Comments on “Determining Height of the Nocturnal Boundary Layer”

Mahrt, L.; Heald, R. C.

doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1979)018<0383:cohotn>2.0.co;2

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…(Csanady, 1972;Zilitinkevich, 1972;Clarke and Hess, 1973;Brost and Wyngaard, 1978). Mahrt and Heald (1979) found both of these parameters to be highly correlated in the Wangara NBL. Wyngaard (1975;Figs.…”

Section: Nbl Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…As a result, the depth of the NBL has been inferred from profiles of averaged quantities (Yu, 1978). However, estimates of the actual NBL depth using methods based on mean profiles are poorly correlated with each other (Mahrt and Heald, 1979). One possible explanation is that clear air radiative cooling may be large even above the layer of turbulence depending on the low level moisture distribution (Andre et al, 1978).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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An observational study of the structure of the nocturnal boundary layer

Mahrt

Heald

Lenschow

et al. 1979

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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171

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In an effort to describe the basic vertical structure of the nocturnal boundary layer, observations from four experiments are analyzed. During the night, the depth of significant cooling appears to increase with time while the depth of the turbulence and height of the low level wind maximum tend to remain constant or decrease with time. Since the inversion layer extends above the low level wind maximum and shear is small in the region of the low level jet, the Richardson number reaches a maximum at the jet level and then decreases again with height. As a result, turbulence is observed to be a minimum at the height of the low level wind maximum and then increases again above this height.

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Section: Nbl Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

An observational study of the structure of the nocturnal boundary layer

Mahrt

Heald

Lenschow

et al. 1979

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

Self Cite

171

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, one should be aware that the friction velocity at a local scale used in this study is not a priori the amount of friction that is felt by the whole boundary layer on a larger horizontal scale (Beyrich and Kotroni 1993). Mesoscale circulations are often reported in SBL studies (e.g., Mahrt and Vickers 2002), and these circulations can contribute considerably to the surface fluxes (VM04). Garratt (1982) found that in studies that compare modeled and observed SBL heights the largest uncertainty is associated with the uncertainty of surface fluxes, which act as input variables for the model calculations.…”

Section: F Data Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These can in general be subdivided into prognostic equations (e.g., Nieuwstadt 1980a;Nieuwstadt and Tennekes 1981;Mahrt 1981;Gassmann and Mazzeo 2001) and diagnostic equations based on surface parameters (e.g., Zilitinkevich 1972;Arya 1981;Estournel and Guedalia 1990). Nieuwstadt and Tennekes (1981) conclude that, from a fundamental point of view, prognostic equations should be preferred.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagnostic Equations for the Stable Boundary Layer Height: Evaluation and Dimensional Analysis

Steeneveld

Wiel

Holtslag

2007

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

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The performance of diagnostic equations for the stable boundary layer height h is evaluated with four observational datasets that represent a broad range of latitudes, land use, and surface roughness. In addition, large-eddy simulation results are used. Special care is given to data-quality selection. The diagnostic equations evaluated are so-called multilimit equations as derived by Zilitinkevich and coworkers in a number of papers. It appears that these equations show a serious negative bias, especially for h Ͻ 100 m, and it was found that the parameters involved could not be determined uniquely with calibration. As an alternative, dimensional analysis is used here to derive a formulation for h that is more robust. The formulation depends on the surface friction velocity u * , surface buoyancy flux B s , Coriolis parameter, and the free-flow stability N. The relevance of the Coriolis parameter for the boundary layer height estimation in practice is also discussed. If the Coriolis parameter is ignored, two major regimes are found: h ϳ u * /N for weakly stable conditions and h ϳ (|B s | /N 3 ) 1/2 for moderate to very stable conditions.

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“…and L (Mahrt and Heald, 1979;Venkatram, 1980;Van Ulden and Holtslag, 1983) (also verified by the model results), Relation (2) can be written as:…”

Section: Influence Ofthe Roughness Lengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving the diagnostic relation for the nocturnal boundary-layer height

Estournel

Guédalia

1990

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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A one-dimensional model of the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) has been used to investigate the time variation of the NBL height for stationary and horizontally homogeneous synoptic conditions. The time variation of the well known quantity y = hflu, has been shown to be related to the wind variation at the top of the NBL. For the simple simulated conditions, this variation depends only on the roughness length and the Coriolis parameter. The value of y averaged over the whole night is a function of the friction velocity. An expression is proposed for y which is compared with observations. Under stationary external conditions. the new relation improves the determination of the NBL height if compared with the classical relation using a constant value of y.

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Comments on “Determining Height of the Nocturnal Boundary Layer”

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

An observational study of the structure of the nocturnal boundary layer

An observational study of the structure of the nocturnal boundary layer

Diagnostic Equations for the Stable Boundary Layer Height: Evaluation and Dimensional Analysis

Improving the diagnostic relation for the nocturnal boundary-layer height

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