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On the parametrizations for the dissipation rate of the turbulence kinetic energy in stable conditions

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Abstract

Observations acquired in the stable surface layer during two field experiments (The Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations Program and the Climate Change Tower Integrated Project) are considered to test different parametrizations of the dissipation rate of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE). Particular attention is dedicated to the effect of the submeso motions on these parametrizations. The analysis shows that TKE-based formulations are particularly prone to the submeso effect, while better results are obtained if the vertical velocity variance is considered. In the latter case, stability must be taken into account explicitly in Mellor-Yamada type parametrizations but not in shear-based formulations.

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Data availability

Concerning the CCT-IP dataset, data generated and analyzed in this study are available from M.S. with permission of the National Research Council, Institute of Polar Sciences (CNR-ISP). Concerning MATERHORN dataset, data analyzed during the current study are available in the EOL data archive (https://data.eol.ucar.edu). This dataset was derived from the following public domain resource:MATERHORN data, https://data.eol.ucar.edu/master_lists/generated/materhorn-x.

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Acknowledgements

F.T. and M.S. thank the Department of Earth System Sciences and Technologies for the Environment of the National Research Council (CNR-DSSTTA) and its staff for the logistical support at the Arctic Station Dirigibile Italia in Ny-Ålesund and Drs. M. Mazzola and A. P. Viola for the collection and preliminary elaboration of the CCT-IP dataset. The authors acknowledge two anonymous reviewers for their corrections and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univerity of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Mario Schiavon, Francesco Barbano, Luigi Brogno, Laura Sandra Leo & Silvana Di Sabatino

  2. National Research Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), Bologna, Italy

    Francesco Tampieri

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  1. Mario Schiavon
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  2. Francesco Barbano
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  3. Luigi Brogno
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  4. Laura Sandra Leo
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  5. Francesco Tampieri
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  6. Silvana Di Sabatino
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Correspondence to Mario Schiavon.

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Schiavon, M., Barbano, F., Brogno, L. et al. On the parametrizations for the dissipation rate of the turbulence kinetic energy in stable conditions. Bull. of Atmos. Sci.& Technol. 4, 3 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42865-023-00055-6

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