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Characterization and Parametrization of Reynolds Stress and Turbulent Heat Flux in the Stably-Stratified Lower Arctic Troposphere Using Aircraft Measurements

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Abstract

Aircraft measurements are used to characterize properties of clear-air turbulence in the lower Arctic troposphere. For typical vertical resolutions in general circulation models, there is evidence for both downgradient and countergradient vertical turbulent transport of momentum and heat in the mostly statically stable conditions within both the boundary layer and the free troposphere. Countergradient transport is enhanced in the free troposphere compared to the boundary layer. Three parametrizations are suggested to formulate the turbulent heat flux and are evaluated using the observations. The parametrization that accounts for the anisotropic nature of turbulence and buoyancy flux predicts both observed downgradient and countergradient transport of heat more accurately than those that do not. The inverse turbulent Prandtl number is found to only weakly decrease with increasing gradient Richardson number in a statistically significant way, but with large scatter in the data. The suggested parametrizations can potentially improve the performance of regional and global atmospheric models.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the assistance of M. Wasey (ECCC), A. Elford (ECCC(ECCC)), M. Gehrman (AWI), C. Konrad (AWI), and J. Burkart (University of Toronto) for recovering and processing of the dataset. Expert reviews of the manuscript by J. de Grandpré, S. Bélair, and P. Makar (ECCC) are appreciated. We are grateful for scientific advice from J. Abbatt (University of Toronto) and R. Leaitch (ECCC), from the executive committee of the NETCARE Project. Our greatest appreciation goes to the editors E. Fedorovich and J. R. Garratt and anonymous reviewers of the manuscript who provided detailed comments along with key literature and suggestions to improve the quality of this manuscript. We thank the Nunavut Research Institute and the Nunavut Impact Review Board for licensing the study. Logistical support in Resolute Bay was provided by the Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP) of Natural Resources Canada. Funding for this work was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada under the CCAR NETCARE project, the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Building Technology Program, Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA

    Amir A. Aliabadi

  2. Air Quality Research Processes Section (AQRP), Air Quality Research Division (AQRD), Science and Technology Branch (STB), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Ralf M. Staebler & Michael Liu

  3. The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Andreas Herber

Authors
  1. Amir A. Aliabadi
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  2. Ralf M. Staebler
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  3. Michael Liu
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  4. Andreas Herber
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amir A. Aliabadi.

Appendix 1: Flight and Radiosonde Schedule for the NETCARE 2014 Campaign

Appendix 1: Flight and Radiosonde Schedule for the NETCARE 2014 Campaign

See Tables 4 and 5.

Table 4 Flight schedule for the NETCARE 2014 campaign; only research flights listed (5–15); test and ferry flights excluded (1–4, 16–19)
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Table 5 Radiosonde schedule and estimated boundary-layer height (\(Z_i\)) for the NETCARE 2014 campaign
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Aliabadi, A.A., Staebler, R.M., Liu, M. et al. Characterization and Parametrization of Reynolds Stress and Turbulent Heat Flux in the Stably-Stratified Lower Arctic Troposphere Using Aircraft Measurements. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 161, 99–126 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-016-0164-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-016-0164-7

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