Abstract
A conditional sampling technique using a multilevel scheme was applied to the detection of temperature and humidity microfronts and organized ejection/sweep motions under different atmospheric stabilities. Data were obtained with seven triaxial sonic anemometer/thermometers and three Lyman-alpha hygrometers within and above a deciduous forest. Both temperature and humidity microfronts were identified in unstable cases, but only humidity microfronts could be detected under neutral conditions. Inverted temperature ramps occurred under slightly stable conditions. Occasionally, wave-like patterns appeared within the canopy, seemingly coupled with inverse ramps occurring above the forest. The frequency of occurrence of scalar microfronts appears to have no clear dependence on atmospheric stability, and averages 74–84 s per cycle with a mode of about 50 s per cycle. However, the strength of ejections and sweeps, shown by the vertical velocity averaged within structures, was reduced by increasing atmospheric stability. Structures identified under different stabilities show many similarities in their patterns of scalar ramps, and associated velocity and surface pressure. Profiles of short-term averaged longitudinal velocity at different times during the microfront passage show that the air within the canopy was retarded and an intensified shear above the canopy occurred prior to the passage of the microfront. Results from the present conditional analysis strongly suggest an important role of shear instability in the formation of canopy coherent structure.
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Gao, W., Shaw, R.H. & U Paw, K.T. Conditional analysis of temperature and humidity microfronts and ejection/sweep motions within and above a deciduous forest. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 59, 35–57 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120685
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120685