Abstract
A similarity theory is developed to describe diffusion of a cloud of passive material in a neutral barotropic steady-state boundary layer of the Earth's atmosphere. It is suggested that a characteristic length scale U */f is relevant in the diffusion process when the diffusing cloud mixes well into the depth of the boundary layer. For an atmosphere having an effective upper bound for vertical spread, an expression for the trajectory of the centroid of the diffusing cloud is derived. The theoretically computed vertical spread is compared with experimental data on diffusion of tracer cloud over rough (urban) and smooth terrains.
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Sitaraman, V., Shirvaikar, V.V. Lagrangian similarity theory applied to diffusion in the planetary boundary layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 5, 419–427 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123489
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123489