Estimation of drag coefficient over the western desert sector of the Indian summer monsoon trough

In the estimation of momentum fluxes over land surfaces by the bulk aerodynamic method, no unique value of the drag coefficient (C _D) is found in the literature. The drag coefficient is generally estimated from special observations at different parts of the world. In this study an attempt is made to estimate drag coefficient over the western desert sector of India using data sets of Monsoon Trough Boundary Layer Experiment (MONTBLEX) during the summer monsoon season of 1990. For this purpose, the fast and slow response data sets obtained simultaneously from a 30 m high micro-meteorological tower at Jodhpur are used. All the observations used in this study are confined to a wind speed regime of 2.5–9.0 ms⁻¹. A comparison of momentum fluxes computed by eddy correlation (direct estimation) with profile and bulk aerodynamic (C _D = 3.9 × 10⁻³, Garratt, 1977) methods revealed that though the nature of variation of the fluxes by all these methods is almost similar, both the indirect methods give an under-estimated value of the fluxes. The drag coefficient is estimated as a function of wind speed and surface stability by a multiple regression approach. An average value of the estimated drag coefficient is found to be of the order of 5.43 × 10⁻³. The estimated value ofC _D is validated with a set of independent observations and found to be quite satisfactory. The recomputed momentum fluxes by bulk aerodynamic method using the estimated drag coefficient are in close agreement with the directly estimated fluxes.     

Estimation of abl Parameters Using the Vertical Velocity Measurements of an Acoustic Sounder

The friction velocity, the surface heat flux and the height of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) are important parameters. In this work, vertical velocity variance ( _w ² ) and wind velocity structure parameter (C _v ² ) profiles estimated by acoustic sounder measurements are used, along with similarity relations, to estimate these parameters in the unstable Atmospheric Boundary Layer and the friction velocity in the stable one. The data were collected by two acoustic sounders with different height range and resolution under various atmospheric conditions (stability) and at two experimental sites in different terrain. The C _v ² profiles are estimated using gate difference of the vertical velocity measurements and the assumption of local isotropy. The vertical velocity data are corrected for the significant effects of noisy measurements and sampling volume averaging on the _w ² and C _v ² estimations using original techniques that are presented in this work. The results of the similarity method using acoustic sounder data are compared against estimates of the corresponding atmospheric parameters obtained from direct measurements. The comparison confirms the ability of the method to provide reasonably accurate estimates of these parameters especially in the middle of the day.     

Vertical Structure in the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer and its Implication for the Inertial Dissipation Method

The structure of the marine atmospheric boundarylayer and the validity ofMonin–Obukhov similarity theory over the seahave been investigated using longterm measurements. Three levels of turbulencemeasurements (at 10 m, 18 mand 26 m) at Östergarnsholm in themiddle of the Baltic Sea have beenanalysed. The results show that turbulentparameters have a strong dependenceon the actual height due to wave influence.The wind profile and thus thenormalised wind gradient are very sensitiveto wave state. The lower part of theboundary layer can be divided into three heightlayers, a wave influenced layerclose to the surface, a transition layer andan undisturbed ordinary surfacelayer; the depth of the layers is determinedby the wave state. This heightstructure can, however, not be found for thenormalised dissipation, which is onlya function of the stability, except duringpronounced swell where the actualheight also has to be accounted for. Theresults have implications for the heightvariation of the turbulent kinetic energy(TKE) budget. Thus, the imbalancebetween production and dissipation willalso vary with height according to thevariation of wave state. This, in turn,will of course have strong implicationsfor the inertial dissipation method, inwhich a parameterisation of the TKEbudget is used.     

