Dependence of geostrophic drag on intensity of convection,baroclinicity, and acceleration

This paper examines the practical importance of stability, baroclinicity, and acceleration in the bulk ABL similarity formulations, in light of the random errors inherent in field measurements. This is done by propagating the measurement uncertainties through a theoretical model for the bulk ABL similarity functionsA ₀ andB ₀, under a range of assumed (but always unstable) conditions. It is shown that random measurement errors and acceleration effects may overwhelm most effects of baroclinicity and stability, once conditions are at least slightly unstable. Because of this, it is hard to discern a clear functional dependence ofA ₀ andB ₀ on degree of instability. Thus, for a given value ofh _i/z₀, whereh _i is the inversion height andz ₀ is the surface roughness, the geostrophic drag coefficient, which depends onA ₀ andB ₀, and weakly onh _i/z₀, may also be taken to be nearly independent of degree of instability.     

A three-resistance model of crop and forest evaporation

Summary The evaporation of deep crops such as forests is usually considered in terms of the two-resistance Penman-Monteith model, though this conflates two of the three resistances actually involved, i.e. the canopy resistancer _c between the transpiring leaves and the top of the canopy, and the resistancer _s due to the stomates of the leaves. A review of the literature on these and the aerodynamic resistancer _a (between the crop and the atmosphere) shows how distinctly different they are, and therefore how inappropriate it is to lump any two together.Once the soil has dried substantially,r _s depends approximately onM ^–2, whereM is the fractional available soil moisture.As regards grassed surfaces,r _a is 300/u s m^–1, whereu is the wind speed at 2 m.With 2 Figures     

An empirical expression for aerodynamic resistance in the unstable boundary layer

In unstable conditions, the set of equations defining the aerodynamic resistance to sensible heat transfer, r _a , cannot be solved analytically. An iterative technique must be used to obtain r _a exactly, but this is cumbersome and time consuming. In this paper, a new, empirical equation is presented relating the ratio, Q, of the aerodynamic resistances in neutral and unstable conditions, to the bulk Richardson number, Ri _B . The equation takes the form Q = a + b(–Ri) ^c , where a, b and c are empirical functions of (z – d)/z _om . This model is shown to predict r _awith a mean absolute error of 0.06 s m^–1 over the ranges -15 < Ri _B < 0 and 10 < (z – d)/z _om < 2300. Statistical comparison with other equations that have been proposed for r _a in unstable conditions indicates the superior precision of the model presented here.     

Modelling evaporation from wetland tundra

Evapotranspiration is a major component of both the energy and water balances of wetland tundra environments during the thaw season. Reliable estimates of evapotranspiration are required in the analysis of climatological and hydrological processes occurring within a wetland and in interfacing the surface climate with atmospheric processes. Where direct measurements are unavailable, models designed to accurately predict evapotranspiration for a particular wetland are used.This paper evaluates the performance, sensitivity and limitations of three physically-based, one-dimensional models in the simulation of evaporation from a wetland sedge tundra in the Hudson Bay Lowland near Churchill, Manitoba. The surface of the study site consists of near-saturated peat soil with a sparse sedge canopy and a constantly varying coverage of standing water. Measured evaporation used the Bowen ratio energy balance approach, to which the model results were compared. The comparisons were conducted with hourly and daily simulations.The three models are the Penman-Monteith model, the Shuttleworth-Wallace sparse canopy model and a modified Penman-Monteith model which is weighted for surface area of the evaporation sources.Results from the study suggest that the weighted Penman-Monteith model has the highest potential for use as a predictive tool. In all three cases, the importance of accurately measuring the surface area of each evaporation source is recognized. The difficulty in determining a representative surface resistance for each source and the associated problems in modelling without it are discussed.

