Wave-Turbulence Dynamics in the Stably Stratified Boundary Layer

Einaudi, Franco; Finnigan, John

doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1993)050<1841:wtdits>2.0.co;2

Cited by 69 publications

(54 citation statements)

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“…Around midnight, there was a sudden onset of southerly winds of moderate speed (about 6 m s -1 at the top of the mast), and an abruptly and large temperature decrease measured at all levels of the tower except near the surface at 2,2 m. These changes suggest the arrival of a cold gravity current from the southern sector, since this coherent structure is associated with local thermal and shear instabilities (see Figures 4d,e,f) induced by the dynamics of the density current (Einaudi and Finnigan, 1993;Sun et al, 2002). This episode was also analysed employing the wavelet method described in section 3, using a 6-base-frequency Morlet function with integration up to a 30 min period.…”

Section: Night 28-29 May 2003 At the Cibamentioning

confidence: 88%

Analysis of turbulent exchange and coherent structures in the stable atmospheric boundary layer based on tower observations

Ferreres

Soler

Terradellas

2013

Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans

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Abstract. Using data collected at the Spanish low troposphere research centre CIBA (Centro de Investigación de la Baja Atmósfera) and at the Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research (CESAR) in the Netherlands, we analysed the most significant features of different coherent structures occurring in the stable atmospheric boundary layer. In particular, we used both the Reynolds and wavelet methods to analyse a solitary wave, a gravity wave, a density current and a low-level jet. For each of these structures, we found that wavelet analysis had the capacity to distinguish the different scales involved in these events due to the different timing and heights of the thermal instabilities and downdrafts associated with the disturbances. In addition, the wavelet method highlights the different roles of turbulence and coherent structures in the transfer of heat, moisture and CO 2 in the nocturnal boundary layer.

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Section: Night 28-29 May 2003 At the Cibamentioning

confidence: 88%

Analysis of turbulent exchange and coherent structures in the stable atmospheric boundary layer based on tower observations

Ferreres

Soler

Terradellas

2013

Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans

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“…The location is mostly flat terrain about 25 km east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains (Kaimal and Gaynor, 1983). The facility has been used for a large range of atmospheric research applications such as boundary layer meteorology (Blumen, 1984;Gossard et al, 1985), wave-turbulence interactions (Einaudi et al, 1989;Einaudi and Finnigan, 1993), atmospheric chemistry (Brown et al, 2007), and instrument testing (Cohn et al, 2001). The footprint for flux measurements is typically around 30-50 km, estimated from both turbulence theory and from known industrial and vehicle emissions from nearby cities, including Boulder (P. Blanken, personnel communication, 2012).…”

Section: Measurements and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining water sources in the boundary layer from tall tower profiles of water vapor and surface water isotope ratios after a snowstorm in Colorado

et al. 2013

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The D/H isotope ratio is used to attribute boundary layer humidity changes to the set of contributing fluxes for a case following a snowstorm in which a snow pack of about 10 cm vanished. Profiles of H2O and CO2 mixing ratio, D/H isotope ratio, and several thermodynamic properties were measured from the surface to 300 m every 15 min during four winter days near Boulder, Colorado. Coeval analysis of the D/H ratios and CO2 concentrations find these two variables to be complementary with the former being sensitive to daytime surface fluxes and the latter particularly indicative of nocturnal surface sources. Together they capture evidence for strong vertical mixing during the day, weaker mixing by turbulent bursts and low level jets within the nocturnal stable boundary layer during the night, and frost formation in the morning. The profiles are generally not well described with a gradient mixing line analysis because D/H ratios of the end members (i.e., surface fluxes and the free troposphere) evolve throughout the day which leads to large uncertainties in the estimate of the D/H ratio of surface water flux. A mass balance model is constructed for the snow pack, and constrained with observations to provide an optimal estimate of the partitioning of the surface water flux into contributions from sublimation, evaporation of melt water in the snow and evaporation from ponds. Results show that while vapor measurements are important in constraining surface fluxes, measurements of the source reservoirs (soil water, snow pack and standing liquid) offer stronger constraint on the surface water balance. Measurements of surface water are therefore essential in developing observational programs that seek to use isotopic data for flux attribution

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“…Their importance as a source for energy and momentum transport in the atmosphere is being increasingly recognized. Atmospheric processes with a wide range of scales, from synoptic scale to microscale, may be affected by the propagation of these waves, due to their extensive range of periods, wavelengths and phase speeds, and the amount of energy and momentum involved, which is eventually transferred into the mean flow (Nappo 2002) or dissipated in the form of turbulence (Einaudi and Finnigan 1993;Smedman et al 1995) and which enhances intermittent turbulent transport in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), especially if these waves become unstable and break. The general framework for the study of gravity waves is the linear wave theory, and the Taylor-Goldstein equation is their main governing expression (Gossard and Hooke 1975;Lindzen and Tung 1976).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much work has been published dealing with these issues from a variety of different approaches. Einaudi and Finnigan (1993) addressed the wave-turbulence coupling in a series of papers published during the 1980s and early 1990s (see Einaudi and Finnigan 1993 and references therein). Nappo et al (2008) studied the effects of an internal wave following a pressure jump on plume dispersion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Propagation and Effects of a Mesoscale Gravity Wave Over a Weakly-Stratified Nocturnal Boundary Layer During the SABLES2006 Field Campaign

Viana

Yagüe

Maqueda

2009

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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During the SABLES2006 (Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment in Spain 2006) field campaign, a gravity-wave episode was observed on the night of July 11 by the microbarometers deployed at the surface and on the 100-m tower. The high-amplitude, low-frequency periodic pressure fluctuations were very well correlated with the wind speed and direction. Data from neighbouring automatic stations showed that the gravity wave was not local, but long-lived and mesoscale. The propagation of the wave over the experimental site had significant effects on the structure of the weakly-stratified nocturnal boundary layer that developed that night: the stability increased, turbulent vertical motions were suppressed, the nocturnal low-level jet was disrupted, and periodic temperature fluctuations of amplitude up to 3-4 K were observed. In this work we analyse the different available data sources (tower data, RASS-SODAR, microbarometric, satellite imagery, automatic stations) to describe the phenomena in depth and to find a suitable explanation for the generation and propagation of the wave. The linear wave theory explains remarkably well most of the observations, and the wave parameters could be estimated by applying a wavelet-based technique to surface microbarometric measurements. We also analyse the vertical structure of the wave and find wave ducting conditions above the surface. Finally, by means of the multi-resolution flux decomposition, we analyse in detail the changes in vertical turbulent fluxes and the spectra of turbulent motions produced by the interaction between the gravity wave and the local flow.

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Wave-Turbulence Dynamics in the Stably Stratified Boundary Layer

Cited by 69 publications

References 0 publications

Analysis of turbulent exchange and coherent structures in the stable atmospheric boundary layer based on tower observations

Analysis of turbulent exchange and coherent structures in the stable atmospheric boundary layer based on tower observations

Determining water sources in the boundary layer from tall tower profiles of water vapor and surface water isotope ratios after a snowstorm in Colorado

Propagation and Effects of a Mesoscale Gravity Wave Over a Weakly-Stratified Nocturnal Boundary Layer During the SABLES2006 Field Campaign

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