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On Monin–Obukhov Similarity In The Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer

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Abstract

Atmospheric measurements from several field experiments have been combined to develop a better understanding of the turbulence structure of the stable atmospheric boundary layer. Fast response wind velocity and temperature data have been recorded using 3-dimensional sonic anemometers, placed at severalheights (≈1 m to 4.3 m) above the ground. The measurements wereused to calculate the standard deviations of the three components of the windvelocity, temperature, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation andtemperature variance dissipation. These data were normalized and plottedaccording to Monin–Obukhov similarity theory. The non-dimensional turbulencestatistics have been computed, in part, to investigate the generalapplicability of the concept of z-less stratification for stable conditions. From the analysis of a data set covering almost five orders ofmagnitude in the stability parameter ζ = z/L (from near-neutral tovery stable atmospheric stability), it was found that this concept does nothold in general. It was only for the non-dimensional standard deviation oftemperature and the average dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energythat z-less behaviour has been found. The other variables studied here(non-dimensional standard deviations of u, v, and w velocity components and dissipation of temperature variance) did not follow the concept of z-less stratification for the very stable atmospheric boundary layer. An imbalance between production and dissipation of TKE was found for the near-neutral limit approached from the stable regime, which matches with previous results for near-neutral stability approached from the unstable regime.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Center for Environmental and Applied Fluid Mechanics, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Markus Pahlow & Marc B. Parlange

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA

    FERNANDO Porté-Agel

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  1. Markus Pahlow
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  2. Marc B. Parlange
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  3. FERNANDO Porté-Agel
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Pahlow, M., Parlange, M.B. & Porté-Agel, F. On Monin–Obukhov Similarity In The Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 99, 225–248 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018909000098

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