青藏高原地区能量水分循环：地表能量平衡和湍流热通量

文章给出了青藏高原能量水分循环研究的概况和总结，着重估计了能量平衡各分项和湍流热通量等。在能量平衡的计算基础上，尽管能量不平衡的原因解释仍有争论并且没有解决，但我们揭示了GAME/Tibet试验观测资料中能量不平衡现象。我们发现估算的潜热通量比实际观测的要高许多。然而，根据能量平衡假设的计算结果和SEBS的估算一致性很好。在此基础上可以归纳出差异主要由GAME/Tibet试验观测资料中能量不平衡引起，潜热通量的实际观测可能偏小。     

Modeling studies of the upper ocean response to a tropical cyclone

A coupled ocean and boundary layer flux numerical modeling system is used to study the upper ocean response to surface heat and momentum fluxes associated with a major hurricane, namely, Hurricane Dennis (July 2005) in the Gulf of Mexico. A suite of experiments is run using this modeling system, constructed by coupling a Navy Coastal Ocean Model simulation of the Gulf of Mexico to an atmospheric flux model. The modeling system is forced by wind fields produced from satellite scatterometer and atmospheric model wind data, and by numerical weather prediction air temperature data. The experiments are initialized from a data assimilative hindcast model run and then forced by surface fluxes with no assimilation for the time during which Hurricane Dennis impacted the region. Four experiments are run to aid in the analysis: one is forced by heat and momentum fluxes, one by only momentum fluxes, one by only heat fluxes, and one with no surface forcing. An equation describing the change in the upper ocean hurricane heat potential due to the storm is developed. Analysis of the model results show that surface heat fluxes are primarily responsible for widespread reduction (0.5°–1.5°C) of sea surface temperature over the inner West Florida Shelf 100–300 km away from the storm center. Momentum fluxes are responsible for stronger surface cooling (2°C) near the center of the storm. The upper ocean heat loss near the storm center of more than 200 MJ/m² is primarily due to the vertical flux of thermal energy between the surface layer and deep ocean. Heat loss to the atmosphere during the storm’s passage is approximately 100–150 MJ/m². The upper ocean cooling is enhanced where the preexisting mixed layer is shallow, e.g., within a cyclonic circulation feature, although the heat flux to the atmosphere in these locations is markedly reduced.     

Tangling Turbulence and Semi-Organized Structures in Convective Boundary Layers

A new mean-field theory of turbulent convection is developed based on the idea that only the small-scale region of the spectrum is considered as turbulence, whereas its large-scale part, including both regular and semi-organized motions, is treated as the mean flow. In the shear-free regime, this theory predicts the convective wind instability, which causes the formation of large-scale semi-organized motions in the form of cells. In the presence of wind shear, the theory predicts another type of instability, which causes the formation of large-scale semi-organized structures in the form of rolls and the generation of convective-shear waves propagating perpendicular to the convective rolls. The spatial characteristics of these structures, such as the minimum size of the growing perturbations and the size of perturbations with the maximum growth rate, are determined. This theory might be useful for understanding the origin of large-scale cells and rolls observed in the convective boundary layer and laboratory turbulent convection     

Evaporation over a Heterogeneous Land Surface: EVA_GRIPS and the LITFASS-2003 Experiment—An Overview

The Evaporation at Grid/Pixel Scale (EVA_GRIPS) project was realised in order to determine the area-averaged evaporation over a heterogeneous land surface at the scale of a grid box of a regional numerical weather prediction or climate model, and at the scale of a pixel of a satellite image. EVA_GRIPS combined surface-based and airborne measurements, satellite data analysis, and numerical modelling activities. A mesoscale field experiment, LITFASS-2003, was carried out in the heterogeneous landscape around the Meteorological Observatory Lindenberg (MOL) of the German Meteorological Service in May and June, 2003. The experiment was embedded in the comprehensive, operational measurement program of the MOL. Experimental determination of surface fluxes on a variety of spatial scales was achieved by employing micrometeorological flux stations, scintillometers, a combination of ground-based remote sensing instruments, and the Helipod, a turbulence probe carried by a helicopter. Surface energy fluxes were also derived from satellite data. Modelling work included the use of different Soil–Vegetation–Atmosphere Transfer schemes, a large-eddy simulation model and three mesoscale atmospheric models. The paper gives an overview on the background of EVA_GRIPS, and on the measurements and meteorological conditions during LITFASS-2003. A few general results are discussed.     

