Eclipse effects in the atmospheric boundary layer

The influence of a solar eclipse on solar-radiation fluxes, meteorological parameters, turbulence characteristics, and vertical temperature profiles in the atmospheric boundary layer is analyzed. Air-temperature variations caused by an eclipse and time delays of these variations with respect to the onset of the total-eclipse phase in the atmospheric surface and boundary layers are determined. The influence of a solar eclipse on the turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent heat flux, and variance and spectral density of the power of air-temperature pulsations are estimated. Variations in aerosol parameters and concentrations of light ions during a total solar eclipse are discussed.     

Simulation of the diurnal evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer

Results of simulating the diurnal evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) with a second-order closure model are presented. The model includes new algebraic expressions for triple correlations to describe their behavior over the entire height of the mixed layer adequately to measurements. The model also takes into account the influence of long-wave radiation on the heat balance, which becomes important in the nocturnal ABL. The modeling results are compared with 24-h ABL evolution simulations by the third-order closure model and available in situ and laboratory measurements.     

On similarity profiles predicted in the convective marine boundary layer

On the basis of the ideal of local scale similarity theory, the profile equations of wind, temperature and humidity for the eonvective marine boundary layer have been obtained. The marine boundary layer measurements were made over the western Pacific Ocean as past of the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Programme during Nov. 1986-Feb. 1987. The similarity profiles predicledfor wind. temperature and humidity in the MBL are in good agreement with the observational data.     

涌浪对大气边界层风廓线的影响

以往研究表明, 涌浪存在时, 近海面大气边界层内Monin–Obukhov相似性理论(Monin–Obukhov Similar Theory, MOST)将会失效, 风廓线模型的建立需要考虑波致应力的影响。基于此, 本文首先研究了包含涌浪影响的Ekman模型和常通量层模型求解的风廓线。结果表明: 两种模型估算的风廓线均对涌浪的波衰减率系数c_β有较高的依赖性, 在c_β<–50时, 模型求解的风廓线均出现近海面风速极大值, 但科氏力对近海面风廓线的影响可以忽略。在不同的大气层结下, 分析发现海浪边界层(直接受波浪影响的区域)内风速明显小于海浪边界层之上MOST廓线在相同高度的外推值, 体现了涌浪引起明显的剪切增强。通过对比分析广东省茂名市附近海上观测平台的实测数据发现, 在涌浪存在时, MOST普遍无法描述风廓线; 统计分析表明常通量层模型估算的风廓线在8 m处的风速与实测数据高度一致。考虑以往研究基本局限于中性大气层结条件, 而涌浪经常显著影响着浮力作用明显的中低风速条件, 我们的研究将有助于理解不同大气层结条件下涌浪对风廓线的影响。     

Estimating helicity in the atmospheric boundary layer from acoustic sounding data

Distributions of the velocity-field helicity in the atmospheric boundary layer have been obtained from acoustic sounding data. The helicity of large-scale motions (0.3–0.6 m/s²) exceeds (by an order of magnitude) its independently measured turbulent values, which are close to helicity averaged over the layer (0.02–0.12 m/s²). In the absence of strong convection, there is good correlation between helicity and wind velocity squared at upper sounding levels of 400 to 600 m.     

On the turbulent prandtl number in a stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer

The results obtained from both atmospheric and laboratory measurements and from LES data show that, in the stably stratified flows of the atmospheric boundary layer, turbulent mixing occurs at gradient Richardson numbers Ri _g that significantly exceed one: the inverse turbulent Prandtl number Pr _t ⁻¹ decreases with an increase in the thermal flow stability. The decreasing trend of the inverse turbulent Ptandtl number is reproduced in a stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer in agreement with measurement data with the aid of an improved three-parameter turbulence model. In this model, a modified model that takes into account the effect of stratification in the expression for the time scale of the scalar field is used for the pressure-scalar correlation.     

Countergradient heat transfer in the atmospheric boundary layer over a rough surface

The nonlocality of the mechanism of turbulent heat transfer in the atmospheric boundary layer over a rough surface manifests itself in the form of bounded areas of countergradient heat transfer, which are diagnosed from analysis of balance items in the transport equation for the variance of temperature fluctuations and from calculation of the coefficients of turbulent momentum and heat transfer invoking the model of “gradient diffusion.” It is shown that countergradient heat transfer in local regions is caused by turbulent diffusion or by the term of the divergence of triple correlation in the balance equation for the temperature variance.     

