The drag coefficient, Stanton number and Dalton number are of particular importance for estimating the surface turbulent fluxes of momentum, heat and water vapor using bulk parameterization. Although these bulk transfer coefficients have been extensively studied over the past several decades in marine and large-lake environments, there are no studies analyzing their variability for smaller lakes. Here, we evaluated these coefficients through directly measured surface fluxes using the eddy-covariance technique over more than 30 lakes and reservoirs of different sizes and depths. Our analysis showed that the transfer coefficients (adjusted to neutral atmospheric stability) were generally within the range reported in previous studies for large lakes and oceans. All transfer coefficients exhibit a substantial increase at low wind speeds (<3 m s −1 ), which was found to be associated with the presence of gusts and capillary waves (except Dalton number). Stanton number was found to be on average a factor of 1.3 higher than Dalton number, likely affecting the Bowen ratio method. At high wind speeds, the transfer coefficients remained relatively constant at values of 1.6•10 −3 , 1.4•10 −3 , 1.0•10 −3 , respectively. We found that the variability of the transfer coefficients among the lakes could be associated with lake surface area. In flux parameterizations at lake surfaces, it is recommended to consider variations in the drag coefficient and Stanton number due to wind gustiness and capillary wave roughness while Dalton number could be considered as constant at all wind speeds. Plain Language SummaryIn our study, we investigate the bulk transfer coefficients, which are of particular importance for estimation the turbulent fluxes of momentum, heat and water vapor in the atmospheric surface layer, above lakes and reservoirs. The incorrect representation of the surface fluxes above inland waters can potentially lead to errors in weather and climate prediction models. For the first time we made this synthesis using a compiled data set consisting of existing eddy-covariance flux measurements over 23 lakes and 8 reservoirs. Our results revealed substantial increase of the transfer coefficients at low wind speeds, which is often not taken into account in models. The observed increase in the drag coefficient (momentum transfer coefficient) and Stanton number (heat transfer coefficient) could be associated with the presence of wind gusts and capillary waves. In flux parameterizations at lake surface, it is recommended to consider them for accurate flux representation. Although the bulk transfer coefficients were relatively constant at high wind speeds, we found that the Stanton number systematically exceeds the Dalton number (water vapor transfer coefficient), despite the fact they are typically considered to be equal. This difference may affect the Bowen ratio method and result in biased estimates of lake evaporation.

In this work, we present CO2, latent heat and sensible heat fluxes measured over the reservoir of the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant (Paraná State, Brazil) during 2013. A tower was installed at a small island in the reservoir, where an Eddy Covariance system, with supplementary equipments and analysers, was deployed. The objective of this work was to determine the magnitude of CO2 fluxes and their variation throughout the year. CO2 flux displayed seasonality: in warm months there was a predominance of negative CO2 daytime fluxes and positive CO2 nighttime fluxes, which we attributed to photosynthesis/respiration in the reservoir; in cold months there was a predominance of negative CO2 fluxes in both periods, with CO2 air concentration apparently imposing the signal of the CO2 fluxes and the strong winds intensifying them. The range of 90% of the CO2 fluxes measured in this work (−102.68 to +151.72 µg m−2s−1 at the 30-min. time scale) is comparable to those observed in natural lakes and reservoirs around the world. On the average, the reservoir acted as a source of CO2, with an overall mean flux of +12.78 µg m−2s−1.

In this work, the authors present a statistical assessment of two atmospheric dispersion models. One of them, AERMOD (American Meteorological Society/Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model), adopted by the US. Environmental Protection Agency, is widely used in many countries and here is taken as a baseline to assess the performance of a newly proposed model, MODELAR (Modelo Regulatório de Qualidade do Ar). In terms of parameterizations and modeling options, MODELAR is a somewhat simple model. It is currently being considered for adoption as the regulatory model in Paraná State, Brazil. The well-known Prairie Grass data set, already used in earlier evaluations of the same version of AERMOD analyzed here, was used to perform model assessment. The evaluations employed well-established statistical performance descriptors and techniques. The results indicate that MODELAR is a slightly better predictor, for the Prairie Grass data set, of concentrations under unstable conditions, whereas AERMOD has a better performance under near-neutral and stable conditions. Moreover cases of severe overestimation and underestimation, as detected by the Factor of Two index, are clearly associated with extreme stability conditions (both unstable and stable), stressing the need for better parameterizations under these conditions.

The drag coefficient, Stanton number and Dalton number are of particular importance for estimating the surface turbulent fluxes of momentum, heat and water vapor using bulk parameterization. Although these bulk transfer coefficients have been extensively studied over the past several decades in marine and large-lake environments, there are no studies analyzing their variability for smaller lakes. Here, we evaluated these coefficients through directly measured surface fluxes using the eddy-covariance technique over more than 30 lakes and reservoirs of different sizes and depths. Our analysis showed that the transfer coefficients (adjusted to neutral atmospheric stability) were generally within the range reported in previous studies for large lakes and oceans. All transfer coefficients exhibit a substantial increase at low wind speeds (<3 m s −1 ), which was found to be associated with the presence of gusts and capillary waves (except Dalton number). Stanton number was found to be on average a factor of 1.3 higher than Dalton number, likely affecting the Bowen ratio method. At high wind speeds, the transfer coefficients remained relatively constant at values of 1.6•10 −3 , 1.4•10 −3 , 1.0•10 −3 , respectively. We found that the variability of the transfer coefficients among the lakes could be associated with lake surface area. In flux parameterizations at lake surfaces, it is recommended to consider variations in the drag coefficient and Stanton number due to wind gustiness and capillary wave roughness while Dalton number could be considered as constant at all wind speeds. Plain Language SummaryIn our study, we investigate the bulk transfer coefficients, which are of particular importance for estimation the turbulent fluxes of momentum, heat and water vapor in the atmospheric surface layer, above lakes and reservoirs. The incorrect representation of the surface fluxes above inland waters can potentially lead to errors in weather and climate prediction models. For the first time we made this synthesis using a compiled data set consisting of existing eddy-covariance flux measurements over 23 lakes and 8 reservoirs. Our results revealed substantial increase of the transfer coefficients at low wind speeds, which is often not taken into account in models. The observed increase in the drag coefficient (momentum transfer coefficient) and Stanton number (heat transfer coefficient) could be associated with the presence of wind gusts and capillary waves. In flux parameterizations at lake surface, it is recommended to consider them for accurate flux representation. Although the bulk transfer coefficients were relatively constant at high wind speeds, we found that the Stanton number systematically exceeds the Dalton number (water vapor transfer coefficient), despite the fact they are typically considered to be equal. This difference may affect the Bowen ratio method and result in biased estimates of lake evaporation.

This paper presents an evaluation of scalar similarity and scalar flux similarity of measurements above the water surface of the Itaipu hydroelectric reservoir. The scalars studied were: CO2 mixing ratio (rc), air temperature (θ), specific air humidity (q) and the vertical wind velocity (w). With the variance method it was found that the vertical wind velocity is in agreement with Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory. On the other hand, the other scalars presented larger deviations in relation to the theoretical prediction. The worst results were for air temperature and mixing ratio of CO2. The most similar scalars were θ and q, with the most frequent correlation coefficient varying in the range [0.55:0.64] for measurements in unstable atmospheric conditions and in the [−0.85:−0.75] range for measurements under stable atmospheric conditions. Regarding the scalar fluxes, they presented greater similarity to each other than the scalars themselves.