Abstract
A method is given to calculate the surface layer parameters: u * (friction velocity) and T * (temperature scale) from wind speed and temperature profiles.
The problem is formulated as a minimization of a least-square function, which is constructed from the difference between the measured profiles and the well-known Kansas profile relations.
The wind speed and temperature profiles are treated simultaneously in this procedure. All the available wind speed and temperature measurements are used in order to reduce the effect of measurement errors.
Estimates of the goodness of fit and confidence limits on the estimated parameters are discussed.
The method has been applied to data obtained during experiments in a wide variety of conditions: Project Prairie Grass, experiments over Lake Flevo and experiments at the meteorological tower at Cabauw, the last two in the Netherlands.
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Nieuwstadt, F. The computation of the friction velocity u * and the temperature scale T * from temperature and wind velocity profiles by least-square methods. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 14, 235–246 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122621
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122621