Abstract
The structure of the atmospheric surface layer above the sea is analysed from aircraft turbulence measurements. The data are issued from two experiments performed in 1990 above the Mediterranean sea: Crau and PYREX, and correspond to moderately unstable conditions and to wind velocities ranging from 6 to 20 m/s. Low-altitude straight and level runs were used to compute the variances of the wind components, as well as of the temperature and moisture. Their dependence on the stability index —z/L is analysed. The turbulent fluxes of momentum, sensible heat and latent heat, calculated by the eddy-correlation technique, are used to estimate the neutral bulk coefficients: drag coefficient, Stanton number and Dalton number. The neutral drag coefficient clearly exhibits a dependence on the windspeed, which could be well fitted by the Charnock relation, with a constant of 0.012.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beljaars, A. C. M., Schotanus, P., Nieuwstadt, F. T. M.: 1983, ‘Surface Layer Similarity under Non-uniform Fetch Conditions’,J. Clim. Appl. Meteorol. 22, 1800–1810.
Bougeault, P., Jansa, A., Attié, J. L., Beau, I., Bénech, B., Benoit, R., Bessemoulin, P., Campins, J., Carissimo, B., Champeaux, J. L., Crochet, M., Druilhet, A., Durand, P., Elkhalfi, A., Flamant, P., Benoves, A., Georgelin, M., Hoinka, K. P., Klaus, V., Koffi, E., Kotroni, V., Mazaudier, C., Pelon, J., Petitdidier, M., Pointin, Y., Puech, D., Richard, E., Satomura, T., Stein, J., and Tannhauser, D.: 1993, ‘The Atmospheric Momentum Budget Over a Major Mountain Range: First Results of the PYREX Field Program’,Ann. Geophys. 11, 395–418.
Brown, E. N., Friehe, C. A. and Lenschow, D. H.: 1983, ‘The Use of Pressure Fluctuations on the Nose of an Aircraft for Measuring Air Motion’,J. Clim. Appl. Meteorol. 22, 171–180.
Busch, N. E.: 1973, ‘The Surface Boundary Layer (Part I)’,Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 4, 213–240.
Charnock, H.: 1955, ‘Wind Stress on a Water Surface’,Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 81, 639–640.
Davidson, K. L.: 1974, ‘Observational Results on the Influence of Stability and Wind-Wave Coupling on Momentum Transfer and Turbulent Fluctuations over Ocean Waves’,Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 6, 305–331.
Durand, P., de Sà, L., Druilhet, A. and Saïd, F.: 1991, ‘Use of the Inertial-Dissipation Method for Calculating Turbulent Fluxes from Low Level Airborne Measurements’,J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech. 8, 78–84.
Dyer, A. J. and Hicks, B. B.: 1970, ‘Flux-Gradient Relationships in the Constant Flux Layer’,Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 96, 715–721.
Garratt, J. R.: 1992, ‘The Atmospheric Boundary Layer’, Cambridge Atmospheric and Space Science Series — 316 p.
Geernaert, G. L., Larsen, S. E. and Hansen, F.: 1987, ‘Measurements of the Wind Stress, Heat Flux and Turbulence Intensity During Storm Conditions over the North Sea’,J. Geophys. Res. 92, 13127–13139.
Geernaert, G. L.: 1990, ‘Bulk Parameterizations for the Wind Stress and Heat Fluxes’, in “Surface Waves and Fluxes”, Geernaert and Pland eds., Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 91–172.
Ide, H.: 1991, ‘Dynamics and Turbulence in the Sahelian Surface Atmospheric Boundary Layer (STARS experiment) (in French)’, Thesis Nr 982, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France. 228p.
Katsaros, K. B., Smith, S. D., and Oost, W. A.: 1987, ‘HEXOS-Humidity Exchange over the Sea. A Program for Research on Water-Vapor and Droplet Fluxes from Sea to Air at Moderate to High Wind Speeds’,Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 68, 466–476.
Lenschow, D. H. and Stankov, B. B.: 1986, ‘Length Scales in the Convective Boundary Layer’,J. Atmos. Sci. 43, 1198–1209
Lenschow, D. H.: 1986, ‘Aircraft Measurements in the Boundary Layer’, in D. H. Lenschow (ed.), Probing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer,Amer. Meteorol. Soc. Boston, pp. 39–56.
Panofsky, H. A.: 1963, ‘Determination of Stress from Wind and Temperature Measurements’,Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 89, 85–94.
Panofsky, H. A., Tennekes, H., Lenschow, D. H. and Wyngaard, J. C.: 1977, ‘The Characteristics of Turbulent Velocity Components in the Surface Layer under Convective Conditions’,Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 11, 355–361.
Paulson, C. A.: 1970, ‘The Mathematical Representation of Wind Speed and Temperature Profiles in the Unstable Atmospheric Surface Layer’,J. Appl. Meteorol. 9, 857–861.
Saïd, F.: 1988, ‘Experimental Study of the Marine Boundary Layer: Turbulence Structure and Surface Fluxes (TOSCANE-T Experiment) in french’, Thesis Nr 248, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France. 335p.
Saïd, F. and Druilhet, A.: 1991, ‘Experimental Study of the Atmospheric Marine Boundary Layer from in-situ Aircraft Measurements (TOSCANE-T Campaign): Variability of Boundary Conditions and Eddy Flux Parameterization’,Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 57, 219–249.
Smith, S. D.: 1989, ‘Water Vapor Flux at the Sea Surface’,Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 47, 277–293.
Smith, S. D., Anderson, R. J., Oost, W. A., Kraan, C., Maat, N., DeCosmos, J., Katsaros, K. B., Davidson, K. L., Bumke, K., Hasse, L., and Chadwick, H. M.: 1992, ‘Sea Surface Wind Stress and Drag Coefficients: the Hexos Results’,Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 60, 109–142.
Warner, J.: 1973, ‘Spectra of the Temperature and Humidity Fluctuations in the Marine Boundary Layer’,Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 99, 82–88.
Wu, J.: 1980, ‘Wind-Stress Coefficients over Sea Surface near Neutral Conditions — A Revisit’,J. Phys. Ocean. 10, 727–740.
Wyngaard, J. C., 1983, ‘Lectures on the Planetary Boundary Layer’, in D. K. Lilly and T. Gal-Chen (eds.),Mesoscale Meteorology — Theories, Observations and Models, pp. 603–650.
Wyngaard, J. C. and Coté, O. R.: 1974, ‘The Budgets of Turbulent Kinetic Energy and Temperature Variance in the Atmospheric Surface Layer’,J. Atmos. Sci. 28, 190–201.
Wyngaard, J. C., Coté, O. R. and Izumi, Y.: 1971, ‘Local Free Convection Similarity and the Budgets of Shear Stress and Heat Flux’,J. Atmos. Sci. 28, 1171–1182.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hedde, T., Durand, P. Turbulence intensities and bulk coefficients in the surface layer above the sea. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 71, 415–432 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00712178
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00712178