Atmospheric boundary layer research at Cabauw

At Cabauw, The Netherlands, a 213 m high mast specifically built for meteorological research has been operational since 1973. Its site, construction, instrumentation and observation programs are reviewed. Regarding analysis of the boundary layer at Cabauw, the following subjects are discussed:

- terrain roughness;

- Monin-Obukhov theory in practice;

- the structure of stable boundary layers;

- observed evolution of fog layers;

- inversion rise and early morning entrainment;

- use of the geostrophic wind as a predictor for wind profiles;

- height variation of wind climate statistics;

- air pollution applications: long range transport and short range dispersion;

- dependence of sound wave propagation on boundary-layer structure;

- testing of weather and climate models.

     

Experiments on scalar dispersion within a model plant canopy part I: The turbulence structure

This is the first of a series of three papers describing experiments on the dispersion of trace heat from elevated line and plane sources within a model plant canopy in a wind tunnel. Here we consider the wind field and turbulence structure. The model canopy consisted of bluff elements 60 mm high and 10 mm wide in a diamond array with frontal area index 0.23; streamwise and vertical velocity components were measured with a special three-hot-wire anemometer designed for optimum performance in flows of high turbulence intensity. We found that:

1. The momentum flux due to spatial correlations between time-averaged streamwise and vertical velocity components (the dispersive flux) was negligible, at heights near and above the top of the canopy.
2. In the turbulent energy budget, turbulent transport was a major loss (of about one-third of local production) near the top of the canopy, and was the principal gain mechanism lower down. Wake production was greater than shear production throughout the canopy. Pressure transport just above the canopy, inferred by difference, appeared to be a gain in approximate balance with the turbulent transport loss.
3. In the shear stress budget, wake production was negligible. The role of turbulent transport was equivalent to that in the turbulent energy budget, though smaller.
4. Velocity spectra above and within the canopy showed the dominance of large eddies occupying much of the boundary layer and moving downstream with a height-independent convection velocity. Within the canopy, much of the vertical but relatively little of the streamwise variance occurred at frequencies characteristic of wake turbulence.
5. Quadrant analysis of the shear stress showed only a slight excess of sweeps over ejections near the top of the canopy, in contrast with previous studies. This is a result of improved measurement techniques; it suggests some reappraisal of inferences previously drawn from quadrant analysis.

     

On the desertification of the Sahel zone

Ground based measurements which were carried out in the Northern Sahel in southern Tunisia showed the following results:

1. The albedo difference between ground and protected land is about 10%, half of the amount Charney (1975) used in his model.
2. Bare soil is always warmer during times of bright sunshine than vegetated soil, which is in agreement with Jackson and Idso (1975). Temperature differences in excess of the 10 °C were observed between plants and the surrounding soil.
3. For bare soil, the surface temperature increases with declining albedo. However the opposite holds true for plants. Here, when lowering the albedo, a decrease in temperature was found.
4. In a sand dune field, the surface temperature depends strongly on the exposure. Surface temperature differences of 8 °C were observed for slopes of different exposures for measurements carried out around noon.

     

Characteristics of the sea breeze in Attica,Greece

The characteristics of the sea breeze in the Attica region of Greece, in which Athens is located, have been studied for occasions of weak synoptic-scale pressure gradient. The analysis is based on synoptic observations from six meteorological stations, three on the coast and three inland. The three inland stations and one of the coastal stations lie almost in a straight line at different distances from the coast. For each meteorological station, the basic characteristics of the sea breeze were determined, i.e.,

1. The mean number of sea-breeze days for each calendar month.
2. The monthly mean wind speed for each synoptic hour.
3. The times of onset and cessation of the sea breeze.
4. The monthly vector mean wind, and its constancy ‘Constancy’ is defined as 100{itV{inr}/V{ins}}, where {itV{inr}} is the magnitude of the vector mean wind, and {itV{ins}} is the scalar mean wind speed. See Brooks and Carruthers (1953). (In this paper, the factor 100 is not used.) for each synoptic hour.
5. For days on which there was a sea breeze at Helliniko (the coastal reference station), the percentage number of days on which there was also a sea breeze at the given station.

