Abstract
Velocity and signal intensity data during stable conditions in the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) were obtained with a minisodar on two consecutive nights with similar mean conditions. There was little turbulence activity during the first night, but during the second night, continuous background Kelvin-Helmholtz waves and instabilities having a 2-min period grew and penetrated above the mean NBL height at approximately 60-min intervals. Enhanced ozone concentrations at the surface occurred during the active periods even though most mean meteorological parameters were unchanged. Vertical profiles of vertical velocity standard deviation, dissipation rate, and temperature variance destruction rate in the NBL were measured and analyzed separately according to levels of turbulence activity. Well-defined differences between inactive and active periods of a factor of two to four were found for each parameter. The temperature structure parameter flux was large and in opposite directions in the upper and lower part of the NBL during active periods of turbulence, but small during other periods.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brown, E. H. and Hall, F. F.: 1978, ‘Advances in Atmospheric Acoustics’, Rev. Geoph. Space Phys. 16, 47–109.
Businger, J. A.: 1973, ‘Workshop on Micrometeorology’, in Duane Haugen (ed.), American Meteorol. Soc., pp. 67–98.
Coulter, R. L. and Wesely, M. L.: 1980, ‘Estimates of Surface Heat Flux from Sodar and Laser Scintillation Measurements in the Unstable Boundary Layer’, J. Appl. Meteorol. 19, 1209–1222.
Coulter, R. L.: 1981, ‘Nocturnal Wind Profile Characteristics’, Proceedings, International Symposium on Acoustic Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Oceans, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, VI-1-VI-11.
Coulter, R. L. and Martin, T. J.: 1986a, ‘Results from a High Power, High Frequency Sodar’, Atmos. Res. 20, 257–270.
Coulter, R. L. and Martin, T. J.: 1986b, ‘Investigations of the Convective Planetary Boundary Layer Using a Multiple Frequency Sodar’, Atmos. Res. 20, 225–234.
Hooke, W. H., Hall, F. F. Jr., and Gossard, E. E.: 1972, ‘Observed Generation of an Atmospheric Gravity Wave by Shear Instability in the Mean Flow of the Planetary Boundary Layer’, Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 5, 29–41.
Gaynor, J. E.: 1975, ‘Acoustic Doppler Measurements of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Velocity Structure Functions and Energy Dissipation Rates’, J. Appl. Meteorol. 16, 148–155.
Kristensen, L.: 1978, ‘On Sodar Techniques’, Risø National Laboratory, Risø, report No. 381, 48 pp.
Kristensen, L. and Gaynor, J.: 1986, ‘Errors in Second Moments Estimated from Monostatic Doppler Sodar Winds, Part I: Theoretical Description’, J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. 3, 523–528.
Lalas, D. P., Einaudi, F., and Fua, D.: 1976, ‘The Destabilizing Effect of the Ground on Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves in the Atmosphere’, J. Atmos. Sci. 1, 55–69.
Mastrantonio, G. and Fiocco, G.: 1982, ‘Accuracy of Wind Velocity Determination with Doppler Sodars’, J. Appl. Meteorol. 21, 823–830.
Mousley, T. J. and Cole, R. S.: 1979, ‘High Frequency Atmospheric Acoustic Sounders’, Atmos. Environ. 11, 347–350.
Neff, W. D.: 1975, ‘Quantitative Evaluation of Acoustic Echoes from the Planetary Boundary Layer’, Tech. Rep. ERL 322-WPL 38, NOAA, Boulder, CO, 34 pp.
Neff, W. D.: 1980, ‘An Observational and Numerical Study of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Overlying the East Antarctic Ice Sheet’, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 272 pp.
Neff, W. D., and Coulter, R. L.: 1986 ‘Chapter 13, Acoustic Remote Sensing’, in Probing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer, American Meteorol. Society, Boston, Massachusetts, pp. 201–235.
Sisterson, D. L. and Frenzen, P.: 1978, ‘Nocturnal Boundary-Layer Wind Maxima and the Problem of Wind Power Assessment’, Environ. Sci. Tech. 12, 218–221.
Spizzichino, A.: 1974, ‘Discussion of the Operating Conditions of a Doppler Sodar’, J. Geophys. Res. 79, 5585–5591.
Tatarskii, V. I.: 1961, Wave Propagation in a Turbulent Medium, translated from Russian by R. A. Silverman, Dover, New York, 285 pp.
Thomson, D. W., Coulter, R. L., and Warhaft, Z.: 1978, ‘Simultaneous Measurements of Turbulence in the Lower Atmosphere Using Sodar and Aircraft’, J. Appl. Meteorol. 17, 723–734.
Turner, J. S.: 1973, Buoyancy Effects in Fluids, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 367 pp.
Weill, A., Klapisz, C., and Baudin, F.: 1986, ‘The CRPE Minisodar: Applications in Micrometeorology and in Physics of Precipitations’, Atmos. Res. 20, 317–335.
Wyngaard, J. C.: 1975, ‘Modeling the Planetary Boundary Layer: Extension to the Stable Case’, Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 9, 441–460.
Wyngaard, J. C., Izumi, J., and Collins, Jr, S. A.: 1971, ‘Behavior of the Refractive Index Structure Parameter Near the Ground’, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 61, 1646–1650.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Coulter, R.L. A case study of turbulence in the stable nocturnal boundary layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 52, 75–91 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123179
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123179