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Bulk characteristics of heat transfer in the unstable, baroclinic atmospheric boundary layer

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Abstract

Field data for the unstable, baroclinic, atmospheric boundary layer over land and over the sea are considered in the context of a general similarity theory of vertical heat transfer. The dependence of δθ/θ* upon logarithmic functions of h c z T and stability (through the similarity function C) is clearly demonstrated in the data. The combined data support the conventional formulation for the heat transfer coefficient δθ/θ* when,

  1. (a)

    the surface scaling length is z T (« z 0), the height at which the surface temperature over land is obtained by extrapolation of the temperature profile

  2. (b)

    the height scale is taken as the depth of convective mixing h c

  3. (c)

    the temperature profile equivalent of the von Karman constant is taken as 0.41

  4. (d)

    areal average, rather than single point, values of δθ are employed in strongly baroclinic conditions. No significant effect of baroclinity or the height scale ratio as proposed in the general theory is found. Variations in C about a linear regression relation against stability are most probably due to uncertainties in the areal surface temperature and to experimental errors in general temperature measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Physics, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia

    J. R. Garratt & R. J. Francey

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  1. J. R. Garratt
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  2. R. J. Francey
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Garratt, J.R., Francey, R.J. Bulk characteristics of heat transfer in the unstable, baroclinic atmospheric boundary layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 15, 399–421 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120603

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