Abstract
This study presents turbulence characteristics of the atmospheric surface layer (ASL) observed during March 2015 to February 2016 over a tropical coastal site in Goa (15.46°N, 73.83°E), India. The primary datasets utilized are the 3D wind components and sonic temperature from sensors mounted on a 32-m meteorological tower at 10 and 20 m heights respectively. Eddy correlation technique has been adopted to study turbulence characteristics and is investigated under the framework of Monin–Obukhov Similarity Theory (MOST). Results revealed that normalized wind variances (\({\upsigma }_{\mathrm{i}=\mathrm{u},\mathrm{ v},\mathrm{ w}}/{\mathrm{u}}_{*}\)) follow the ‘1/3’ power law in highly unstable and stable conditions and approach constant values close to near-neutral conditions. In the neutral limit, it is found that \({\upsigma }_{\mathrm{u}}/{\mathrm{u}}_{* }>{\upsigma }_{\mathrm{v}}/{\mathrm{u}}_{* }>{\upsigma }_{\mathrm{w}}/{\mathrm{u}}_{*}\). The normalized temperature variances (\({\upsigma }_{\mathrm{T}}/{\mathrm{T}}_{*}\)) followed \({\left(\mathrm{z}/\mathrm{L}\right) }^{-1/3}\) during unstable conditions and approach a constant value in the stable limit. The correlation coefficients for momentum (heat) flux with stability were small (high) under strong unstable and stable conditions. Also, the values of momentum flux increased as it approaches neutral conditions which are consistent with studies reported over coastal/urban locations.
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Acknowledgements
This study has been conducted under Project Network of Observatories for Boundary Layer Experiments (NOBLE) as a part of the Geosphere-Biosphere Programme funded by the Space Physics Lab of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO-SPL). The authors acknowledge the Vice-Chancellor of Goa University for rendering the facilities to successfully conduct this experiment. Valuable support extended by Dr. Siva Kumar Reddy Nagi Reddy from Space Physics Lab of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC-SPL) is greatly acknowledged. Author’s express their sincere gratitude to all the anonymous reviewers for contributing significantly for improving this manuscript.
Funding
The study has been funded under the project ‘Network of Observatories for Boundary Layer Experiments’ (NOBLE) funded by the Space Physics Lab of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO-SPL) with project sanction number NO.DS_2B-13015/12019.
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Salim, S.N., Menon, H.B., Kumar, N.V.P.K. et al. Study of micrometeorological characteristics of the atmospheric surface layer over a tropical coastal station in Goa. Meteorol Atmos Phys 135, 3 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-022-00940-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-022-00940-3