Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Stable Boundary Layer in Complex Terrain. Part I: Linking Fluxes and Intermittency to an Average Stability Index

Luiz E. Medeiros Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York

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David R. Fitzjarrald Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York

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Print Publication:
01 Sep 2014
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-13-0345.1
Page(s):
2196–2215
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Abstract

Average heat and momentum fluxes observed by a network of surface stations during the Hudson Valley Ambient Meteorology Study (HVAMS) were found as functions of a spatially representative bulk Richardson number Ribr. Preferential sites were identified for the occurrence of strong turbulence under mesoscale stability conditions common to all stations. Locally sensed turbulence intermittency depends on the mesoscale flow stability. Nearly continuous turbulence with few long-lived intermittent events occurs when Ribr < Ricr, the critical gradient Richardson number. Less-continuous mixing associated with a larger number of events occurs when Ricr < Ribr < 5, with the weakest turbulence and fewer events observed for Ribr ≫ Ricr. It was found that the need to allow for extra mixing above the conventional critical bulk Richardson number in numerical weather prediction models is primarily a consequence of spatial averaging in a heterogeneous landscape and is secondarily the result of turbulence above Ricr at locations with “nonideal fetch.”

Current affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil.

Corresponding author address: Luiz E. Medeiros, Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Av. Roraima 1000, Santa Maria RS 97105-900, Brazil. E-mail: ducamobi@gmail.com

Abstract

Average heat and momentum fluxes observed by a network of surface stations during the Hudson Valley Ambient Meteorology Study (HVAMS) were found as functions of a spatially representative bulk Richardson number Ribr. Preferential sites were identified for the occurrence of strong turbulence under mesoscale stability conditions common to all stations. Locally sensed turbulence intermittency depends on the mesoscale flow stability. Nearly continuous turbulence with few long-lived intermittent events occurs when Ribr < Ricr, the critical gradient Richardson number. Less-continuous mixing associated with a larger number of events occurs when Ricr < Ribr < 5, with the weakest turbulence and fewer events observed for Ribr ≫ Ricr. It was found that the need to allow for extra mixing above the conventional critical bulk Richardson number in numerical weather prediction models is primarily a consequence of spatial averaging in a heterogeneous landscape and is secondarily the result of turbulence above Ricr at locations with “nonideal fetch.”

Current affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil.

Corresponding author address: Luiz E. Medeiros, Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Av. Roraima 1000, Santa Maria RS 97105-900, Brazil. E-mail: ducamobi@gmail.com
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Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

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