List of Symbols

Models BREB Bowen ratio energy balance - P-M Penman-Monteith combination - S-W Shuttleworth-Wallace combination - W-P-M Weighted Penman-Monteith combination Other AE Available energy-all surfaces - AE _c Available energy-canopy (S-W, W-P-M) - AE _s Available energy-bare soil (S-W, W-P-M) - AE _w Available energy-open water (W-P-M) - C _p Specific heat of air - D Vapor pressure deficit - DAI Dead area index - FAI Foliage area index - LAI Leaf area index - Q ^* Net radiation - Q _e Latent heat flux-total - Q _ec Latent heat flux-canopy (S-W, W-P-M) - Q _es Latent heat flux-bare soil (S-W, W-P-M) - Q _ew Latent heat flux-open water (W-P-M) - Q _g ground heat flux - Q _h Sensible heat flux - S Proportion of area in bare soil - W Proportion of surface in open water - r _a Aerodynamic resistance (P-M, W-P-M) - r _c Canopy resistance - r _s Generalized optimized surface resistance - r _st Stomatal resistance - r _c ^a Bulk boundary layer resistance (S-W) - r _s ^a Aerodynamic resistance below mean canopy level (S-W) - r _s ^s Soil surface resistance (S-W, W-P-M) Greek Bowen ratio - Psychrometer constant - Air density - Slope of saturation vapour pressure vs temperature curve     

A bulk similarity approach in the atmospheric boundary layer using radiometric skin temperature to determine regional surface fluxes

Profiles of wind velocity and temperature in the outer region of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) were used together with surface temperature measurements, to determine regional shear stress and sensible heat flux by means of transfer parameterizations on the basis of bulk similarity. The profiles were measured by means of radiosondes and the surface temperatures by infrared radiation thermometry over hilly prairie terrain in northeastern Kansas during the First ISLSCP Field Experiment (FIFE). In the analysis, the needed similarity functions were determined and tested; the main scaling variables used for the ABL were h _i , the height of the convectively mixed layer, and V _a and _a, the wind speed and potential temperature averaged over the mixed layer. Good agreement (r = 0.80) was obtained between values of friction velocity u _* determined by this ABL bulk similarity approach and those obtained by Monin-Obukhov similarity in the surface sublayer. Similarly, values of surface flux of sensible heat H determined by this method compared well (r = 0.90) with the regional means measured at six ground stations. The corresponding regional evaporation values, determined with the energy budget equation, also compared favorably (r = 0.94).     

A verification of two shear velocity equations for the wind-wave interaction in a lake environment

Under growing wind-wave conditions the shear velocity,u _*, over the water surface equalsg ² H _s ² B _a ² C _p ³ , whereg is the gravitational acceleration,H _s is the significant wave height,B _a is a constant, andC _p is the wave celerity. From an independent field experiment in a lake environment which provided all three parameters (u _*,H _s , andC _p ), the value ofB _a is found to be 0.89, which is slightly lower than but consistent (within 20%) with the literature value between 0.90 and 1.06 obtained from an oceanic environment. Since thisu _* equation does not include the wind speed,U ₁₀, anotheru _* formulation withU ₁₀ in addition to the wave information is also evaluated. It is shown that the latter equation which includesU ₁₀ is superior to the former withoutU ₁₀.     

Comparison of Microphysical Characteristics Between Warm-sector and Frontal Heavy Rainfall in the South of China

During the April-June raining season,warm-sector heavy rainfall(WR) and frontal heavy rainfall(FR) often occur in the south of China,causing natural disasters.In this study,the microphysical characteristics of WR and FR events from 2016 to 2022 are analyzed by using 2-dimensional video disdrometer(2DVD) data in the south of China.The microphysical characteristics of WR and FR events are quite different.Compared with FR events,WR events have higher concentration of D<5.3 mm(especially D <1 ...     

SHEBA flux–profile relationships in the stable atmospheric boundary layer

Measurements of atmospheric turbulence made during the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean Experiment (SHEBA) are used to examine the profile stability functions of momentum, φ _m , and sensible heat, φ _h , in the stably stratified boundary layer over the Arctic pack ice. Turbulent fluxes and mean meteorological data that cover different surface conditions and a wide range of stability conditions were continuously measured and reported hourly at five levels on a 20-m main tower for 11 months. The comprehensive dataset collected during SHEBA allows studying φ _m and φ _h in detail and includes ample data for the very stable case. New parameterizations for φ _m (ζ) and φ _h (ζ) in stable conditions are proposed to describe the SHEBA data; these cover the entire range of the stability parameter ζ = z/L from neutral to very stable conditions, where L is the Obukhov length and z is the measurement height. In the limit of very strong stability, φ _m follows a ζ ^1/3 dependence, whereas φ _h initially increases with increasing ζ, reaches a maximum at ζ ≈ 10, and then tends to level off with increasing ζ. The effects of self-correlation, which occur in plots of φ _m and φ _h versus ζ, are reduced by using an independent bin-averaging method instead of conventional averaging.     

