Lidar Observations of Vertically Organized Convection in the Planetary Boundary Layer over the Ocean

Melfi, S. H.; Spinhirne, James D.; Chou, Shu-Hsien; Palm, Stephen P.

doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1985)024<0806:loovoc>2.0.co;2

Cited by 208 publications

(171 citation statements)

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“…Another classic method used in this study is the threshold method (Melfi et al 1985;Boers and Eloranta 2006). This simple technique functions using a user-defined critical threshold value in the lidar range-corrected signal to distinguish the PBL from the free troposphere.…”

Section: Classic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They comprise both objective and subjective methods: objective methods consist of various forms of derivative methods (Flamant et al 1997;Sicard et al 2006Sicard et al , 2011, wavelet analysis methods (Baars et al 2008;Gan et al 2011), the threshold method (Melfi et al 1985;Boers and Eloranta 2006), and the variance method (Menut et al 1999;Hennemuth and Lammert 2006). Visual inspection methods (Quan et al 2013) are infrequently used as a subjective approach, which adds levels of ambiguity that may possibly lead to poor results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Performance Evaluation of the Boundary-Layer Height from Lidar and the Weather Research and Forecasting Model at an Urban Coastal Site in the North-East Iberian Peninsula

Banks

Tiana-Alsina

Rocadenbosch

et al. 2015

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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We evaluate planetary boundary-layer (PBL) parametrizations in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) numerical model, with three connected objectives: first, for a 16-year period, we use a cluster analysis algorithm of three-day back-trajectories to determine general synoptic flow patterns over Barcelona, Spain arriving at heights of 0.5, 1.5, and 3 km; to represent the lower PBL, upper PBL, and lower free troposphere, respectively. Seven clusters are determined at each arriving altitude. Regional recirculations account for 54 % of the annual total at 0.5 km, especially in summertime. In the second objective, we assess a time-adaptive approach using an extended Kalman filter to estimate PBL height from backscatter lidar returns at 1200 UTC ± 30 min for 45 individual days during a seven-year period. PBL heights retrieved with this technique are compared with three classic methods used in the literature to estimate PBL height from lidar. The methods are validated against PBL heights calculated from daytime radiosoundings. Lidar and radiosonde estimated PBL heights are classified under objectively-determined synoptic clusters. With the final objective, WRF model-simulated PBL heights are validated against lidar estimates using eight unique PBL schemes as inputs. Evaluation of WRF model-simulated PBL heights are performed under different synoptic situations. Determination coefficients with lidar estimates indicate the non-local assymetric convective model scheme is the most reliable, with the widely-tested local Mellor-Yamada-Janjic scheme showing the weakest correlations with lidar retrievals. Overall, there is a systematic underestimation of PBL height simulated in the WRF model.

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Section: Classic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Evaluation of the Boundary-Layer Height from Lidar and the Weather Research and Forecasting Model at an Urban Coastal Site in the North-East Iberian Peninsula

Banks

Tiana-Alsina

Rocadenbosch

et al. 2015

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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“…Near-surface aerosols are mixed within ABL by turbulence and convection, thus aerosol vertical distribution is heavily influenced by the thermal structure. Aerosol vertical structure is regarded as a good tracer to determine the BLH (Stull and Eloranta, 1984;Boers et al, 1984;Melfi et al, 1985;Boers and Eloranta, 1986). Lidar provides direct measurements of aerosol profiles within the ABL.…”

Section: T Luo Et Al: Lidar-based Remote Sensing Of Atmospheric Boumentioning

confidence: 99%

Lidar-based remote sensing of atmospheric boundary layer height over land and ocean

2014

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Abstract. Atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) processes are important in climate, weather and air quality. A better understanding of the structure and the behavior of the ABL is required for understanding and modeling of the chemistry and dynamics of the atmosphere on all scales. Based on the systematic variations of the ABL structures over different surfaces, different lidar-based methods were developed and evaluated to determine the boundary layer height and mixing layer height over land and ocean. With Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) micropulse lidar (MPL) and radiosonde measurements, diurnal and season cycles of atmospheric boundary layer depth and the ABL vertical structure over ocean and land are analyzed. The new methods are then applied to satellite lidar measurements. The aerosol-derived global marine boundary layer heights are evaluated with marine ABL stratiform cloud top heights and results show a good agreement between them.

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“…The majority of previous studies of rolls, where the aspect ratio is usually larger than two, are based on convective rolls that produced cloud streets, i.e., where liquid water formation was present (e.g., Miura, 1986). However, some studies based on radar or lidar observations, or modeling, of cloud-free rolls report considerably lower aspect ratios, sometimes as low as one (Kelly, 1984;Melfi et al, 1985;Miura, 1986;Mayor et al, 2002). There are no cloud streets in bora due to its downslope nature and the associated advection of dry air to low levels, so the aspect ratio is expected to be smaller.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possible observation of horizontal roll vortices over the Adriatic Sea during bora

Belušić

Večenaj²,

LeMone

2015

Front. Earth Sci.

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Lidar Observations of Vertically Organized Convection in the Planetary Boundary Layer over the Ocean

Cited by 208 publications

References 0 publications

Performance Evaluation of the Boundary-Layer Height from Lidar and the Weather Research and Forecasting Model at an Urban Coastal Site in the North-East Iberian Peninsula

Performance Evaluation of the Boundary-Layer Height from Lidar and the Weather Research and Forecasting Model at an Urban Coastal Site in the North-East Iberian Peninsula

Lidar-based remote sensing of atmospheric boundary layer height over land and ocean

Possible observation of horizontal roll vortices over the Adriatic Sea during bora

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