Cover Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

  • Angevine, W. M., R. J. Doviak, and Z. Sorbjan, 1994: Remote sensing of vertical velocity variance and surface heat flux in a convective boundary layer. J. Appl. Meteor.,33, 977–983.

  • Deardorff, J. W., 1972: Numerical investigations of neutral and unstable planetary boundary layers. J. Atmos. Sci.,29, 91–115.

  • ——, and G. E. Willis, 1985: Further results from a laboratory model of the convective boundary layer. Bound.-Layer Meteor.,32, 205–236.

  • Doviak, R. J., and M. Berger, 1980: Turbulence and waves in the optically clear planetary boundary layer resolved by dual-Doppler radars. Radio Sci.,15, 297–317.

  • Eaton, F. D., S. A. McLaughlin, and J. R. Hines, 1995: A new frequency-modulated continuous wave radar for studying planetary boundary layer morphology. Radio Sci.,30, 75–88.

  • Ecklund, W. L., D. A. Carter, and B. B. Balsley, 1988: A UHF wind profiler for the boundary layer: Brief description and initial results. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol.,5, 432–441.

  • ——, P. E. Johnston, W. L. Clark, J. M. Warnock, T. E. VanZandt, and K. S. Gage, 1996: Scattering from clear air, precipitation, and biological targets: Multiple frequency profiler studies. Proc. Seventh MST Radar Workshop, Hilton Head Island, SC, Solar–Terresterial Energy Program, 32–35.

  • ——, C. R. Williams, P. E. Johnston, and K. S. Gage, 1999: A 3-GHz profiler for precipitating cloud studies. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol.,16, 309–322.

  • Frehlich, R., S. M. Hannon, and S. W. Henderson, 1998: Coherent Doppler lidar measurements of wind field statistics. Bound.-Layer Meteor.,86, 233–256.

  • Gossard, E. E., 1990: Radar research on the atmospheric boundary layer. Radar in Meteorology, D. Atlas, Ed., Amer. Meteor. Soc., 477–527.

  • ——, R. B. Chadwick, W. D. Neff, and K. P. Moran, 1982: The use of ground-based Doppler radars to measure gradients, fluxes, and structure parameters in elevated layers. J. Appl. Meteor.,21, 211–226.

  • Hardy, K. R., and H. Ottersten, 1969: Radar investigations of convective patterns in the clear atmosphere. J. Atmos. Sci.,26, 666–672.

  • Khanna, S., and J. C. Wyngaard, 1997: Local refractive index structure-function parameter and its application to wave propagation. Proc. 1996 Battlespace Atmospherics Conf., San Diego, CA, NRaD Tech Doc. 2938, 433–440.

  • ——, and J. G. Brasseur, 1998: Three dimensional buoyancy- and shear-induced local structure of the atmospheric boundary layer. J. Atmos. Sci.,55, 710–743.

  • Kolmogorov, A. N., 1941: The local structure of turbulence in incompressible viscous fluid for very large Reynolds numbers. C. R. Seances Acad. Sci.,30, 301–305.

  • ——, 1962: A refinement of previous hypotheses concerning the local structure of turbulence in a viscous incompressible fluid at high Reynolds number. J. Fluid Mech.,13, 82–85.

  • Konrad, T. G., 1970: The dynamics of the convective process in clear air as seen by radar. J. Atmos. Sci.,27, 1138–1147.

  • Kropfli, R. A., and P. H. Hildebrand, 1980: Doppler radar measurements in the planetary boundary layer during PHOENIX. Preprints, 19th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Miami Beach, FL, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 637–644.

  • Lenschow, D. H., and B. B. Stankov, 1986: Length scales in the convective boundary layer. J. Atmos. Sci.,43, 1198–1209.

  • Mason, P. J., 1989: Large-eddy simulation of the convective atmospheric boundary layer. J. Atmos. Sci.,46, 1492–1516.