An attempt was also made to determine further characteristics, such as the inland penetration of the sea breeze, its depth, the spatial and temporal variation of wind speed and direction, and the existence of the return flow. Finally, the properties of the land breeze are briefly outlined.     

The internal boundary layer — A review

A review is given of relevant work on the internal boundary layer (IBL) associated with:

1. Small-scale flow in neutral conditions across an abrupt change in surface roughness,
2. Small-scale flow in non-neutral conditions across an abrupt change in surface roughness, temperature or heat/moisture flux,
3. Mesoscale flow, with emphasis on flow across the coastline for both convective and stably stratified conditions.

The major theme in all cases is on the downstream, modified profile form (wind and temperature), and on the growth relations for IBL depth.     

Bulk characteristics of heat transfer in the unstable,baroclinic atmospheric boundary layer

Field data for the unstable, baroclinic, atmospheric boundary layer over land and over the sea are considered in the context of a general similarity theory of vertical heat transfer. The dependence of δθ/θ_* upon logarithmic functions of h _c z _T and stability (through the similarity function C) is clearly demonstrated in the data. The combined data support the conventional formulation for the heat transfer coefficient δθ/θ_* when,

1. the surface scaling length is z _T (« z ₀), the height at which the surface temperature over land is obtained by extrapolation of the temperature profile
2. the height scale is taken as the depth of convective mixing h _c
3. the temperature profile equivalent of the von Karman constant is taken as 0.41
4. areal average, rather than single point, values of δθ are employed in strongly baroclinic conditions. No significant effect of baroclinity or the height scale ratio as proposed in the general theory is found. Variations in C about a linear regression relation against stability are most probably due to uncertainties in the areal surface temperature and to experimental errors in general temperature measurements.

     

The scavenging of nitrate by clouds and precipitation

A model with spectral microphysics was developed to describe the scavenging of nitrate aerosol particles and HNO₃ gas. This model was incorporated into the dynamic framework of an entraining air parcel model with which we computed the uptake of nitrate by cloud drops whose size distribution changes with time because of condensation, collision-coalescence and break-up. Significant differences were found between the scavenging behavior of nitrate and our former results on the scavenging behavior of sulfate. These reflect the following chemical and microphysical differences between the two systems:

1. nitrate particles occur in a larger size range than sulfate particles.
2. HNO₃ has a much greater solubility than SO₂ and is taken up irreversibly inside the drops in contrast to SO₂.
3. nitric acid in the cloud water is formed directly on uptake of HNO₃ gas whereas on uptake of SO₂ sulfuric acid is formed only after the reaction with oxidizing agents such as e.g., H₂O₂ or O₃.
4. nitrate resulting from uptake of HNO₃ is confined mainly to small drops, whereas sulfate resulting from uptake of SO₂ is most concentrated in the largest, oldest drops, which have had the greatest time for reaction.

Sensitivity studies showed that the nitrate concentration of small drops is significantly affected by the mass accommodation coefficient.     

Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and its exceptional wind system

From 1973–1976, research was performed around the Sea of Galilee, aimed at examining the wind regime in the area and whether the area develops a land-sea breeze despite its particular topographical location.

The main conclusions were:
1. During the summer mornings a lake breeze develops, blowing towards the shores of the lake. It ceases at the peak of its development when a westerly wind, originating in the development of a breeze along the Israeli Mediterranean coast, plunges towards the lake.
2. Late at night, a wind flow develops from the land towards the lake, which combines with the katabatic winds that blow along the steep slopes surrounding the Kinneret.
3. The stations at the upper level, at a height of 400–500 m above the Kinneret, are not affected by the lake breeze during the day or by the land breeze at night.
4. In winter, the Kinneret lake breeze is almost as developed as in summer, because the westerly winds, originating in the Mediterranean sea breeze which hardly develops in this season, do not plunge into the Kinneret.

     

Problems of atmospheric shear flows and their laboratory simulation

Shear flows generated by movement of the atmosphere near the earth's surface are accompanied by complexities not ordinarily encountered in the treatment of turbulent boundary layers. Problems arising from the following physical features are considered:

1. thermal stratification;
2. surface roughness in the form of forests and cities;
3. non-uniformity of surface roughness and/or temperature (leading to 3-dimensional turbulent boundary layers);
4. surface irregularities in the form of hilly and mountainous topography.

