连续观测获得的湍流资料,分析了北京城市近地层动量通量、感热通量、潜热通量和CO2通量的典型日变化、月平均日变化和季节变化特征。分析结果显示:动量通量具有明显的单波峰日变化特征,在15时(北京时间)左右达到最大,季节变化中春季最大,冬季次之,夏、秋季最小;感热通量和潜热通量全年变化范围分别为-92～389W.m-2和-75～376W.m-2,其日变化也表现为单波峰特征。感热通量的日变化受城市下垫面和人为热源影响,入夜后虽然降为负值,但只略小于0。阴雨天感热通量和潜热通量均很小,降雨前后有明显区别。感热和潜热最大值分别在春季3月和夏季6月,最小值都在冬季1月;城市下垫面CO2通量总表现为正值,即净排放,最大值为3.88mg.m-2.s-1,不稳定情况下最小值小于-2mg.m-2.s-1。受到人类活动的影响,CO2通量的日变化特征在工作日与周末有明显区别;由于冬季采暖,CO2通量明显大于夏季;在夜间,CO2通量受进城车辆的影响也出现高值。     

Surface fluxes estimation over agricultural areas. Comparisonof methods and the effects of land surface inhomogeneity

Summary  The Bowen Ratio-Energy Balance (BREB) and the aerodynamic method were used to estimate turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat flux over an irrigated agricultural area (IAA) and over two dry agricultural areas (DAA1 and DAA2). These turbulent fluxes were analysed and particular attention paid to two specific areas. First, a quantitative analysis of sensible and latent heat fluxes obtained by the BREB method was carried out, taking into account different soil type, vegetation and surface conditions. The results showed that in IAA latent heat flux was higher than sensible heat flux, except in summer months, while in DAA1 and DAA2, sensible heat flux was higher except in the months when the vegetation was at the stage of maximum development. Second, sensible and latent heat fluxes estimates from the BREB method were compared with those obtained from the aerodynamic method. In this comparison factors such as soil type, soil vegetation cover, homogeneity or inhomogeneity of terrain and mesoscale effects such as orography and wind patterns were taken into account. The results show that in conditions of light wind, the two methods only concur if the condition of horizontal homogeniety is fulfilled. The influence of inhomogeneity seems to decrease and agreement between methods improves, if the wind is stronger and the effects of meso and synoptic scales are predominant. Received May 18, 1999/Revised March 15, 2000     

Regional differences in surface sensible and latent heat fluxes in China

This study documents the variability of surface sensible and latent heat fluxes in five regions of China (Northwest China, the Tibetan Plateau, Northeast China, North China, and Southeast China) using the ERA-40 reanalysis for the years 1960–2000. The surface sensible and latent heat flux variations are remarkably different in Northwest and Southeast China. The seasonal variation of the surface sensible heat fluxes is largest in Northwest China and smallest in Southeast China. In contrast, the seasonal variation in latent heat flux is largest in Southeast China and smallest in Northwest China. The interdecadal variation of surface sensible and surface latent heat fluxes strongly depends on both the region and season. The trends in surface sensible and latent heat fluxes in all four seasons are mainly caused by variations in both the land–air temperature difference and in the specific humidity. There is also a limited contribution of wind speed in some regions, depending on the season.     

Three-year Variations of Water, Energy and CO$_2$ Fluxes of Cropland and Degraded Grassland Surfaces in a Semi-arid Area of Northeastern China

Based on 3 years （2003-05） of the eddy covariance （EC） observations on degraded grassland and cropland surfaces in a semi-arid area of Tongyu （44°25′N, 122°52′E, 184 m a.s.1.）, Northeast China, seasonal and annual variations of water, energy and CO2 fluxes have been investigated. The soil moisture in the thin soil layer （at 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 m） clearly indicates the pronounced annual wet-dry cycle; the annual cycle is divided into the wet （growing season） and dry seasons （non-growing season）. During the growing season （from May to September）, the sensible and latent heat fluxes showed a linear dependence on the global solar radiation. However, in the non-growing season, the latent heat flux was always less than 50 W m^-2, while the available energy was dissipated as sensible, rather than latent heat flux. During the growing season in 2003-05, the daily average sensible and latent heat fluxes were larger on the cropland surface than on the degraded grassland surface. The cropland ecosystem absorbed more CO2 than the degraded grassland ecosystem in the growing season in 2003-05. The total evapotranspiration on the cropland was more than the total precipitation, while the total evapotranspiration on the degraded grassland was almost the same as the total annual precipitation in the growing season. The soil moisture had a good correlation with the rainfall in the growing season. Precipitation in the growing season is an important factor on the water and carbon budget in the semi-arid area.     