  • Mead, J. B., G. Hopcraft, S. J. Frasier, B. D. Pollard, C. D. Cherry, D. H. Schaubert, and R. E. McIntosh, 1998: A volume-imaging radar wind profiler for atmopsheric boundary-layer turbulence studies. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol.,15, 849–859.

  • Moeng, C. H., 1984: A large eddy simulation model for the study of planetary boundary-layer turbulence: J. Atmos. Sci.,41, 2052–2062.

  • ——, and J. C. Wyngaard, 1984: Statistics of conservative scalars in the convective boundary layer. J. Atmos. Sci.,41, 3161–3169.

  • Obukhov, A. M., 1962: Some specific features of atmospheric turbulence. J. Fluid Mech.,13, 77–81.

  • Ottersten, H., 1969: Atmospheric structure and radar backscattering in clear air. Radio Sci.,4, 1179–1193.

  • Peltier, L. J., and J. C. Wyngaard, 1995: Structure-function parameters in the convective boundary layer from large eddy simulation. J. Atmos. Sci.,52, 3641–3660.

  • Pollard, B. D., S. Khanna, S. J. Frazier, J. C. Wyngaard, D. W. Thomson, and R. E. McIntosh, 1998: Convective boundary layer features from a volume-imaging radar and large-eddy simulations. Proc. 1997 Battlespace Atmospherics Conf., San Diego, CA, NRaD Tech Doc. 2989, 349–357.

  • Richter, J. H., 1969: High resolution tropospheric radar sounding. Radio Sci.,4, 1261–1268.

  • Schmidt, H., and U. Schumann, 1989: Coherent structure of the convective boundary layer derived from large-eddy simulations. J. Fluid Mech.,200, 511–562.

  • Stull, R. B., 1988: An Introduction to Boundary Layer Meteorology. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 666 pp.

  • Tatarskii, V. I., 1971: The Effects of the Turbulent Atmosphere on Wave Propagation. Kefer Press, 472 pp. [NTIS TT 68-50464.].

  • Tennekes, H., and J. L. Lumley, 1972: A First Course in Turbulence. The MIT Press, 300 pp.

  • Ulaby, F. T., R. K. Moore, and A. K. Fung, 1982: Microwave Remote Sensing (Active and Passive). Vol. 2. Artech House, 2162 pp.

  • Wesely, M. L., 1976: The combined effect of temperature and humidity fluctuations on refractive index. J. Appl. Meteor.,15, 43–49.

  • White, A. B., C. W. Fairall, and D. W. Thomson, 1991: Radar observations of humidity variability in and above the marine atmospheric boundary layer. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol.,8, 639–658.

  • Willis, G. E., and J. W. Deardorff, 1974: A laboratory model of the unstable planetary boundary layer. J. Atmos. Sci.,31, 1297–1307.

  • Wilson, D. K., J. C. Wyngaard, and D. I. Havelock, 1996: The effect of turbulent intermittency on scattering into an acoustic shadow zone. J. Acoust. Soc. Amer.,99, 3393–3400.

  • Wilson, J. W., T. M. Weckwerth, J. Vivekanandan, R. M. Wakimoto, and R. W. Russell, 1994: Boundary layer clear-air radar echoes:Origin of echoes and accuracy of derived winds. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol.,11, 1184–1206.

  • Wyngaard, J. C., and M. A. LeMone, 1980: Behavior of the refractive index structure parameter in the entraining convective boundary layer. J. Atmos. Sci.,37, 1573–1585.