The complex nature of atmospheric shear flows has stimulated efforts to study their characteristics in the laboratory under controlled conditions. Accordingly, questions of similarity between the laboratory and the atmospheric flows for both mean and turbulent quantities arise. Similarity criteria, or appropriate scaling relationships, are discussed. Wind tunnels designed for investigations related to atmospheric shear flows are described. These facilities are shown to have a capability for simulating such flows for a wide range of the physical features listed above.     

Limitations of an eddy-correlation technique for the determination of the carbon dioxide and sensible heat fluxes

A modified infrared CO₂ gas analyzer, a small thermocouple assembly, a heated-thermocouple anemometer for horizontal wind, and a propeller-type vertical wind sensor were used to measure the eddy fluxes of heat and CO₂ above a corn crop. Experimental results of these fluxes are discussed. The main sources of errors of the eddy fluxes using these instruments were estimated:

1. Sensors with a time constant of 0.5 s appear to be fast enough to detect most of the vertical CO₂ transfer as long as the sensors are located at least one meter above the crop surface.
2. The deviation from steady-state conditions for 10-min periods was found to have a significant effect on the eddy flux estimates.
3. Temperature fluctuations of the air sample passing through the CO₂ infrared gas analyzer were found to be non-negligible but could be easily corrected.
4. A 1° misalignment of the vertical anemometer affected these eddy fluxes by less than 10% under all circumstances studied.

     

Wind characteristics at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory

Wind speeds at the 300 m tower at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory have been analyzed. This tower is located in slightly rolling farmland. The following conclusions have been reached:

1. For west winds, the terrain is sufficiently uniform for simple surface-layer theory to be adequate without modification even though the air has moved up a small slope to reach the tower. For south and southeast winds, ‘effective’ roughness lengths must be introduced, which are significantly larger than the ‘true’ roughness length.
2. Useful wind estimates up to 150 m can be made from winds at 10 m and stability information, provided the ‘effective’ roughness length is known.
3. The observations are consistent with a von Kármán constant of 0.35.

     

Multiple windbreaks: An aeolean ensemble

Near-neutral measurements of the turbulent wind field within and above a sequence of 15 parallel windbreaks on a flat pastoral site are presented. The windbreak fences each had a porosity of 60% and were equally-spaced at 6 times their height (h = 2 m). The following conclusions seem justified for wind directions within 10 ° of the normal to the array:

1. Above the windbreaks (2h), mean windspeeds first decreased and then increased asymptotically to a value in equilibrium with the new surface roughness. At 0.5h, windspeeds exhibited a slow increase down the entire array.
2. Reflecting differences in approach flows, the drag on the initial fence was almost twice that on barriers farther downstream. This reduction in momentum extraction per windbreak was associated with an elevation in the zero-plane displacement to a level equal to 0.8h.
3. At positions well-removed from the initial fences, mean windspeeds were reduced throughout the entire region below shelter height. In this region, the flow became increasingly dominated by downward moving air with velocities much greater than the local average. The zone of reduced turbulence was small, extending only 2h downstream of a barrier at a height of 0.25h. This corresponded with the region excluded from smoke trails released at the top of windbreaks.
4. An approximate TKE budget mid-way between windbreaks 7 and 8 suggests that shear and wake production peak near z = h and that production is balanced by dissipation and vertical transport components. Advective and inertial interaction terms are negligible at this midway position but are likely to be major sources of TKE closer to the windbreak. Local equilibrium is attained above z = 1.5h implying the existence of a constant-stress layer.

The measurements show the practical difficulty of simultaneously reducing both mean windspeeds and turbulence levels with repeated windbreaks at conventional spacings for horticultural applications.     