Sublayer-Stanton numbers of heat and matter for aerodynamically smooth surfaces: basic considerations and evaluation

Summary Sublayer-Stanton numbers, B_i, of heat and matter for the interfacial sublayer over aerodynamically smooth surfaces determined for forced convective conditions by elementary and numerical integration are reviewed and evaluated. The results are based on Roth’s modified Heisenberg model for the spectral energy transfer in the equilibrium range under locally isotropic conditions and the approaches of Reichardt, Elser, Deissler, van Driest, Rannie, Sheppard, and Spalding for the normalized eddy diffusivity K_m/v. The results substantiate that with the exception of Sheppard’s K_m/v-approach all formulations are appropriate to provide sublayer-Stanton numbers with a sufficient degree of accuracy. From a theoretical point of view the K_m/v-relationships of Roth, Reichardt, van Driest, and Spalding are to be preferred, when a turbulent Prandtl number Pr_t = 1 is presumed. Since within the framework of mesoscale meteorological modelling numerical integration techniques would consume too much CPU-time because of the large number of near-wall grid points, a parameterization formula for the sublayer-Stanton number is proposed and evaluated. Compared to the B_i ⁻¹-results obtained by numerical integration, this kind of parameterization leads to a relative error of less than 5 percent for roughness Reynolds numbers, η_r, ranging from 30 to 600. Received January 2001 Revised November 5, 2001     

在不同粗糙表面上龙卷涡旋特性的实验室模拟实验研究

本工作是在日本京都大学,防灾研究所的龙卷模拟实验室,用流体动力学模似实验方法研究三种不同粗糙表面对龙卷涡旋的影响。实验中,用热线风速表及微型风向标,测定了五个不同高度上的水平风速和风向分布,揭示出在不同粗糙表面上,龙卷涡旋的风速和风向分布特征。通过不断改变模拟装置的涡旋比S,发现当S值超过某一数值后(S>1.5),在不同粗糙表面上,龙卷涡旋的涡核尺寸将趋于一致。实验结果可进一步解释自然界中的观测事实,并对某些理论研究提供实验依据。     

微降水雷达测量精度分析

利用数值模拟的方法,讨论了利用微降水雷达MRR(Micro Rain Radar)雷达功率谱密度反演降水参数时,MIE散射(米散射)效应、垂直气流(包括上升气流、下沉气流)对数浓度N、雷达反射率Z、雨强I、液态含水量LWC等参数的影响。MIE散射主要影响直径为1.20~4.00 mm的粒子,MIE散射效应影响的N、Z、I、LWC偏差的平均值分别为2.74 m-3 mm-1、1.47 d BZ、0.0061 mm h~(-1)、0.0004 g m-3。下沉气流使反演液滴直径偏大,上升气流使得反演的液滴直径偏小,下沉气流的影响更大,尤其是对低层影响大于高层。例如,在300 m高度上,当液滴直径为2.67 mm时,下沉气流为2.00 m s-1时,理论上反演的直径为8.07 mm,超出了MRR探测的阈值,其相对误差值能接近200%。下沉气流使得反射率谱向大粒子方向平移,且谱型展宽;上升气流则相反。将MRR资料与同步观测的THIES雨滴谱仪数据进行比对,分析MRR资料的可靠性。选取2015年4月1日01~12时(协调世界时)山东济南的一次降水过程,将MRR在300 m高度上反演的雷达反射率因子、雨强、数浓度、中值体积直径与雨滴谱仪资料进行对比。结果表明:两种仪器探测的Z、I、N、中值体积直径D0在时间序列上都有较好的吻合度,变化趋势和幅度相近,Z、I、D0的平均偏差分别为1.19 d BZ、0.34 mm h~(-1)、0.36 mm。MRR反演的I值偏大,而粒子直径偏小,分析了产生偏差的主要原因,除了探测系统偏差、分析方法本身存在的偏差外,上升气流导致的偏差不容忽视。这些结果初步验证了微降水雷达观测的功率谱密度及其反演方法的可靠性。     