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 0 0 0
Full Text Views 113 113 4
PDF Downloads 10 10 5
Editorial Type:
Article

Local Structure of the Convective Boundary Layer from a Volume-Imaging Radar

Brian D. Pollard1, Samir Khanna2, Stephen J. Frasier3, John C. Wyngaard4, Dennis W. Thomson4, and Robert E. McIntosh5
View More View Less
  • 1 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts
  • | 2 Department of Meteorology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
  • | 3 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts
  • | 4 Department of Meteorology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
  • | 5 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts
Print Publication:
01 Jul 2000
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2000)057<2281:LSOTCB>2.0.CO;2
Page(s):
2281–2296
© Get Permissions Rent on DeepDyve
Restricted access

Abstract

The local structure and evolution of the convective boundary layer (CBL) are studied through measurements obtained with a volume-imaging radar, the turbulent eddy profiler (TEP). TEP has the unique ability to image the temporal and spatial evolution of both the velocity field and the local refractive index structure-function parameter, C̃2n. Volumetric images consisting of several thousand pixels are typically formed in as little as 1 s. Spatial resolutions are approximately 30 m by 30 m by 30 m.

CBL data obtained during an August 1996 deployment at Rocks Springs, Pennsylvania, are presented. Measurements of the vertical C̃2n profile are shown, exhibiting the well-known bright band near the capping inversion at zi, as well as intermittent plumes of high C̃2n. Horizontal profiles show coherent 100-m-scale C̃2n and vertical velocity (w) structures that correspond to converging horizontal velocity vectors. To quantify the scales of structures, the vertical and streamwise horizontal correlation distances are calculated within the TEP field of view.

To study the statistics and scales of larger structures, effective volumes larger than the TEP field of view are constructed through Taylor’s hypothesis. Statistics of C̃2n and w time series are compared to an appropriately scaled large eddy simulation (LES). While w time series comparisons agree very well, the LES C̃2n predictions agree only with some of the measured data. Finally, the scales of C̃2n structures in the TEP time series measurements are calculated and compared to the scales in the LES spatial domain. Good agreement is found only near the capping inversion layer, the area of largest structures. This study highlights the unique capabilities of the TEP instrument, and shows what are believed to be the first statistical comparisons of measured C̃2n data with LES derived results.

* Current affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.

+ Current affiliation: Telecommunications Products Division, Corning Inc., Corning, New York.

Corresponding author address: Stephen J. Frasier, Knowles Engineering Building, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003.

Email: frasier@ecs.umass.edu

Abstract

The local structure and evolution of the convective boundary layer (CBL) are studied through measurements obtained with a volume-imaging radar, the turbulent eddy profiler (TEP). TEP has the unique ability to image the temporal and spatial evolution of both the velocity field and the local refractive index structure-function parameter, C̃2n. Volumetric images consisting of several thousand pixels are typically formed in as little as 1 s. Spatial resolutions are approximately 30 m by 30 m by 30 m.

CBL data obtained during an August 1996 deployment at Rocks Springs, Pennsylvania, are presented. Measurements of the vertical C̃2n profile are shown, exhibiting the well-known bright band near the capping inversion at zi, as well as intermittent plumes of high C̃2n. Horizontal profiles show coherent 100-m-scale C̃2n and vertical velocity (w) structures that correspond to converging horizontal velocity vectors. To quantify the scales of structures, the vertical and streamwise horizontal correlation distances are calculated within the TEP field of view.

To study the statistics and scales of larger structures, effective volumes larger than the TEP field of view are constructed through Taylor’s hypothesis. Statistics of C̃2n and w time series are compared to an appropriately scaled large eddy simulation (LES). While w time series comparisons agree very well, the LES C̃2n predictions agree only with some of the measured data. Finally, the scales of C̃2n structures in the TEP time series measurements are calculated and compared to the scales in the LES spatial domain. Good agreement is found only near the capping inversion layer, the area of largest structures. This study highlights the unique capabilities of the TEP instrument, and shows what are believed to be the first statistical comparisons of measured C̃2n data with LES derived results.

* Current affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.

+ Current affiliation: Telecommunications Products Division, Corning Inc., Corning, New York.

Corresponding author address: Stephen J. Frasier, Knowles Engineering Building, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003.

Email: frasier@ecs.umass.edu

Save