Similarity studies of entrainment in convective mixed layers

A similarity study of entrainment at the top of convectively driven mixed layer is presented. The similarity framework is used for a comparison between various parameterized models of mixed-layer growth rate and between closely related models for the ratio of heat fluxes at ground and inversion levels. These various models are also tested, in dimensionless form, against data from laboratory, field experiments and numerical higher-order-modeling of the convective layer. It is concluded that a rather accurate prediction of mixed-layer growth can be achieved with the simple constant flux ratio model, but that more refined studies of entrainment are required to account for the decrease of the heat flux ratio with increasing convective intensity.List of acronyms CRPE Centre de Recherches en Physique de l'Environnement, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France - EERM Etablissement d'Etudes et de Recherches Météorologiques, Boulogne, France - INRA Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Versailles, France - LAMP Laboratoire Associé de Météorologie Physique, Clermont-Ferrand, France - NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, U.S.A. - NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Research Laboratories, Boulder, U.S.A.