Momentum and Heat Transfer over Urban-like Surfaces

Momentum and heat transfer was examined for the urban-like surfaces used within the Comprehensive Outdoor Scale MOdel (COSMO) experiments. Simultaneous and comparative meteorological measurements were made over a pair of scale models with different block geometries. These data were analyzed to investigate the influence of height variations, obstacle elongation, and packing density, λ _p , of blocks on the aerodynamic properties. In addition, the robustness of theoretical expressions of bulk transfer coefficients for momentum and heat with respect to geometric parameters was examined. Our analyses showed: (1) the theoretical framework for the bulk transfer coefficient for momentum, C _m , and that for heat, C _h , was applicable for homogeneous building arrays, (2) the sensitivity of C _h to the surface geometry was smaller than that of C _m , (3) the transfer coefficients were increased by variations of block heights, but not by elongation of blocks, (4) first-order approximations of C _m and C _h for an array of blocks with two different heights can be made by applying simple theoretical assumptions to include the effects of height variation, and (5) variations of block heights increased the momentum flux significantly, but caused little change in the sensible heat flux. This can be explained by the feedback mechanism of aerodynamic– thermal interaction; aerodynamic mixing decreased both the advective velocity and the vertical temperature gradient.     

Radiometrically determined skin temperature and scalar roughness to estimate surface heat flux. Part I: Parameterization of radiometric scalar roughness

A series of experiments carried out in a pasture field during a growing season, allowed a radiometric determination of the scalar roughness for sensible heatz _oh,r . The values ofz _oh,r are shown to vary over the range of 10^–1–10^–7m both diurnally and seasonally, and an existing theoretical model for the estimation of scalar roughness for sensible heat is found to be inappropriate for the precise estimation ofz _oh,r . To parameterizez _oh,r better, a multiple regression analysis was performed, with predictor candidates such as solar elevation, solar radiationR _s , leaf area index LAI, canopy height, the ratio of the solar radiation and the extraterrestrial radiationR _s /R _e , the ratio of the direct and the total solar radiationR _d /R _s , and the roughness Reynolds number among others. The best regression equation which usesR _s , LAI,R _s /R _e , andR _d /R _s is derived withr=0.75; with smaller numbers of predictors, values ofr tend to deteriorate gradually down tor=0.52 when only one predictor, LAI, was incorporated into the equation.     

Discrepancy and Applicability of Various Similarity Functions in Flux Calculations Under Stable Conditions

Based on data obtained during the Hualhe River Basin Experiment （HUBEX） in 1999, this study intends to detect the quantitative discrepancies in the momentum （τ0）, sensible heat （H0） and latent heat （E0） fluxes among six sets of similarity functions with the aerodynamic method. It also aims to clarify the applicability of the functions under stable conditions. The relative discrepancy was studied with the normalized transfer coefficients for τ0, H0 and E0, namely CD, CH and CQ, respectively. Except for one set of functions that adopted a rather small von Kármán＇s constant （0.365）, the relative discrepancy in τ0 among the other functions was less than 10%, while that in H0（E0） sometimes reached 25% when the bulk Richardson number （R/B） was less than 0.07. The absolute discrepancy in the fluxes was studied with statistical computations. Among the six sets of functions, the discrepancy in τ0, H0 and E0 sometimes reached 0.03 kg m^-1 s^-2, 4 W m^-2 and 10 W m^-2, respectively, and the discrepancy in the energy balance ratio sometimes exceeded 0.1. Furthermore, when RiB exceeded the critical value （Ric） for a specific set of functions, no fluxes could be derived with the functions. It is therefore suggested that RiB be compared with Ric before computing the fluxes if RiB is less than Ric. Finally, two sets of nonlinear similarity functions are recommended, due to their unlimited applicability in terms of RiB.     

Stratified flow over three-dimensional topography

In order to investigate flows over topography in an atmospheric context, we have studied experimentally the wake structure of axi-symmetric Gaussian obstacles towed through a linearly stratified fluid. Three dimensionless parameters govern the flow dynamics: F, the Froude number based on the topography height h; Re, the Reynolds number and the aspect ratio r = h/L, where L is the topography horizontal scale. Two-dimensional (2-D), saturated lee wave (SLW) and three-dimensional (3-D) regimes, as defined in Chomaz et al. (1993), are found to be functions of F and r only (Fig. 1) as soon as Re is larger than Re_c ≈ 2000. For F < 0.7 the flow goes around the obstacle and the motion in the wake is quasi-two-dimensional. This 2-D layer is topped by a region affected by lee wave motions with amplitude increasing with r and F. For 0.7 < F < 1/r, the flow is entirely dominated by a lee wave of saturated amplitude which suppresses the separation of the boundary layer from the obstacle. Above the critical value 1/r, the lee wave amplitude decreases with F and a recirculating zone appears behind the obstacle. Simultaneously, coherent large-scale vortices start to be shed periodically from the wake at a Strouhal number which decreases as 1/F until it reaches its neutral asymptotic value.     

