Abstract
A generalized numerical version of the ageostrophic method by Lettau and Hoeber (1964) for calculating the vertical distribution of stress has been tested. The method has the advantage that no special claims regarding the shape of the wind profile have to be made. Input parameters are wind values and their derivatives at several heights. The method consists in solving a system of the horizontal equations of motion for the Planetary Boundary Layer. The solutions are profiles of the momentum flux and profiles of the generalized frictionless wind. Tests with theoretical profiles of wind and stress show the demands which have to be put on the windprofile. The system is ill-conditioned. To obtain reasonable results a) wide spacing between the height levels is necessary, b) the windshear has to be known with high accuracy. Application to measured wind profiles (Wangara data) show the limits of this method.
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Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, DFVLR, Oberpfaffenhofen, F.R.G.
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Schmitz-Peiffer, A., Heinemann, D. & Hasse, L. The ageostrophic method — An update. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 39, 269–281 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00116122
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00116122