Abstract
The indirect dissipation technique is used to estimate 1-min averages of friction velocity u *in the surface layer over the tropical ocean. These estimates are compared to estimates of u *obtained using a drag coefficient and the relative difference between the two is examined in relation to stability and averaging time. Plumes and downdrafts are found to be responsible for an anomalous behavior of the drag coefficient estimates. Certain factors relating to plume properties, derived using conditional sampling as described in Khalsa (1980), are shown to be related to the variance between the two estimates of friction velocity. An investigation into the effects of increasing the averaging time reveals that plume spacing, which is dependent on stability, and the mean wind speed determine the minimum time for smoothing the influence of plumes and downdrafts.
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Department of Atmospheric Sciences contribution number 513.
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Khalsa, J.S. The limitations on stress parameterization imposed by intermittency in turbulent flow. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 19, 3–17 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120307
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120307