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The Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer over an Antarctic ice Sheet

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Abstract

Turbulence measurements up to 11-m height and longterm profile measurements up to 45-m height performed at the German Neumayer Station in Antarctica are used to investigate different components of turbulence closure schemes of the stable boundary layer. The results confirm the linear relationships for the universal functions of momentum and heat exchange in the stability range z/L < 0.8 ... 1, whereas the local scaling approach should be used above the surface layer. Furthermore, boundary-layer heights below 50 m are frequently observed at this coastal Antarctic site, mainly due to the influence of stability above the boundary layer. It is shown that the inclusion of this stability into parametrization relations is necessary to provide realistic equilibrium heights of the stable boundary layer. Two relations, based on different physical approaches, were successfully applied for the parametrization of the equilibrium height.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research, Research Department, Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A43, D-14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Dörthe Handorf

  2. Dept. of Micrometeorology, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, D-95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Thomas Foken

  3. Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, University of Karlsruhe, Kaiserstraße 12, D-76128, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Christoph Kottmeier

Authors
  1. Dörthe Handorf
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  2. Thomas Foken
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  3. Christoph Kottmeier
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Handorf, D., Foken, T. & Kottmeier, C. The Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer over an Antarctic ice Sheet. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 91, 165–189 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1001889423449

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