Abstract
Turbulence structures in the katabatic flow in the stable boundary layer (SBL) over the ice sheet are studied for two case studies with high wind speeds during the aircraft-based experiment KABEG (Katabatic wind and boundary layer front experiment around Greenland) in the area of southern Greenland. The aircraft data allow the direct determination of turbulence structures in the katabatic flow. For the first time, this allows the study of the turbulence structure in the katabatic wind system over the whole boundary layer and over a horizontal scale of 80 km.
The katabatic flow is associated with a low-level jet (LLJ), with maximum wind speeds up to 25 m s-1. Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and the magnitude of the turbulent fluxes show a strong decrease below the LLJ. Sensible heat fluxes at the lowest level have values down to -25 W m-2. Latent heat fluxes are small in general, but evaporation values of up to +13 W m-2 are also measured. Turbulence spectra show a well-defined inertial subrange and a clear spectral gap around 250-m wavelength. While turbulence intensity decreases monotonously with height above the LLJ for the upper part of the slope, high spectral intensities are also present at upper levels close to the ice edge. Normalized fluxes and variances generally follow power-law profiles in the SBL.
Terms of the TKE budget are computed from the aircraft data. The TKE destruction by the negative buoyancy is found to be very small, and the dissipation rate exceeds the dynamical production.
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Heinemann, G. Aircraft-Based Measurements Of Turbulence Structures In The Katabatic Flow Over Greenland. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 103, 49–81 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014537229865
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014537229865