The influence of stratification on heat and momentum turbulent transfer in antarctica

Data from the Antarctic winter at Halley Base have been used in order to evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively how the stratification in the low atmosphere (evaluated with the gradient Richardson number, Ri) influences the eddy transfers of heat and momentum. Vertical profiles of wind and temperature up to 32 m, and turbulent fluxes ( , and ) measured from three ultrasonic thermo-anemometers installed at 5, 17 and 32 m are employed to calculate Ri, the friction velocity (u _*) and the eddy diffusivities for heat (K _h ) and momentum (K _m ). The results show a big dependence of stability onK _m ,K _h andu _*, with a sharp decrease of these turbulent parameters with increasing stability. The ratio of eddy diffusivities (K _h /K _m ) is also analyzed and presents a decreasing tendency as Ri increases, reaching values even less than 1, i.e., there were situations where the turbulent transfer of momentum was greater than that of heat. Possible mechanisms of turbulent mixing are discussed.     

Aerodynamic Scaling for Estimating the Mean Height of Dense Canopies

We used an aerodynamic method to objectively determine a representative canopy height, using standard meteorological measurements. The canopy height may change if the tree height is used to represent the actual canopy, but little work to date has focused on creating a standard for determining the representative canopy height. Here we propose the ‘aerodynamic canopy height’ h _a as the most effective means of resolving the representative canopy height for all forests. We determined h _a by simple linear regression between zero-plane displacement d and roughness length z ₀, without the need for stand inventory data. The applicability of h _a was confirmed in five different forests, including a forest with a complex canopy structure. Comparison with stand inventory data showed that h _a was almost equivalent to the representative height of trees composing the crown surface if the forest had a simple structure, or to the representative height of taller trees composing the upper canopy in forests with a complex canopy structure. The linear relationship between d and z ₀ was explained by assuming that the logarithmic wind profile above the canopy and the exponential wind profile within the canopy were continuous and smooth at canopy height. This was supported by observations, which showed that h _a was essentially the same as the height defined by the inflection point of the vertical profile of wind speed. The applicability of h _a was also verified using data from several previous studies.     

Flux between soil and atmosphere, vertical concentration profiles in soil, and turnover of nitric oxide: 2. Experiments with naturally layered soil cores

Intact soils cores were taken with a stainless steel corer from a sandy podzol and a loamy luvisol, and used to measure the flux (J) of NO between soil and atmosphere and the vertical profile of the NO mixing ratios (m) in the soil atmosphere, both as function of the NO mixing ratio (m _a) in the atmosphere of the headspace. These measurements were repeated after stepwise excavation of the soil column from the top, e.g. by removing the upper 2 cm soil layer. The gaseous diffusion coefficients of NO in the soil cores were either computed from soil porosity or were determined from experiments using SF6. The NO fluxes (J) that were actually measured at the soil surface were compared to the fluxes which were calculated either from the vertical NO profiles (J _c ) or from the NO production and uptake rates (J _m ) determined in the excavated soil samples. In the podzol, the actually measured (J) and the calculated (J _m , J_m) NO fluxes agreed within a factor of 2. In the luvisol, the measured NO fluxes (J) and those calculated from the vertical NO profiles (J _c ) also agreed well, but in the upper 6 cm soil layer the NO fluxes (J _m ) calculated from NO production and uptake rates were up to 7 times higher than the measured NO fluxes. This poor agreement was probably due to the inhomogeneous distribution of NO production and consumption processes and the change of diffusivities within the top layers of the luvisol. Indeed, the luvisol showed a pronounced maximum of the NO mixing ratios at about 6 cm depth, whereas the podzol column exhibited a steady and exponential decrease of the NO mixing ratios with depth. The inhomogeneities in the luvisol were confirmed by incubation of the soil cores under anoxic conditions. This treatment resulted in production of NO at several depths indicating a zonation of increased potential activities within the luvisol profile which may have biased the modelling of the NO surface flux from turnover measurements in soil samples. Inhomogeneities could be achieved even in homogenized soil by fertilization with nitrate solution.     