Performance of the Wind Farm Parameterization Scheme Coupled with the Weather Research and Forecasting Model under Multiple Resolution Regimes for Simulating an Onshore Wind Farm

We use the Wind Farm Parameterization(WFP) scheme coupled with the Weather Research and Forecasting model under multiple resolution regimes to simulate turbulent wake dynamics generated by a real onshore wind farm and their influence at the local meteorological scale. The model outputs are compared with earlier modeling and observation studies. It is found that higher vertical and horizontal resolutions have great impacts on the simulated wake flow dynamics. The corresponding wind speed deficit and turbulent kinetic energy results match well with previous studies. In addition, the effect of horizontal resolution on near-surface meteorology is significantly higher than that of vertical resolution. The wake flow field extends from the start of the wind farm to downstream within 10 km, where the wind speed deficit may exceed 4%. For a height of 150 m or at a distance of about 25 km downstream, the wind speed deficit is around 2%. This indicates that, at a distance of more than 25 km downstream, the impact of the wind turbines can be ignored. Analysis of near-surface meteorology indicates a night and early morning warming near the surface, and increase in near-surface water vapor mixing ratio with decreasing surface sensible and latent heat fluxes. During daytime, a slight cooling near the surface and decrease in the near-surface water vapor mixing ratio with increasing surface sensible and latent heat fluxes is noticed over the wind farm area.     

Estimating heat fluxes by merging profile formulae and the energy budget with a variational technique

A variational technique (VT) is applied to estimate surface sensible and latent heat fluxes based on observations of air temperature, wind speed, and humidity, respectively, at three heights (1 m, 4 m, and 10 m), and the surface energy and radiation budgets by the surface energy and radiation system (SERBS). The method fully uses all information provided by the measurements of air temperature, wind, and humidity profiles, the surface energy budget, and the similarity profile formulae as well. Data collected at Feixi experiment station installed by the China Heavy Rain Experiment and Study (HeRES) Program are used to test the method. Results show that the proposed technique can overcome the well-known unstablility problem that occurs when the Bowen method becomes singular; in comparison with the profile method, it reduces both the sensitivities of latent heat fluxes to observational errors in humidity and those of sensible heat fluxes to observational errors in temperature, while the estimated heat fluxes approximately satisfy the surface energy budget. Therefore, the variational technique is more reliable and stable than the two conventional methods in estimating surface sensible and latent heat fluxes.     

高温和台风影响下的苏州城市粗糙子层湍流通量特征

利用苏州地区2011 年12月20 日-2012年8 月13 日的湍流观测资料对不同季节、高温、台风强天气过程下的湍流特征进行分析.结果表明:城市地区不同季节动量通量、感热通量、潜热通量日变化明显,各通量的夏季平均值、最大值均高于冬春季,夏季感热通量日最大值为160.2 W·m-2,感热在城市地表能量平衡中的作用大于潜...     

Estimating the components of the sensible heat budget of a tall forest canopy in complex terrain

Ultrasonic wind measurements, sonic temperature and air temperature data at two heights in the advection experiment MORE II were used to establish a complete budget of sensible heat including vertical advection, horizontal advection and horizontal turbulent flux divergence. MORE II took place at the long-term Carbo-Europe IP site in Tharandt, Germany. During the growing period of 2003 three additional towers were established to measure all relevant parameters for an estimation of advective fluxes, primarily of CO₂. Additionally, in relation to other advection experiments, a calculation of the horizontal turbulent flux divergence is proposed and the relation of this flux to atmospheric stability and friction velocity is discussed. In order to obtain a complete budget, different scaling heights for horizontal advection and horizontal turbulent flux divergence are tested. It is shown that neglecting advective fluxes may lead to incorrect results. If advective fluxes are taken into account, the sensible heat budget based upon vertical turbulent flux and storage change only, is reduced by approximately 30%. Additional consideration of horizontal turbulent flux divergence would in turn add 5–10% to this sum (i.e., the sum of vertical turbulent flux plus storage change plus horizontal and vertical advection). In comparison with available energy horizontal advection is important at night whilst horizontal turbulent flux divergence is rather insignificant. Obviously, advective fluxes typically improve poor nighttime energy budget closure and might change ecosystem respiration fluxes considerably.     