Fine structure of the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer over the water surface

In this paper, the results of a laboratory experiment on investigating the wind-velocity field over a water surface using the PIV method are described. The use of a rapid CCD-camera made it possible to perform a detailed study of the eddy structure of airflow. We have measured the velocity fields over a flat plate by wind waves and waves induced by a wave generator. The model of a turbulent boundary layer over a rough surface was directly verified. It has been shown that the wind-velocity profiles over waves obtained by averaging the instantaneous fields over the ensemble of samples and horizontal coordinate are satisfactorily consistent with the profiles calculated within the frameworks of the model of wind flow over rough water surface.     

On the vertical lifting of dust in a convective unstable atmospheric boundary layer

A model for the density Q of vertical mass flux of sand (dust) in the convective atmospheric boundary layer as a function of the number density N of convective elements (including vortices), friction velocity u _*, and vertical (turbulent) buoyancy flux B is proposed. It is shown that the flux Q is proportional to the product of the square root of B and the sixth power of u _*. This finding is consistent with empirical dependences Q(u _*) reported in the literature. We discuss two methods for experimentally determining density N when the lifting of dust occurs, mainly due to (terrestrial and Martian) dust devils.     

On transformation of the near-surface atmospheric boundary layer in the ocean temperature front area

A two-dimensional, quasi-analytical model for the formation of the internal atmospheric boundary layer in the ocean temperature front area is described, developed on the basis of integral relations for motion and thermal conductivity equations. The computed data are matched with wind speed observations, as well as with direct and indirect dynamic velocity measurements in the air, obtained across the Gulf Stream frontal zone.Translated by V. Puchkin.     

Theoretical models of the height of the atmospheric boundary layer and turbulent entrainment at its upper boundary

The planetary boundary layer (PBL), which directly interacts with the underlying surface, differs significantly in its nature from the low-turbulent stably stratified free atmosphere. Fluctuations of the Earth’s surface heat balance immediately affect the PBL and assimilate there owing to the effective mechanism of turbulent heat transfer. In this case the upper boundary of the PBL plays the role of a cover, preventing the direct penetration of thermal effects and contaminants into an overlying atmospheric layer. In view of this, air pollution is especially dangerous when associated with shallow PBL. In addition, local peculiarities of climate change are mainly determined by the PBL height due to the high sensitivity of thin stably stratified PBLs to the thermal effects. Deep convective PBLs are not very sensitive to weak thermal effects, but they significantly affect the formation of convective cloudiness and the climate system as a whole by means of the turbulent entrainment of the thermal energy, humidity, aerosols, and other admixtures through the upper boundary. The PBL height and turbulent entrainment must be calculated when simulating and forecasting air pollution, abnormal frosts and heat, and other hazardous phenomena. In this paper we discuss the state-of-the-art knowledge in the area of PBL height simulation and suggest a new model of turbulent entrainment for convective PBLs.     

The vertical structure of the atmospheric boundary layer over the central Arctic Ocean

The tropopause height and the atmospheric boundarylayer （PBL） height as well as the variation of inversion layer above the floating ice surface are presented using GPS （global position system ） radiosonde sounding data and relevant data obtained by Chinas fourth arctic scientific expedition team over the central Arctic Ocean （86°-88°N, 144°-170°W） during the summer of 2010. The tropopause height is from 9.8 to 10.5 km, with a temperature range between -52.2 and -54.10C in the central Arctic Ocean. Two zones of maximum wind （over 12 m/s） are found in the wind profile, namely, low- and upper-level jets, located in the middle troposphere and the tropopause, respectively. The wind direction has a marked variation point in the two jets from the southeast to the southwest. The average PBL height determined by two methods is 341 and 453 m respectively. These two methods can both be used when the inversion layer is very low, but the results vary significantly when the inversion layer is very high. A significant logarithmic relationship exists between the PBL height and the inversion intensity, with a correlation coefficient of 0.66, indicating that the more intense the temperature inversion is, the lower the boundary layer will be. The observation results obviously differ from those of the third arctic expedition zone （800-85° N）. The PBL height and the inversion layer thickness are much lower than those at 870-88° N, but the inversion temperature is more intense, meaning a strong ice- atmosphere interaction in the sea near the North Pole. The PBL structure is related to the weather system and the sea ice concentration, which affects the observation station.     

On the eddy mixing and energetics of turbulence in a stable atmospheric boundary layer

Some changes in the eddy mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) are investigated with the use of the mesoscale RANS turbulence model. It is found that the behavior of parameters of the eddy turbulence mixing is in compliance with the recently obtained data of laboratory and atmospheric measurements. In particular, the flow Richardson number (Ri _f ) during the transient flow to a strongly stable state can behave nonmonotonically, growing with the increasing gradient Richardson number (Ri _g ) to the state of saturation at a certain gradient Richardson number (Ri _g ? 1), which separates two different turbulent regimes: the regimes of strong mixing and weak mixing. An analysis of the energetics based on the balance equations of kinetic and potential turbulence energies shows, in particular, that the weak mixing (Ri _g > 1) is quite capable of transferring momentum. This phenomenon can be explained not only by the fact that the flow is sustained by propagating internal waves, which effectively transfer momentum under strong stratification conditions, but also by the fact that turbulence permanently arises in the free atmosphere and in the deep ocean at Ri _g ? 1.     