Sulfur dioxide plume dispersion and subsequent absorption by coniferous forests: Field measurements and model calculations

A Forest SO₂ Absorption Model (ForSAM) was developed to simulate (1) SO₂ plume dispersion from an emission source, (2) subsequent SO₂ absorption by coniferous forests growing downwind from the source. There are three modules: (1) a buoyancy module, (2) a dispersion module, and (3) a foliar absorption module. These modules were used to calculate hourly abovecanopy SO₂ concentrations and in-canopy deposition velocities, as well as daily amounts of SO₂ absorbed by the forest canopy for downwind distances to 42 km. Model performance testing was done with meteorological data (including ambient SO₂ concentrations) collected at various locations downwind from a coal-burning power generator at Grand Lake in central New Brunswick, Canada. Annual SO₂ emissions from this facility amounted to about 30,000 tonnes. Calculated SO₂ concentrations were similar to those obtained in the field. Calculated SO₂ deposition velocities generally agreed with published values.Notation c air parcel cooling parameter (non-dimensional) - E foliar absorption quotient (non-dimensional) - f areal fraction of foliage free from water (non-dimensional) - f _w SO₂ content of air parcel - h height of the surface layer (m) - H height of the convective mixing layer (m) - H _stack stack height (m) - k time level - k _drag coefficient of drag on the air parcel (non-dimensional) - K _z eddy viscosity coefficient for SO₂ (m²·s^–1) - L Monin-Obukhov length scale (m) - L _A single-sided leaf area index (LAI) - n degree-of-sky cloudiness (non-dimensional) - N number of parcels released with every puff (non-dimensional) - PAR photosynthetically active radiation (W m^–2) - Q emission rate (kg s^–2) - r _b diffusive boundary-layer resistance (s m^–1) - r _c canopy resistance (s m^–1) - r _cuticle cuticular resistance (s m^–1) - r _m mesophyllic resistance (s m^–1) - r _s stomatal resistance (s m^–1) - r _exit smokestack exit radius (m) - R normally distributed random variable with mean of zero and variance of t (s) - u _* frictional velocity scale, (m s^–1) - v lateral wind vector (m s^–1) - v _d SO₂ dry deposition velocity (m s^–1) - VCD water vapour deficit (mb) - z _can mean tree height (m) - Z zenith position of the sun (deg) - environmental lapse rate (°C m^–1) - dry adiabatic lapse rate (0.00986°C m^–1) - von Kármán's constant (0.04) - _B vertical velocities initiated by buoyancy (m s^–1) - canopy extinction coefficient (non-dimensional) - ()a denotes ambient conditions - ()can denotes conditions at the top of the forest canopy - ()h denotes conditions at the top of the surface layer - ()H denotes conditions at the top of the mixed layer - ()s denotes conditions at the canopy surface - ()p denotes conditions of the air parcels     

Comparisons of xylem sap flow and water vapour flux at the stand level and derivation of canopy conductance for Scots pine

Summary Simultaneous measurements of xylem sap flow and water vapour flux over a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest (Hartheim, Germany), were carried out during the Hartheim Experiment (HartX), an intensive observation campaign of the international programme REKLIP. Sap flow was measured every 30 min using both radial constant heating (Granier, 1985) and two types of Cermak sap flowmeters installed on 24 trees selected to cover a wide range of the diameter classes of the stand (min 8 cm; max 17.5 cm). Available energy was high during the observation period (5.5 to 6.9 mm.day^–1), and daily cumulated sap flow on a ground area basis varied between 2.0 and 2.7 mm day^–1 depending on climate conditions. Maximum hourly values of sap flow reached 0.33 mm h^–1, i.e., 230 W m^–2.Comparisons of sap flow with water vapour flux as measured with two OPEC (One Propeller Eddy Correlation, University of Arizona) systems showed a time lag between the two methods, sap flow lagging about 90 min behind vapour flux. After taking into account this time lag in the sap flow data set, a good agreement was found between both methods: sap flow = 0.745^* vapour flux,r ² = 0.86. The difference between the two estimates was due to understory transpiration.Canopy conductance (g _c ) was calculated from sap flow measurements using the reverse form of Penman-Monteith equation and climatic data measured 4 m above the canopy. Variations ofg _c were well correlated (r ² = 0.85) with global radiation (R) and vapour pressure deficit (vpd). The quantitative expression forg _c =f (R, vpd) was very similar to that previously found with maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) in the forest of Les Landes, South Western France.With 6 Figures