Comparing Estimates of Turbulence Based on Near-Surface Measurements in the Nocturnal Stable Boundary Layer

• Tethered Lifting System (TLS) estimates of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (epsilon) are reasonably well correlated with concurrent measurements of vertical velocity variance (sigma(2)(w)) obtained from sonic anemometers located on a nearby 60-m tower during the CASES-99 field experiment. Additional results in the first 100m of the nocturnal stable boundary layer confirm our earlier claim that the presence of weak but persistent background turbulence exists even during the most stable atmospheric conditions, where e can exhibit values as low as 10(-7) m(2) s(-3). We also present a set of empirical equations that incorporates TLS measurements of temperature, horizontal wind speed, and e to provide a proxy measurement for sigma(2)(w) at altitudes higher than tower heights.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Meteorologi och atmosfärforskning (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

CASES-99 campaign

Dissipation rate

Residual layer

Stable boundary layer

Turbulent kinetic energy dissipation

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)