A saline laboratory model of the planetary convective boundary layer

A laboratory water-analog of clear-air penetrative convection in the atmosphere has been constructed to continue studies of the turbulent dispersion of buoyant plumes in the convective boundary layer (CBL). A unique feature is the utilization of saline rather than thermal convection, which has been made possible by the development of a reliable method for delivering a controllable buoyancy flux through a porous membrane. It has been shown in an earlier paper that at typical laboratory scales, a saline convection tank is well suited to modelling buoyant plume dipersion under strongly convective (light wind) conditions.A range of experiments has clearly demonstrated the validity of the model. Results for density and velocity variances show much less scatter than most comparable measurements because of the greatly improved sampling that is possible in the tank. The results are generally in good agreement with field data and other laboratory simulations but the improved accuracy of the data has highlighted the anomalously low values for the horizontal velocity variances produced by large-eddy simulations of the CBL. The cause of this apparent underprediction remains unresolved.     

基于WRF模式的对流尺度边界层方案参数随机扰动方法研究

边界层参数化方案的准确性会影响模式对近地面变量和大气低层热动力结构的模拟,对雷暴等强对流天气的预报非常重要,但边界层方案内在的不确定性使得单一预报具有局限性。为了提高对流尺度数值模式中边界层方案的预报效果,基于WRF（The Weather Research and Forecasting Model）模式,应用随机参数扰动（SPP）方法对Mellor-Yamada-Nakanishi-Niino（MYNN）边界层方案中重要的3个不确定参数进行扰动,探究了该方法对北京地区一次雷暴过程模拟的影响。同时考虑了对流尺度集合预报系统的特点,调整随机参数扰动方法的3个参量（去相关时间尺度、空间尺度和格点标准差）探究了对流尺度中对MYNN方案参数进行扰动的最优设置。结果显示:随机扰动MYNN边界层方案参数（SPPM）方法可以有效提高近地面变量和700 hPa以下低层变量的离散度,同时提高了短时强降水位置和强度的预报技巧。3个参量的试验说明,去相关时间尺度增大到12 h集合离散度有明显提高;格点标准差增大到0.20,预报技巧也略有提高;去相关空间尺度维持在默认值700 km较好,尺度过小（150 km）预报技巧明显降低。上述结果表明,在对流尺度中SPPM方法可以有效表达边界层参数化方案的不确定性,提高集合预报系统的预报技巧。      

行星边界层湍流特征的非线性模式

本文以行星边界层理论为基础,设计了一个定常行星边界层湍流特征非线性模式。根据行星边界层湍流现象具有波动和团块结构的特点,在模式设计中引用了量子化概念,构造了一个适合于大气湍流运动的波函数用以闭合方程组,并在类比的意义下考察了该方案的合理性。采用WKB渐近方法与数值解相结合,对行星边界层湍流特征进行了定量分析,并且与实验资料以及其他作者的模式作了比较。结果表明,本文设计的模式有能力描述定常行星边界层内湍流运动的非线性特征。     

Characteristics of vertical turbulent velocities in the urban convective boundary layer

Turbulence measurements of the vertical velocity component were obtained by an instrumented aircraft under fair weather conditions in the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area. Time series of vertical velocity fluctuations from horizontal flight segments made in the lower part of and near the middle of the convective boundary layer (CBL) over the urban area and surrounding region were subjected to various statistical and objective analyses. Higher order vertical velocity moments, and positive and negative velocity statistics, were computed. The horizontal dimensions of updrafts and downdrafts, and related properties of these turbulent eddies were derived by conditional sampling analysis. Emphasis is on a comparison of the results from urban and selected rural measurements from the lower part of the CBL.The vertical velocity probability density distribution for each segment was positively skewed and the mode was negative. The means and standard deviations of positive and negative velocity fluctuations were greater over the urban area. The urban vertical velocity variance was 50% greater than rural values, and power spectra revealed greater production of vertical turbulent energy in the urban area over a wide frequency range.The mean and maximum widths of downdrafts were generally larger than the corresponding values for updrafts. Differences between urban and rural eddy sizes were not statistically significant. The widths of the largest updraft and downdraft are comparable to the boundary-layer depth, Z _i, and the mean value of the ratio of spectral peak wavelength to Z _iwas about 1.3 and 1.1 for urban and rural areas, respectively. Convective similarity scaling parameters appeared to order both the urban and rural measurements.On assignment from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Dept. of Commerce.     

Design criteria for water tank models of dispersion in the planetary convective boundary layer

Design criteria for laboratory water-analogs of clear-air penetrative convection in the atmosphere are described. Consideration is given to the range of factors relevant to modelling both turbulent penetrative convection and the dispersion of buoyant point-source plumes within the convective boundary layer. Scaling arguments based on mixed-layer and plume scaling show that at typical laboratory scales, saline convection can satisfy the requirements for modelling buoyant plume dispersion under strongly convective (light wind) conditions better than heated water tanks or wind tunnels.     

