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An Idealized Mean Wind Profile for the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

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Abstract

We test a flexible, idealized mean wind profile for the loweratmosphere that can easily be matched to whatever windobservations may be available. Its intended function is to providea `best guess' wind profile from limited observations, e.g., foruse in dispersion models, and to this end, following earlierauthors, we have matched a Monin–Obukhov layer to a baroclinic Ekman layer.

To demonstrate the flexibility of the two-layer wind profile, weoptimize its free parameters to provide best interpolative fits toa sample of multi-level wind profiles. These include model windprofiles extracted from the Canadian Global EnvironmentalMulti-scale weather model (GEM), as well as experimental profilesfrom the Wangara experiment, and from an over-ocean dispersionexperiment (LROD). In most cases the two-layer profile fit issatisfactory.

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Wilson, J.D., Flesch, T.K. An Idealized Mean Wind Profile for the Atmospheric Boundary Layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 110, 281–299 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026044025803

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