A Review on the Methods for Observing the Substance and Energy Exchange between Atmosphere Boundary Layer and Free Troposphere

Abstract

Atmosphere boundary layer (ABL or BL) acts as a pivotal part in the climate by regulating the vertical exchange of moisture, aerosol, trace gases and energy between the earth surface and free troposphere (FT). However, compared with research on the exchange between earth surface and ABL, there are fewer researches on the exchange between ABL and FT, especially when it comes to the quantitative measurement of vertical exchange flux between them. In this paper, a number of various methodologies for investigating the exchange of the substance and energy between ABL and FT are reviewed as follows: (1) methods to obtain entrainment rate, which include method by investigating the height of inversion layer, method of flux-jump, estimating with dataset from the ASTEX Lagrangian Experiments and method of using satellite observations and Microwave Imager; (2) mass budget method, which can yield quantitative measurements of exchange flux between ABL and FT; (3) qualitative measurements: method based on Rayleigh distillation and mixing processes, methods of ground-based remote sensing and airborne tracer-tracer relationship/ratio method.

Comparison of Bacterial and Fungal Composition and Their Chemical Interaction in Free Tropospheric Air and Snow Over an Entire Winter Season at Mount Sonnblick, Austria

“…The mixing height is defined as the height above the ground where air and suspended particles from near ground are transported up to by vertical mixing. Exchanges between the ABL and the FT in Alpine areas are caused by advective processes in connection with frontal systems and mountain venting as well as by mixing processes including deep convection, shallow convection, frontal convection and ABL turbulence (Zhang et al, 2018).…”

Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation Variability and Its Climate Impacts

“…Chen et al [13] reviewed the contribution of the atmosphere-ocean forcings over the extratropical North Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean as well as the extratropical atmospheric forcings over the Northern and Southern Hemispheres on the ENSO occurrence. Zhang et al [14] reviewed several methods for the quantitative measurements of the substance and energy exchange between the atmosphere boundary layer and free troposphere.…”