Further results from a laboratory model of the convective planetary boundary layer

The turbulence in a laboratory convective mixed layer is probed more extensively than in the preliminary study of Willis and Deardorff (1974), and results presented. Turbulence intensities, spectra and probability distributions using mixed-layer scaling compare favorably with similarly scaled field measurements not available or plentiful in 1974. However, the velocity spectra in the convection tank exhibit only a short inertial subrange due to the close proximity of the dissipation subrange to the energy-containing range.The turbulence budget suggests that the convergence of the vertical transport of pressure fluctuations is a rather important term.Results on the entrainment rate are also presented, using both mixed-layer scaling and local interfacial scaling.     

A review of microwave radar observations in the dry convective planetary boundary layer

Boundary-Layer Meteorology - For the last two decades, radar has been used to probe the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in a number of different ways. The sensitive, high-power radars at Wallops...     

Parhelia in the planetary boundary layer at newmarket,Ontario: Note

Abstract

Observations of parhelia at Newmarket, Ontario on December 10, 1977 support an earlier suggestion regarding observations made in Toronto on January 22 of the same year. Parhelia were found to occur in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), particularly during the morning hours under blowing snow conditions on clear, cold (ca —17°C) winter days. Thus parhelia which occur in southern Ontario during the winter months can develop in the PBL without the presence of cirrostratus‐type clouds.     

A laboratory study of the turbulent velocity characteristics in the convective boundary layer

Based on the measurement of the velocity field in the convective boundary layer （CBL） in a convection water tank with the particle image velocimetry （PIV） technique, this paper studies the characteristics of the CBL turbulent velocity in a modified convection tank. The experiment results show that the velocity distribution in the mixed layer clearly possesses the characteristics of the CBL thermals, and the turbulent eddies can be seen obviously. The comparison of the vertical distribution of the turbulent velocity variables indicates that the modeling in the new tank is better than in the old one. The experiment data show that the thermal＇s motion in the entrainment zone sometimes fluctuates obviously due to the intermittence of turbulence. Analyses show that this fluctuation can influence the agreement of the measurement data with the parameterization scheme, in which the convective Richardson number is used to characterize the entrainment zone depth. The normalized square velocity wi^2/w＊^2. at the top of the mixed layer seems to be time-dependent, and has a decreasing trend during the experiments. This implies that the vertical turbulent velocity at the top of the mixed layer may not be proportional to the convective velocity （w＊）.     

Effects of turbulent dispersion of atmospheric balance motions of planetary boundary layer

New Reynolds' mean momentum equations including both turbulent viscosity and dispersion are used to analyze atmospheric balance motions of the planetary boundary layer. It is pointed out that turbulent dispersion with r 0 will increase depth of Ekman layer, reduce wind velocity in Ekman layer and produce a more satisfactory Ekman spiral lines fit the observed wind hodograph. The wind profile in the surface layer including tur-bulent dispersion is still logarithmic but the von Karman constant k is replaced by k1 = 1 -2/k, the wind increasesa little more rapidly with height.     

The evolution of a convective planetary boundary layer — A higher-order-closure model study

The evolution of the boundary layer on day 33 of the Wangara experiment in southeast Australia is calculated with a higher-order-closure turbulence model. This model, which includes equations for the mean field as well as the second moments of the turbulent field, is described in detail. The mean profiles of wind, temperature, and humidity, the profiles of heat and humidity fluxes, the Reynolds stress distributions, and the height of the boundary layer are shown between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. The results agree well with those from Deardorff's 3-D simulation and take relatively little computer time.     

A barotropic planetary boundary layer

The temperature and wind profiles in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) are investigated. Assuming stationary and homogeneous conditions, the turbulent state in the PBL is uniquely determined by the external Rossby number and the stratification parameters. In this study, a simple two-layer barotropic model is proposed. It consists of a surface (SL) and overlying Ekman-type layer. The system of dynamic and heat transfer equations is closed usingK theory. In the SL, the turbulent exchange coefficient is consistent with the results of similarity theory while in the Ekman layer, it is constant. Analytical solutions for the wind and temperature profiles in the PBL are obtained. The SL and thermal PBL heights are properly chosen functions of the stratification so that from the solutions for wind and temperature, the PBL resistance laws can be easily deduced. The internal PBL characteristics necessary for the calculation (friction velocity, angle between surface and geostrophic winds and internal stratification parameter) are presented in terms of the external parameters. Favorable agreement with experimental data and model results is demonstrated. The simplicity of the model allows it to be incorporated in large-scale weather prediction models as well as in the solution of various other meteorological problems.     

Similarity scaling applied to sodar observations of the convective boundary layer above an irregular hill

Nine profiles of the temperature structure parameter C _T ² and the standard deviation of vertical velocity fluctuations ( _w) in the convective boundary layer (CBL) were obtained with a monostatic Doppler sodar during the second intensive field campaign of the First ISLSCP Field Experiment in 1987. The results were analyzed by using local similarity theory. Local similarity curves depend on four parameters: the height of the mixed layer (z _i ), the depth of the interfacial layer (), and the temperature fluxes at the top of the mixed layer (Q _i ) and the surface (Q _o). Values of these parameters were inferred from sodar data by using the similarity curve for C _T ² and observations at three points in its profile. The effects of entrainment processes on the profiles of C _T ² and _wnear the top of the CBL appeared to be described well by local similarity theory. Inferred estimates of surface temperature flux, however, were underestimated in comparison to fluxes measured by eddy correlation. The measured values of _wappeared to be slightly smaller than estimates based on available parmeterizations. These discrepancies might have been caused by experimental error or, more likely, by the distortion of turbulence structure above the site by flow over the nonuniform terrain at the observation site.     