Convection model for stratus cloud over a warm water surface

A numerical model is developed to simulate convective stratus cloud formation over the sea. The model is based on quasi-steady state moist plumes advecting over an area of increasing sea-surface temperature with the sea warmer than the air, but it is also a good approximation for non-steady states whenever the model is matched to air-sea temperature differences. Combining the effects of upward transfer of heat and moisture fluxes as well as adiabatic cooling, stratus cloud forms and spreads downward in this field. The depth of the convective field, the sea surface temperature gradient, the liquid water content at cloud top, and the horizontal pressure gradient are the four controlling parameters for the convective field. Alternatively, the wind speed, air-sea temperature difference, and the mixing ratio of the air, derived variables in this treatment, can be taken, with the depth, as the basic parameters.The entity type of convective model used here has the advantage that it models the transport and modification of air parcels and hence provides a method for studying drop size development in stratus clouds. It also uses relationships derived from water tank experiments with plumes and tested in dry convection and so needs no parameters specific to each situation. Its most important feature, however, is that the mean motion of plumes, rather than turbulent diffusion, transports the moisture.The upward growth and erosion of a temperature step increase to produce an inversion can be attributed to liquid water present in haze drops or cloud drops, rather than to turbulent diffusion. Radiative transfer is not a necessary requirement, but may either enhance or slow down the process.     

Outcomes and policy recommendations from the IPCC/AFOS working group on climate change response strategies and emission reductions

The most promising response strategies are

-sustainable practices in agriculture to improve productivity on existing arable land especially in developing countries to meet the food requirements of a still rising population

-sustainable practices in forestry both in tropical forests as well as in forests of temperate and boreal zones, in the latter case to achieve sufficient fast adaption to climate change.

     

Evolution of Stratocumulus Over Land: Comparison of Ground and Aircraft Observations with Numerical Weather Prediction Simulations

Forecasting of low cloud continues to challenge numerical weather prediction. With this in mind, surface and airborne observations were made over East Anglia, UK, during March 2011 to investigate stratus and stratocumulus advecting from the sea over land. Four surface sites were deployed at various distances inland aligned approximately along the flow. In situ data include cloud-droplet measurements from an aircraft operating off the coast and a tethered balloon 100 km inland. Comparisons of thermodynamic and cloud properties are made with Met Office operational model simulations at horizontal resolutions of 4 and 1.5 km. The clouds contained droplet concentrations up to 600 cm \(^{-3}\) within polluted outflow off Europe. These measurements were compared to three different model schemes for predicting droplet concentration: two of them perform well at low to moderate concentrations but asymptote to 375 cm \(^{-3}\) . Microwave radiometers at the ground sites retrieved liquid water paths that reduced with distance inland and were generally below 200 g m \(^{-2}\) . The modelled water path performs well upstream but more erratically far inland. Comparisons of thermodynamic profiles are made within both Lagrangian and Eulerian frameworks and show the model predicted changes in equivalent potential temperature generally within 1 K, with occasional errors of 2 K or more. The modelled cloud-top temperatures were in good agreement with the observations down to \(-\) 7  \(^{\circ }\) C, but the magnitude of the temperature inversion, although good at times, was too small by on average 1.6 K. The different simulations produced different cloud-top water contents due to a combination of resolution and scientific upgrades to the model, but they generally underestimate the amount of cloud water. Major changes, such as the mesoscale temporary cloud breaks on 2 March 2011 and the complete clearance on 4 March, were seemingly predicted by the model for the correct reasons.     

Aircraft measurements of oxides of nitrogen along the eastern rim of the Asian continent: Winter observations

Aircraft observations of oxides of nitrogen (NO _y ), measured with a ferrous sulfate converter, over the sea surrounding the Japanese islands (30–43° N, 131–141° E) were carried out in the winter of 1983 and 1984 at altitudes mostly between 3 and 8 km. NO _y defined here is the sum of NO, NO₂, and other unstable oxides of nitrogen that are converted to NO by ferrous sulfate. The main observations were:

1. Over the Pacific Ocean between the latitudes of 30–35° N, the observed NO _y mixing ratio between 3 and 8 km was a fairly constant 200 pptv. The NO mixing ratio increased with altitude from 15 pptv at 3 km to 35 pptv at 7 km.
2. Over the Sea of Japan, tropospheric NO _y mesured between 1 and 6 km started increasing with latitude North of 35° N and reached about 1000 pptv at 40° N.
3. NO _y was measured in an air mass transported from the stratosphere near a tropopause fold region. When the ozone mixing ratio was between 80 and 140 ppbv, the NO _y mixing ratio was about 200 pptv.