Scintillometer-Based Turbulent Fluxes of Sensible and Latent Heat Over a Heterogeneous Land Surface – A Contribution to Litfass-2003

The performance of a combined large aperture scintillometer (LAS) and a millimetre wave scintillometer (MWS) for estimating surface fluxes of sensible and latent heat over natural landscape is investigated, using data gathered during LITFASS-2003. For this purpose the LAS–MWS system was installed in a moderate heterogeneous landscape over a path length of 4.7 km with an effective beam height of 43 m. The derived surface fluxes have been compared with aggregated eddy-covariance (EC) measurements. The fluxes of sensible and latent heat from the LAS–MWS combination, as well as sensible heat fluxes of the single LAS, agreed fairly well with the EC-based fluxes, considering the uncertainties of the similarity stability functions and observed energy imbalance.     

Comparison of the Bowen ratio-energy balance and stability-corrected aerodynamic methods for measurement of evapotranspiration

Summary The Bowen ratio-energy balance (BREB) and the stability-corrected aerodynamic method were used to estimate turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat at an irrigated alfalfa site in a semi-arid valley in northern Utah, U.S.A., during August and September of 1991. Despite inclusion of a generalized stability factor, the aerodynamic method underestimated the daytime (sunrise-sunset) sensible and latent heat fluxes by approximately 30% in comparison with the BREB method. The sum of the aerodynamic estimates of sensible and latent heat seldom balanced the energy avaiable from net radiation and change in storage. Wind speed was low during the experiment (averaging 1.6 m s^–1), and so a second analysis was run for data from daytime, non-rainy, turbulent conditions (wind > 1.5 m s^–1). This showed that sensible and latent heat were still underestimated by approximately 30% in comparison with the BREB approach. This suggests that underestimation of sensible and latent heat fluxes by the aerodynamic method was not related to the wind speed conditions during the experiment. These results show that the stability-corrected aerodynamic model did not agree with the Bowen ratio method in this experiment. It appears unlikely that the discrepancies resulted from measurement errors. Perhaps the theoretical foundation of the similarity parameters (stability functions) in the aerodynamic model are not sufficiently generalized. The discrepancies found here confirm the necessity of calibration checks on the validity of aerodynamic estimates of the turbulent fluxes.With 7 Figures     

Heat flux apportionment to heterogeneous surfaces using flux footprint analysis

Heat flux data collected from the Baiyangdian Heterogeneous Field Experiment were analyzed using the footprint method. High resolution （25 m） Landsat-5 satellite imaging was used to determine the land cover as one of four surface types： farmland, lake, wetland, or village. Data from two observation sites in September 2005 were used. One site （Wangjiazhai） was characterized by highly heterogeneous surfaces in the central area of the Baiyangdian： lake/wetland. The other site （Xiongxian） was on land with more uniform surface cover. An improved Eulerian analytical flux footprint model was used to determine “source areas” of the heat fluxes measured at towers located at each site from surrounding landscapes of mixed surface types. In relative terms results show that wetland and lake areas generally contributed most to the observed heat flux at Wangjiazhai, while farmland contributed most at Xiongxian. Given the areal distribution of surface type contributions, calculations were made to obtain the magnitudes of the heat flux from lake, wetland and farmland to the total observed flux and apportioned contributions of each surface type to the sensible and latent heat fluxes. Results show that on average the sensible heat flux from wetland and farmland were comparable over the diurnal cycle, while the latent heat flux from farmland was somewhat larger by about 30-50 W m-2 during daytime. The latent and sensible fluxes from the lake source in daytime were about 50 W m-2 and 100 W m-2 less, respectively, than from wetland and farmland. The results are judged reasonable and serve to demonstrate the potential for flux apportionment over heterogeneous surfaces.