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Height of the Mixing Layer under Conditions of Temperature Inversions: Experimental Data and Model Estimates

  • ACOUSTOOPTICAL AND RADIOOPTICAL METHODS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
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Abstract

Results of comparing model estimates of the mixing layer height in the boundary layer of the atmosphere under conditions of ground inversions of air temperatures with experimental estimates of the height of the intense turbulent heat exchange layer are presented. Experimental data necessary for these estimates are obtained using a temperature-wind complex including a meteorological acoustic locator (sodar), a meteorological temperature profiler, and ultrasonic anemometer-thermometers. It is shown that the mixing layer height calculated by the model formulas under conditions of ground inversions of temperature is as a rule significantly less than the height of the turbulent heat exchange layer.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The experimental data were obtained using the temperature-wind complex which is part of the Common Use Center “Atmosphere” of Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 634055, Tomsk, Russia

    S. L. Odintsov, V. A. Gladkikh, A. P. Kamardin & I. V. Nevzorova

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  1. S. L. Odintsov
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Correspondence to S. L. Odintsov.

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Translated by A. Nikol’skii

APPENDIX

APPENDIX

Calculations of the mixing layer height hS by formulas (1) and (5) require satisfying the condition Q < 0 W/m2 (first of all, for calculations by formula (5)). In all calculations we used results of measurements of the heat flux Q at a height of 10 m. However, in the analysis of experimental data, it was found that the antiphase effect of fluxes Q was observed in January 2021 in the ground layer at close levels of 10 and 5 m (the second Meteo-2 UMS simultaneously operated at that height). It means the following: the condition Q(10) > 0, which excludes the possibility of calculating hS by formulas (1) and (5), can be satisfied at a height of 10 m and, while the fulfilment of the condition Q(5) < 0, which admits calculations by these formulas, is quite probable at a height of 5 m. Figure A1 shows fluxes Q at levels of 5 and 10 m in July 2020 and in January 2021 as an example. According to Figs. A1a and A1c, the antiphase of the fluxes at levels of 5 and 10 m in January 2021 lasted for a rather long time.

Fig. A1.
figure 8

Vertical turbulent heat fluxes in (a) January 2021 and (b) July 2020 at heights of 5 (stars) and 10 m (solid curve), as well as (c, d) their relation.

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In summer, fluxes Q at levels of 5 and 10 m can be treated as cophased: the signs and magnitudes of the fluxes at these levels are generally matched. A typical example is Figs. A1b and A1d which present results for July 2020.

Preliminary analysis of episodes with the antiphase of heat fluxes [33] made is possible to clarify that the difference in signs of Q at the levels of 5 and 10 m in winter is caused by the influence of negative correlation of air temperature pulsations between the heights of 5 and 10 m, while the correlation coefficient of vertical wind pulsations is in general positive. Note that situations with a time-stable antiphase of the fluxes Q at heights of 5 and 10 m at the BEC observation point, Institute of Atmospheric Optics, in the cold season are not obligatory. In some winters (for the period from 2016), they were almost absent. A more detailed analysis of the antiphase of turbulent heat fluxes is planned at a later stage.

The material presented in the Appendix is intended to pay attention to the necessity of taking into account possible particularities of turbulent heat fluxes in the ground layer of the atmosphere when they are used in model estimates of the mixing layer height under conditions of stable ABL stratification. The question of at what height the turbulent flux Q should be taken in winter for calculations of the mixing layer height by formulas (1) and (5) is still unanswered for us. In this work, it was decided to use values of Q at a height of 10 m for all seasons of the year.

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Odintsov, S.L., Gladkikh, V.A., Kamardin, A.P. et al. Height of the Mixing Layer under Conditions of Temperature Inversions: Experimental Data and Model Estimates. Atmos Ocean Opt 35, 721–731 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1024856022060173

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