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Humidity fluctuations in the marine boundary layer measured at a coastal site with an infrared humidity sensor

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Abstract

An extensive set of humidity turbulence data has been analyzed from 22-m height in the marine boundary layer. Fluctuations of humidity were measured by an “OPHIR”, an infrared humidity sensor with a 10 Hz scanning frequency and humidity spectra were produced. The shapes of the normalized spectra follow the established similarity functions. However the 10-min time averaged measurements underestimate the value of the absolute humidity. The importance of the humidity flux contribution in a marine environment in calculating the Obukhov stability length has been studied. Deviations from Monin-Obukhov similarity theory seem to be connected to a low correlation between humidity and temperature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Fisica dell'Atmosfera, I.F.A.-C.N.R., P.le L.Sturzo 31 00144, Rome, Italy

    Anna M. Sempreviva

  2. Risø National Laboratory, PO BOX 49, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Sven-Erik Gryning

Authors
  1. Anna M. Sempreviva
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  2. Sven-Erik Gryning
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Sempreviva, A.M., Gryning, SE. Humidity fluctuations in the marine boundary layer measured at a coastal site with an infrared humidity sensor. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 77, 331–352 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123531

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123531

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