The UBL/CLU (urban boundary layer/couche limite urbaine) observation and modelling campaign is a side-project of the regional photochemistry campaign ESCOMPTE. UBL/CLU focuses on the dynamics and thermodynamics of the urban boundary layer of Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast of France. The objective of UBL/CLU is to document the four-dimensional structure of the urban boundary layer and its relation to the heat and moisture exchanges between the urban canopy and the atmosphere during periods of low wind conditions, from June 4 to July 16, 2001. The project took advantage of the comprehensive observational set-up of the ESCOMPTE campaign over the Berre-Marseille area, especially the ground-based remote sensing, airborne measurements, and the intensive documentation of the regional meteorology. Additional instrumentation was installed as part of UBL/CLU. Analysis objectives focus on (i) validation of several energy balance computational schemes such as LUMPS, TEB and SM2-U, (ii) ground truth and urban canopy signatures suitable for the estimation of urban albedos and aerodynamic surface temperatures from satellite data, (iii) high resolution mapping of urban land cover, land-use and aerodynamic parameters used in UBL models, and (iv) testing the ability of high resolution atmospheric models to simulate the structure of the UBL during land and sea breezes, and the related transport and diffusion of pollutants over different districts of the city. This paper presents initial results from such analyses and details of the overall experimental set-up.Ã

Surface and remote-sensing instruments deployed during ESCOMPTE experiment over the Marseille area, along the Mediterranean coast, were used to investigate the fine structure of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) during sea-breeze circulation in relation to pollutant transport and diffusion. Six sea-breeze events are analyzed with a particular focus on 25 June 2001.Advection of cool and humid marine air over land has a profound influence on the daytime ABL characteristics. This impact decreases rapidly with the inland distance from the sea. Nearby the coast (3 km inland), the mixing height Zi rises up to 750 m and falls down after 15:00 (UT) when the breeze flow reaches its maximum intensity. A more classical evolution of the ABL is observed at only 11-km inland where Zi culminates in the morning and stabilizes in the afternoon at about 1000 m height.Fine inspection of the data revealed an oscillation of the sea-breeze with a period about 2 h 47 min. This feature, clearly discernable for 3 days at least, is present in several atmospheric variables such as wind, temperature, not only at the ground but also aloft in the ABL as observed by sodar/RASS and UHF wind profilers. In particular, the mixing height Zi deduced from UHF profilers observations is affected also by the same periodicity. This pulsated sea-breeze is observed principally above Marseille and, at the northern and eastern shores of the Berre pond.