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Horizontal Scale of Roughness Variations for Realistic Landscapes

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Abstract

A method is described to infer the horizontal scale of roughness variations from land-use maps, for use in flux aggregation schemes designed to account for sub-grid scale terrain heterogeneity in numerical models of the atmosphere. Based on simple statistical-geometrical considerations, it is shown that this horizontal scale is inversely proportional to edge density, which can be readily derived from high-resolution land-use maps. The method is demonstrated for a highly heterogeneous landscape in northern Belgium, the resulting length scale values approximately ranging between 200 and 1500 m. Finally, the extension towards satellite imagery and coarse land-use data is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Vito), Mol, Belgium

    Koen De Ridder

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  1. Koen De Ridder
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De Ridder, K. Horizontal Scale of Roughness Variations for Realistic Landscapes. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 109, 49–57 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025407819823

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025407819823

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