     

Assessing the Consequences of Climate Change for Food and forest Resources: A View from the IPCC

Important findings on the consequences of climate change for agriculture and forestry from the recently completed Third Assessment Report (TAR) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are reviewed, with emphasis on new knowledge that emerged since the Second Assessment Report (SAR). The State-Pressure-Response-Adaptation model is used to organize the review. The major findings are:

• Constant or declining food prices are expected for at least the next 25 yr, although food security problems will persist in many developing countries as those countries deal with population increases, political crisis, poor resource endowments, and steady environmental degradation. Most economic model projections suggest that low relative food prices will extend beyond the next 25 yr, although our confidence in these projections erodes farther out into the 21st century.
• Although deforestation rates may have decreased since the early 1990s, degradation with a loss of forest productivity and biomass has occurred at large spatial scales as a result of fragmentation, non-sustainable practices and infrastructure development.
• According to United Nations estimates, approximately 23% of all forest and agricultural lands were classified as degraded over the period since World War II.
• At a worldwide scale, global change pressures (climate change, land-use practices and changes in atmospheric chemistry) are increasingly affecting the supply of goods and services from forests.
• The most realistic experiments to date – free air experiments in an irrigated environment – indicate that C₃ agricultural crops in particular respond favorably to gradually increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations (e.g., wheat yield increases by an average of 28%), although extrapolation of experimental results to real world production where several factors (e.g., nutrients, temperature, precipitation, and others) are likely to be limiting at one time or another remains problematic. Moreover, little is known of crop response to elevated CO₂ in the tropics, as most of the research has been conducted in the mid-latitudes.
• Research suggests that for some crops, for example rice, CO₂ benefits may decline quickly as temperatures warm beyond optimum photosynthetic levels. However, crop plant growth may benefit relatively more from CO₂ enrichment in drought conditions than in wet conditions.
• The unambiguous separation of the relative influences of elevated ambient CO₂ levels, climate change responses, and direct human influences (such as present and historical land-use change) on trees at the global and regional scales is still problematic. In some regions such as the temperate and boreal forests, climate change impacts, direct human interventions (including nitrogen-bearing pollution), and the legacy of past human activities (land-use change) appear to be more significant than CO₂ fertilization effects. This subject is, however an area of continuing scientific debate, although there does appear to be consensus that any CO₂ fertilization effect will saturate (disappear) in the coming century.
• Modeling studies suggest that any warming above current temperatures will diminish crop yields in the tropics while up to 2–3 ^°C of warming in the mid-latitudes may be tolerated by crops, especially if accompanied by increasing precipitation. The preponderance of developing countries lies in or near the tropics; this finding does not bode well for food production in those countries.
• Where direct human pressures do not mask them, there is increasing evidence of the impacts of climate change on forests associated with changes in natural disturbance regimes, growing season length, and local climatic extremes.
• Recent advances in modeling of vegetation response suggest that transient effects associated with dynamically responding ecosystems to climate change will increasingly dominate over the next century and that during these changes the global forest resource is likely to be adversely affected.
• The ability of livestock producers to adapt their herds to the physiological stress of climate change appears encouraging due to a variety of techniques for dealing with climate stress, but this issue is not well constrained, in part because of the general lack of experimentation and simulations of livestock adaptation to climate change.
• Crop and livestock farmers who have sufficient access to capital and technologies should be able to adapt their farming systems to climate change. Substantial changes in their mix of crops and livestock production may be necessary, however, as considerable costs could be involved in this process because investments in learning and gaining experience with different crops or irrigation.
• Impacts of climate change on agriculture after adaptation are estimated to result in small percentage changes in overall global income. Nations with large resource endowments (i.e., developed countries) will fare better in adapting to climate change than those with poor resource endowments (i.e., developing countries and countries in transition, especially in the tropics and subtropics) which will fare worse. This, in turn, could worsen income disparities between developed and developing countries.
• Although local forest ecosystems will be highly affected, with potentially significant local economic impacts, it is believed that, at regional and global scales, the global supply of timber and non-wood goods and services will adapt through changes in the global market place. However, there will be regional shifts in market share associated with changes in forest productivity with climate change: in contrast to the findings of the SAR, recent studies suggest that the changes will favor producers in developing countries, possibly at the expense of temperate and boreal suppliers.
• Global agricultural vulnerability is assessed by the anticipated effects of climate change on food prices. Based on the accumulated evidence of modeling studies, a global temperature rise of greater than 2.5 ^°C is likely to reverse the trend of falling real food prices. This would greatly stress food security in many developing countries.

