Abstract
The observations in weak wind stable conditions are scarce. The present study examines the observations from the Land Surface Processes Experiment (LASPEX) conducted at Anand, (Gujarat, India) during the year 1997–1998 to study the characteristics of surface layer under weak wind stable conditions. The observed surface fluxes are compared with those computed using Monin-Obukhov (M-O) similarity theory. The upper air observations and regional climatology are used to justify the persistence of weak wind conditions at Anand. The frequency of occurrence of weak wind stable conditions is observed to be around 67%. In 86% of the cases under weak wind conditions, bulk Richardson number (R iB ) is found to be larger than 0.2. The magnitude of surface fluxes computed from M-O similarity theory is shown to be smaller in comparison to those based on the observations in weak wind stable conditions. Surface fluxes computed using the empirical relations for the eddy diffusivities and drag and heat exchange coefficients are found to be comparable with those based on M-O similarity theory however these fluxes are under-predicted in comparison to the observations. The traditional M-O similarity theory is not able to simulate the observed fluxes well in weak wind stable conditions at Anand.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aggarwal, P., Yadav, A. K., Gulati, A., Raman, S., Rao, S., Singh, M. P., Nigam, S., and Reddy, N. (1995), Surface layer turbulence processes in low wind speeds over land, Atmos. Environ. 29, 2089–2098.
Andre, C., Bougeault, P., and Gourtorbe, J. P. (1990), Regional estimates of heat and evaporation fluxes over non-homogeneous terrain. Examples from the HAPBEX-MOBILIHY Programme, Boundary-Layer Meteor. 50, 77–108.
Arya, S. P. S., Introduction to Micrometeorology (Academic Press, 1988) 307 pp.
Arya, S. P. S. (1995), Modelling and parameterization of near-source diffusion in weak winds, J. Appl. Meteor. 34, 1112–1122.
Beljaars, A. C. M. and Holtslag, A. A. M. (1991), Flux parameterization over land surfaces for atmospheric models, J. Appl. Meteor. 30, 327–341.
Businger, J. A., Wyngaard, J. C., Izumi, Y., and Bradley, E. F. (1971), Flux profile relationships in the atmospheric surface layer, J. Atmos. Sci. 28, 181–189.
Clarke, R.H., Dyer, A.J., Brook, R.R., Reid, D. G., and Troup, A.J. (1971), The Wangara Experiment: Boundary Layer Data, Div. of Meteor. Physics Tech. Paper No. 19, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia. 341 pp.
Estournel, C., and Guedalia, D. (1987), A new parameterization of eddy diffusivities for nocturnal boundary-layer modelling, Boundary-Layer Meteor. 39, 191–203.
Garratt, J.R., The Atmospheric Boundary Layer (Cambridge University Press, U.K. 1992) 316 pp.
Goel, N. and Srivastva, H. N. (1990), Monsoon trough boundary layer experiment (MONTBLEX), Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 71, 1594–1600.
Goutorbe, J-P., Lebel, T., Dolman, A.J., Gash, Kabat, P., Kerr, Y. H., Monteny, B. A., Prince, S.D., Stricker, J. N. M., Tinga, A., and Wallace, J. S. (1997), An Overview of HAPEX-Sahel: A study in climate and desertifiction, J. Hydrol. 188–189, 4–7.
Izumi, Y. (1971), Kansas 1968 Field Program Data Report, Air Force Cambridge Res. Lab. AFCRL-72-0041. Environ. Res. Paper No. 379, Hanscom AFB, MA. 79 pp.
Kailas, S. V. and Goel, M. (1996), Planning MONTBLEX-An Overview, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Earth and Planet. Sci.) 5, 209–225.
Kaimal, J. C. and Finnigan, J.J., Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flows-Their Structure and Measurements (Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994) 289 pp.
Kaimal, J. C. and Wyngaard, J. C. (1990), The Kansas and Minnesota experiments, Boundary-Layer Meteor. 50, 31–47.
Kusuma, G. R. and Narasimha, R. (1996), Estimation of drag coefficient at low wind speeds over the monsoon trough land region during MONTBLEX-90, Geophys. Res. Lett. 23, 2617–2620.
Kusuma, G. R., Raman, S., and Prabhu, A. (1991), Boundary layer heights over the monsoon trough region during active and break phases, Boundary-Layer Meteor. 57, 129–138.
Kusuma, G. R., Raman, S., and Prabhu, A., and Narasimha, R. (1995), Turbulent heat flux variation over the monsoon trough region during MONTBLEX-90, Atmos. Environ. 29, 2113–2129.
Kunhikrishnan, P. K., Sen Gupta, K., Ramachandran, R., Prakash, J. W. J., and Nair, K. N. (1993), Structure of the thermal internal boundary layer over thumba, India, Ann. Geophys. 11, 52–60.
Mahrt, L., Sun, J., William, B., Delany, T., and Oncley, S. (1998), Nocturnal boundary layer regimes, Boundary-Layer Meteor. 88, 255–278.
Murthy, B.S., Parasnis, S.S., and Ek, M. (2004), Interactions of the land surface with atmospheric boundary layer: Case studies from LASPEX, Current Sci. 86, 25–30.