对流边界层湍流通量及逆梯度输送参数化分析

"K"理论是众多气象预报模式中运用最广泛的湍流参数化方案之一,但无法解释"逆梯度"的输送,必须进行修正。最具代表性的修正方案有三种:方案Ⅰ(Deardroff方案)、方案Ⅱ(Holtslag和Moeng方案)和方案Ⅲ(刘烽方案)。本文利用香河的边界层观测资料对上述三种方案进行验证和比较,发现方案Ⅰ的结果在整个对流边界层(Convective Boundary Layer,CBL)呈系统性偏低,与观测不符;方案Ⅱ在CBL中上部能够再现逆梯度输送现象,基本能给出合理的湍流通量垂直分布,但在CBL的下部和上部与观测不符;方案Ⅲ的逆梯度项与高度有关,并在CBL中部达到最大,而其他两个方案中逆梯度项随高度不变。该方案不但在CBL中上部与方案Ⅱ的结果一致,并能合理表达整个CBL内的湍流通量分布,更接近观测结果。     

A bulk model for the atmospheric planetary boundary layer

The integrated momentum and thermodynamic equations through the planetary boundary layer (PBL) are solved numerically to predict the mean changes of wind and potential temperature from which surface fluxes are computed using bulk transfer coefficients of momentum and heat. The second part of the study involves a formulation and testing of a PBL height model based on the turbulent energy budget equation where turbulent fluxes of wind and heat are considered as the source of energy. The model exhibits capability of predicting the PBL height development for both stable and unstable regimes of observed conditions. Results of the model agree favourably with those of Deardorff's (1974a) and Tennekes' (1973) models in convective conditions.Contribution number 396.     

Frontal substructures within the planetary boundary layer

A two-dimensional mesoscale model, extended by a TKE closure for the subgrid-scale terms and coupled with a soil model, is used to investigate the role of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) for the development and the substructures of two different types of cold fronts. The effects of turbulent friction, large-scale (geostrophic) forcing and the diurnal variation of the terms of the surface energy balance (SEB) equation on the frontal development are studied by 10 different model runs. The ageostrophic cross-frontal circulation in the lowest two kilometres of a cold front results from friction as well as from large-scale forcing. The first one dominates the PBL processes and causes a special boundary-layer structure, which becomes apparent through the existence of seven characteristic zones defined for the x-z cross sections of potential temperature. The arrangement of these characteristic zones depends on the sense of rotation of the frictionally induced part of the ageostrophic circulation and hence on the direction of the along-front jet within the boundary layer. The daytime increase of the terms of the SEB equation for a midlatitude midsummer case leads to a strong enhancement of the frictionally induced cross-frontal circulation. The arrangement of the seven characteristic zones, however, is approximately conserved.     

Scaling turbulence in the planetary boundary layer

Two different approaches to scaling turbulence in the planetary boundary layer over Lake Ontario are investigated. The height up to the inversion was found to be the appropriate scaling height while u. for near‐neutral and w* for unstable conditions were the appropriate scaling velocities. The results were in general agreement with the numerical models of Deardorff (1972) and Wyngaard, Cote, and Rao (1974).     

Turbulence structure in the planetary boundary layer

This review of the last three years of progress in the understanding of wind profiles and the structure of turbulence in the planetary boundary layer is divided into three parts. The first part, by N. E. Busch, deals with the atmospheric surface layer below 30 m. It is shown that the Monin-Oboukhov similarity hypotheses fail at low frequencies and large wave-lengths, probably due to mesoscale influences. Also, it is suggested that the neutral surface layer is a poor reference state in some respects, because the structure of turbulence in unstable conditions is quite different from that in stable stratification. The second part, by H. Tennekes, is concerned with the intermittency of the dissipative structure of turbulence and its effects on the velocity and temperature structure functions. It is shown that the modified Kolmogorov-Oboukhov theory, which attempts to explain the consequences of the dissipative intermittency, is unable to predict the shape of the temperature structure functions. The third part of this review, by H. A. Panofsky, deals with wind profiles and turbulence structure above 30 m. It is shown that between 30 and 150 m, surface-layer formulas can be used, if such mesoscale effects as changes of terrain roughness are taken into account where needed. Experimental data on turbulence above 150 m are quite sparse; some of the current scaling laws that can be used in this region are described.     

A scaling parameter for turbulence in baroclinic convective boundary layers

The influence of baroclinicity on the structure and levels of turbulence in the convective boundary layer depends on both the magnitude and orientation of geostrophic wind shear and the level of convection. The geostrophic Richardson number, a Richardson number defined in the present work and based on the geostrophic wind shear, is shown to be a single non-dimensional parameter which determines the influence of baroclinicity on convective turbulence structure.