     

Conditional statistics of vertical heat fluxes in local advection conditions

Turbulent fluctuations have been investigated in the internal boundary layer (IBL) which forms after a dry-to-wet surface transition. The IBL is defined as that part of the atmospheric surface layer where the influence of the downstream surface is noticeable. The results of the application of three different quadrant analysis techniques are presented. The three techniques, in increasing order of the amount of information supplied, provide:

1. the diurnal variation of quadrant contribution (C _i), number fraction (T _i) and conditional average (% MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% GaeyykJeUabm4DayaafaGabm4CayaafaGaeyOkJe-aaSbaaSqaaiaa% dMgaaeqaaaaa!4215!\[\langle w's'\rangle _i \], with s = T or q) of vertical sensible and latent heat fluxes,
2. the quadrant contribution and number of samples of different sizes depending on the relative magnitude of each sample, and
3. the distribution of the nondimensional probability density function.

The results show that in the IBL the vertical flux of sensible heat is maintained by (i) a small fraction of large samples with warm air carried upwards, and (ii) a larger fraction of small samples with cool air carried downwards. Both processes are almost equal in importance. In the morning and near the top of the IBL negative temperature fluctuations are limited by the near-uniform temperature conditions upstream and above the IBL. This limitation reduces, at that location, the conditional average of the sinking motions of cool air. Closer to the wet surface the negative temperature fluctuations are less susceptible to the above mentioned limitation. As a consequence contributions from all four quadrants are almost equal leading to a very small vertical heat flux. In the presence of a temperature inversion over both the upstream and the downstream terrain, shear-generated turbulence appears to be the cause of the relative abundance of sinking motions of warm air and rising motions of cool air, leading to a reversal of the sensible heat flux. The latent heat flux is positive (i.e. directed away from the surface) at all times and is maintained in almost equal amount by (i) a small number of large magnitude samples with moist air carried upwards, and (ii) small magnitude samples with sinking motions of dry air. These sinking motions of dry air are far more numerous, especially in the morning, but their conditional average is very small. The abundance of sinking motions of dry air is attributed to the fact that over the downstream terrain evaporation is greatly enhanced, leading to a skewed w′q′ signal. This skewness is clearly visible in the w′q′-probability density distribution of the morning runs. In the evening the asymmetry between these two different contributions disappears. This is because evaporation is greatly reduced and large positive humidity fluctuations no longer occur.     

A comparison of ABL heights inferred routinely from lidar and radiosondes at noontime

The height of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) obtained with lidar and radiosondes is compared for a data set of 43 noon (12.00 GMT) cases in 1984. The data were selected to represent the synoptic circulation types appropriately. Lidar vertical profiles at 1064 nm were used to obtain three estimates for the ABL height (h _lid), based on the first gradient in the back-scatter profile, namely, at the beginning, middle and top of the gradient. The boundary-layer height obtained with the radiosondes (h _s) was determined with the dry-parcel-intersection method in unstable conditions. As a first guess for near-neutral and stable conditions, the height of the first significant level in the potential temperature profile was taken. Overall, the boundary-layer thickness estimates agree surprisingly well (regression lineh _lidb=h_s:cc.=0.93 and the standard error=121 m). However, in 10% of the cases, the lidar estimate was significantly lower (difference>400 m) than the routinely inferredh _s. These outliers are discussed separately. For stable conditions, an estimate of ABL height (h _N) is also made based on the friction velocity and the Brunt-Väisälä frequency. The agreement betweenh _Nandh _lidbis good. Discrepancies between the two methods are caused by:

1. rapid growth of the boundary layer arround the measurement time;
2. the presence of a deep entrainment layer leading to a large zone in which quantities are not well mixed;
3. a large systematic error of 100–200 m in the estimate of boundary-layer height obtained from the radiosonde due to the way that profiles are recorded, as a series of significant points.