Nieuwstadt, F.T.M. (1984), The turbulent structure of the stable nocturnal boundary layer, J. Atmos. Sci. 41, 2202–2216.
Pandey, V., Kumar, M., and Shekh, A.M. (2001), Agroclimatic features of LASPEX sites, J. Agrometeorology 3, 39–55.
Prakash, J. W. J., Ramachandran, R., Nair, K. N., Sen Gupta, K., and Kunhikrishnan, P. K. (1992), On the structure of sea-breeze fronts observed near the coastlibe of Thumba, India, Boundary-Layer Meteor. 59, 111–124.
Prakash, J. W. J., Ramachandran, R., Nair, K. N., Sen Gupta, K., and Kunhikrishnan, P. K. (1993), On the spectral behavior of atmospheric boundary layer parameters at Thumba, India, Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc. 119, 187–192.
Press, W. H., Flannery, B. P., Teukolsky, S. A., and Vetterling, W. T., Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing (Cambridge University Press, 1986) 818 pp.
Ramachandran, R., Prakash, J.W. J., Sen Gupta, K., Nair, K. N., and Kunhikrishnan, P. K. (1994), Variability of surface roughness and turbulence intensities at a coastal site in India, Boundary-Layer Meteor. 70, 385–400.
Segendorf, J. F. and Dickson, C. R. (1974), Diffusion under low wind speed inversion conditions, NOAA Technical Memo-ERL-ARL-52, Air Resources Laboratories, Silver Spring.
Sellers, P. J., Hall, F. G., Asrar, G., Strebel, D. E., and Murphy, R. E. (1992), An Overview of the First International Sattelite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) Field Experiment (FIFE), J. Geophy. Res. 97, 18345–18373.
Sharan Maithili, Gopalakrishnan, S. G., McNider, R. T., and Singh, M. P. (1996a), Bhopal gas leak: A numerical investigation of prevailing meteorological conditions, J. App. Meteor. 3, 1637–1656.
Sharan Maithili and Gopalakrishnan, S. G. (2003), Mathematical Modelling of Diffusion and Transport of Pollutants in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Pure Appl. Geophys. 160, 357–394.
Sharan Maithili, McNider, R. T., Gopalakrishnan, S. G., and Singh, M. P (1995), Bhopal gas leak: A numerical simulation of episodic dispersion, Atmos. Environ. 29, 2061–2070.
Sharan Maithili, Rama Krishna, T.V.B.P.S., and Aditi. (2003a), On the bulk Richardson Number and flux-profile relations in an atmospheric surface layer under weak wind stable conditions, Atmos. Environ. 37, 3681–3691.
Sharan Maithili, Rama Krishna, T.V.B.P.S., and Aditi (2003b), Surface Layer Characteristics in the Stable Boundary Layer with Strong and Weak Winds, Boundary-Layer Meteor. 108, 257–288.
Sharan Maithili, Singh, M. P., Yadav, A. K., Aggarwal, P., and Nigam, S. (1996b), A Mathematical Model for Dispersion of Air Pollutants in Low Wind Conditions, Atmos. Environ. 30, 1209–1220.
Sheikh, A.M. (1997), Agroclimatic Atlas of Gujarat, Gujarat Agricultural University, Anand, India. (AQ: please update the publisher?)
Sorbjan, Z., Structure of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1989) 317 pp.
Tjemkes, S. A. and Duynkerke, P. G. (1989), The nocturnal boundary layer: Model Calculations Compared with Observations, J. Appl. Meteor. 28, 161–175.
Vernekar, K. G., Sinha, S., Sadani, L.K., Sivaramkrishnan, S., Parasnis, S.S., Brij Mohan, Saxena, S., Dharamraj, T., Patil, M. N., Pillai, J. S., Murthy, B. S., Debaje, S. B., and Bagavatsingh, A. (2003), An overview of the Land Surface Processes Experiment (LASPEX) over a semi-arid region of India, Boundary-Layer Meteor. 106, 561–572.
Wyngaard, J. C. and Cote, O. R. (1971), The budget of turbulent kinetic energy and temperature variance in the atmospheric surface layer, J. Atmos. Sci. 28, 190–201.
Wyngaard, J. C., Cote, O. R., and Izumi, Y. (1971), Local free convection, similarity and budgets of shear stress and heat flux, J. Atmos. Sci. 28, 1171–1182.
Wyngaard, J. C. and Cote, O. R. (1972), Cospectral similarity in the atmospheric surface layer, Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc. 98, 590–603.
Yadav, A.K., Raman, S., and Sharan Maithili (1996), Surface layer turbulence and spectra and eddy dissipation during low winds in tropics. Boundary-Layer Meteor. 79, 205–223.
Yadav, A.K., Raman, S., and Niyogi, D. (2003), A note on estimation of eddy diffusivity and dissipation length in low winds over a tropical urban terrain, Pure Appl. Geophys. 160, 395–404.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sharan, A., Sharan, M. (2007). Analysis of Weak Wind Stable Conditions from the Observations of the Land Surface Processes Experiment at Anand in India. In: Sharan, M., Raman, S. (eds) Atmospheric and Oceanic. Pageoph Topical Volumes. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8493-7_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8493-7_20
Received:
Accepted:
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Basel
Print ISBN: 978-3-7643-8492-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-7643-8493-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)