Processing and quality control of flux data during LITFASS-2003

Different aspects of the quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) of micrometeorological measurements were combined to create a comprehensive algorithm which was then applied to experimental data from LITFASS-2003 (Lindenberg Inhomogeneous Terrain—Fluxes between Atmosphere and Surface: a long term Study). Eddy-covariance measurements of the latent heat flux were the main focus of the QA/QC efforts. The results of a turbulence sensor intercomparison experiment showed deviations between the different eddy-covariance systems on the order of 15%, or less than 30 W m⁻², for the latent heat flux and 5%, or less than 10 W m⁻², for the sensible heat flux. In order to avoid uncertainties due to the post-processing of turbulence data, a comprehensive software package was used for the analysis of experimental data from LITFASS-2003, including all necessary procedures for corrections and quality control. An overview of the quality test results shows that for most of the days more than 80% of the available latent heat flux data are of high quality so long as there are no instrumental problems. The representativeness of a flux value for the target land-use type was analysed using a stochastic footprint model. Different methods to calculate soil heat fluxes at the surface are discussed and a sensitivity analysis is conducted to select the most robust method for LITFASS-2003. The lack of energy balance closure, which was found for LITFASS-2003, can probably be attributed to the presence of low-frequency flux contributions that cannot be resolved with an averaging time of 30 min. Though the QA/QC system has been developed for the requirements of LITFASS-2003, it can also be applied to other experiments dealing with similar objectives.     

An approximate analytical solution for the deposition of heavy particles released from an elevated line source

This work re-examines and further develops an analytical solution for the deposition swath of heavy particles released in the atmosphere from an elevated source over uniform terrain, correcting the particle diffusivity for the crossing trajectory effect. The revised (approximate) analytical solution proves to be accurate within 20% over a wide range of micrometeorological conditions and particle size, despite its neglect of the turbulence component of the deposition flux. It compares very satisfactorily with experimental data and with the simulations of a Lagrangian stochastic model, provided the variable U(H)/w _g ≤7 (ratio of the mean horizontal wind speed at source height to the particle settling velocity). In this domain of validity, simple formulae relating the statistics of the deposition swath to U(H)/w _g are derived.     

The effect of mountainous topography on moisture exchange between the “surface” and the free atmosphere

Typical numerical weather and climate prediction models apply parameterizations to describe the subgrid-scale exchange of moisture, heat and momentum between the surface and the free atmosphere. To a large degree, the underlying assumptions are based on empirical knowledge obtained from measurements in the atmospheric boundary layer over flat and homogeneous topography. It is, however, still unclear what happens if the topography is complex and steep. Not only is the applicability of classical turbulence schemes questionable in principle over such terrain, but mountains additionally induce vertical fluxes on the meso-γ scale. Examples are thermally or mechanically driven valley winds, which are neither resolved nor parameterized by climate models but nevertheless contribute to vertical exchange. Attempts to quantify these processes and to evaluate their impact on climate simulations have so far been scarce. Here, results from a case study in the Riviera Valley in southern Switzerland are presented. In previous work, measurements from the MAP-Riviera field campaign have been used to evaluate and configure a high-resolution large-eddy simulation code (ARPS). This model is here applied with a horizontal grid spacing of 350 m to detect and quantify the relevant exchange processes between the valley atmosphere (i.e. the ground “surface” in a coarse model) and the free atmosphere aloft. As an example, vertical export of moisture is evaluated for three fair-weather summer days. The simulations show that moisture exchange with the free atmosphere is indeed no longer governed by turbulent motions alone. Other mechanisms become important, such as mass export due to topographic narrowing or the interaction of thermally driven cross-valley circulations. Under certain atmospheric conditions, these topographical-related mechanisms exceed the “classical” turbulent contributions a coarse model would see by several times. The study shows that conventional subgrid-scale parameterizations can indeed be far off from reality if applied over complex topography, and that large-eddy simulations could provide a helpful tool for their improvement.