Abstract
An improved first-order closure approximation is developed for the non-local ‘transilient turbulence’ parameterization. Instead of using Richardson numbers, this improved approach uses non-local approximations to the shear, buoyancy, storage, and dissipation terms of the turbulence kinetic energy equation to parameterize the turbulent mixing potential between every combination of grid points in a 1-D model of the atmosphere. The original (n 2 − n) degrees of freedom associated with the independent transilient matrix coefficients for a model of n grid points is thus reduced to four degrees of freedom associated with the four free parameters.
The resulting parameterization is applied to three consecutive case-study days of boundary-layer data acquired near the Cabauw tower in The Netherlands. The first day is used for sensitivity tests to select the best values of the four free parameters. The remaining two days, used as independent tests, demonstrate that realistic entraining mixed layers and nocturnal boundary layers form in the model without explicitly parameterizing such boundary layers. Simulations are also presented for two idealized cases: ‘dry’ stratocumulus-induced convection and a neutral boundary layer.
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Work performed while a visiting scientist at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.
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Stull, R.B., Driedonks, A.G.M. Applications of the transilient turbulence parameterization to atmospheric boundary-layer simulations. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 40, 209–239 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00117449
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00117449