Abstract. Currently no expression for the equilibrium depth ofthe turbulent stably-stratified boundary layer is available that accounts for the combined effects of rotation, surface buoyancy flux and static stability in the free flow. Various expressions proposed to date are reviewed in the light of what is meant by the stable boundary layer. Two major definitions are thoroughly discussed. The first emphasises turbulence and specifies the boundary layer as a continuously and vigorously turbulent layer adjacent to the surface. The second specifies the boundary layer in terms of the mean velocity profile, e.g. by the proximity of the actual velocity to the geostrophic velocity. It is shown that the expressions based on the second definition are relevant to the Ekman layer and portray the depth of the turbulence in the intermediate regimes, when the effects of static stability and rotation essentially interfere. Limiting asymptotic regimes dominated by either stratification or rotation are examined using the energy considerations. As a result, a simple equation for the depth of the equilibrium stable boundary layer is developed. It is valid throughout the range of stability conditions and remains in force in the limits of a perfectly neutral layer subjected to rotation and a rotation-free boundary layer dominated by surface buoyancy flux or stable density stratification at its outer edge. Dimensionless coefficients are estimated using data from observations and large-eddy simulations. Well-known and widely used formulae proposed earlier by Zilitinkevich and by Pollard, Rhines and Thompson are shown to be characteristic of the above interference regimes, when the effects of rotation and static stability (due to either surface buoyancy flux, or stratification at the outer edge of the boundary layer) are roughly equally important.

A detailed analysis of the pressure-scrambling terms (i.e., the pressure-strain and pressure gradient-scalar covariances) in the Reynolds-stress and scalar-flux budgets for cloud-topped boundary layers (CTBLs) is performed using high-resolution large-eddy simulation (LES). Two CTBLs are simulatedone with trade wind shallow cumuli, and the other with nocturnal marine stratocumuli. The pressurescrambling terms are decomposed into contributions due to turbulence-turbulence interactions, mean velocity shear, buoyancy, and Coriolis effects. Commonly used models of these contributions, including a simple linear model most often used in geophysical applications and a more sophisticated two-componentlimit (TCL) nonlinear model, are tested against the LES data. The decomposition of the pressure-scrambling terms shows that the turbulence-turbulence and buoyancy contributions are most significant for cloudtopped boundary layers. The Coriolis contribution is negligible. The shear contribution is generally of minor importance inside the cloudy layers, but it is the leading-order contribution near the surface. A comparison of models of the pressure-scrambling terms with the LES data suggests that the more complex TCL model is superior to the simple linear model only for a few contributions. The linear model is able to reproduce the principal features of the pressure-scrambling terms reasonably well. It can be applied in the second-order turbulence modeling of cloud-topped boundary layer flows, provided some uncertainties are tolerated.