Three-parameter model of turbulence for the atmospheric boundary layer over an urbanized surface

A modified three-parameter model of turbulence for a thermally stratified atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is presented. The model is based on tensor-invariant parametrizations for the pressure-strain and pressure-temperature correlations that are more complete than the parametrizations used in the Mellor-Yamada model of level 3.0. The turbulent momentum and heat fluxes are calculated with explicit algebraic models obtained with the aid of symbol algebra from the transport equations for momentum and heat fluxes in the approximation of weakly equilibrium turbulence. The turbulent transport of heat and momentum fluxes is assumed to be negligibly small in this approximation. The three-parameter E ? ε ? 2> model of thermally stratified turbulence is employed to obtain closed-form algebraic expressions for the fluxes. A computational test of a 24-h ABL evolution is implemented for an idealized two-dimensional region. Comparison of the computed results with the available observational data and other numerical models shows that the proposed model is able to reproduce both the most important structural features of the turbulence in an urban canopy layer near the urbanized ABL surface and the effect of urban roughness on a global structure of the fields of wind and temperature over a city. The results of the computational test for the new model indicate that the motion of air in the urban canopy layer is strongly influenced by mechanical factors (buildings) and thermal stratification.     

Electricity of the convective atmospheric boundary layer: Field observations and numerical simulation

The electric state of the middle-latitude convective atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is investigated during a point in time when it is not disturbed by clouds, precipitation, mist, or industrial aerosols. A numerical model is developed that estimates the electroaerodynamic state of the convective ABL. The model is parameterized using results of field observations and laboratory experiments. According to the model, vertical profiles of atmospheric electric field strength, space charge density, electric conductivity, and atmospheric electric current density are calculated in the horizontally homogeneous approximation with a high space-time resolution.     

太平洋涌浪分布特征及其对海-气边界层的影响

本文对海-气边界层波致风机制的相关理论进行了阐述,并利用ERA-40再分析资料给出了太平洋谱峰速度、波龄、波陡等描述涌浪和波致风机制物理量的年际和季节空间分布特征。分析表明:东太平洋赤道地区等海域涌浪速度最大且涌浪由南向北传播明显;太平洋波边界层高度基本呈现出东高西低的分布形势;波致风机制主要发生在赤道热带海域,北半球夏季波致风机制偏强,冬季偏弱,南半球反之;北半球北部海域夏季更易发生波致风机制,赤道附近海域相反;南海为风浪与涌浪组成的混合浪,对其波候等相关研究有必要分开进行讨论。     

The concentration and distribution of dimethyl sulfide in the marine atmospheric boundary layer near the equator

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Wind wave breaking under the conditions of inhomogeneous currents and of the atmospheric boundary layer

As known fromin situ observations, inhomogeneities of flows and of the atmospheric boundary layer produce variations of the intensity of wind wave breaking. A relevant phenomenological model is suggested here, describingin situ data on the breaking of waves in the presence of internal waves. The response of the wave breaking to the flow's inhomogeneity enhances with the growth of its spatial or temporal scale. For the mesoscale (10–100 km) inhomogeneities, the model is essentially simplified—wave breakings depict the local energy inputs to wind waves. The model allows us to compute currents of various type in the wave breaking intensity field. The results may have practical implications, in terms of remote sensing of the ocean. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Influence of a high aerosol concentration on the thermal structure of the atmospheric boundary layer

The influence of increased concentrations of submicron aerosol produced by forest fires on thermal characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in Moscow and its remote vicinity (the town of Zvenigorod) are analyzed on the basis of regular remote measurements of the ABL temperature profile with the use of MTP-5 profilers. In the air basin of a large city, additional aerosol and accompanying pollutants in early morning hours (at small heights of the Sun) most frequently did not cause substantial changes in the ABL thermal structure. In the locality remote from the megalopolis (Zvenigorod), the atmospheric pollution by aerosol led to noticeable changes in the ABL thermal characteristics. Especially strong changes were observed in the daytime, during the maximum supply of solar radiation. In morning hours, the heating rate of the lower 100-m layer of the polluted air exceeded the heating rate of a relatively pure air by more than one degree. In higher layers, the differences between the rates of temperature changes in a relatively clean atmosphere and in an atmosphere polluted by aerosol (in the suburb) were insignificant.