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The Stable Boundary Layer: Observations and Modeling

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A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Atmospheric Techniques, Instruments, and Modeling".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2021) | Viewed by 21294

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Giampietro Casasanta

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Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 7 - 00185 Roma, Italy
Interests: atmospheric boundary layer; urban heat island; acoustic remote sensing; optical remote sensing

Dr. Stefania Argentini

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Guest Editor

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 7 - 00185 Roma, Italy
Interests: micrometeorology; urban heat island; acoustic remote sensing

Dr. Igor Petenko

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Guest Editor

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 7 - 00185 Roma, Italy
Interests: ground-based remote sensing; atmospheric-boundary-layer processes; micrometeorology; Antarctic meteorology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The stable boundary layer (SBL) is strongly connected with a number of applications, spanning from weather and climate forecasting to wind energy and air quality prediction. While convective boundary-layer behavior and evolution are generally detailed and well characterized, understanding and modeling SBL is still an open challenge because of the heterogeneity of physical processes and phenomena coming into play, and their complex mutual interactions. These include intermittent turbulence, radiative cooling, internal atmospheric waves, low-level jets, orographic flows and sub-mesoscale motions, as well as land–surface coupling (soil temperature and heat flux): most of these are still not fully characterized, and their impact has not yet been assessed properly. In addition, both in-situ and remote sensing measurements become more complicated and less reliable under stable stratification conditions. As an example, the determination of the SBL height by different remote sensing instruments leads to different estimations. This Special Issue intends to highlight the recent progress in observing, modeling, and parametrizing the SBL, contributing to clarify both the main relevant features of the SBL and its role in the lower atmosphere and in the climatic system.

Dr. Giampietro Casasanta
Dr. Stefania Argentini
Dr. Igor Petenko
Guest Editor

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Keywords

stable boundary layer
buoyancy and vorticity waves
LLJs
drainage flows
stable boundary-layer height
turbulent parameters
LES
DNS

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 13148 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Model-Based Climatology of Low-Level Jets in the Weddell Sea Region of the Antarctic

by Günther Heinemann and Rolf Zentek

Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1635; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12121635 - 7 Dec 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3110

Abstract

Low-level jets (LLJs) are climatological features in polar regions. It is well known that katabatic winds over the slopes of the Antarctic ice sheet are associated with strong LLJs. Barrier winds occurring, e.g., along the Antarctic Peninsula may also show LLJ structures. A few observational studies show that LLJs occur over sea ice regions. We present a model-based climatology of the wind field, of low-level inversions and of LLJs in the Weddell Sea region of the Antarctic for the period 2002–2016. The sensitivity of the LLJ detection on the selection of the wind speed maximum is investigated. The common criterion of an anomaly of at least 2 m/s is extended to a relative criterion of wind speed decrease above and below the LLJ. The frequencies of LLJs are sensitive to the choice of the relative criterion, i.e., if the value for the relative decrease exceeds 15%. The LLJs are evaluated with respect to the frequency distributions of height, speed, directional shear and stability for different regions. LLJs are most frequent in the katabatic wind regime over the ice sheet and in barrier wind regions. During winter, katabatic LLJs occur with frequencies of more than 70% in many areas. Katabatic LLJs show a narrow range of heights (mostly below 200 m) and speeds (typically 10–20 m/s), while LLJs over the sea ice cover a broad range of speeds and heights. LLJs are associated with surface inversions or low-level lifted inversions. LLJs in the katabatic wind and barrier wind regions can last several days during winter. The duration of LLJs is sensitive to the LLJ definition criteria. We propose to use only the absolute criterion for model studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Stable Boundary Layer: Observations and Modeling)

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15 pages, 1334 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Flux–Profile Relationships in the Stable Boundary Layer—A Critical Discussion

by Giampietro Casasanta, Roberto Sozzi, Igor Petenko and Stefania Argentini

Atmosphere 2021, 12(9), 1197; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12091197 - 15 Sep 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2648

Abstract

Flux–profile relationships are crucial for parametrizing surface fluxes of momentum and heat, that are of central relevance for applications such as climate modelling and weather forecast. Nevertheless, their functional forms are still under discussion, and a generally accepted formulation does not exist yet. [...] Read more.

H_{0}

) and the temperature scale (

T_{*}

) in the stable boundary layer, as well as their consequences on the existence of critical values for both the gradient and the flux Richardson numbers. None of them turned out to be fully consistent with the literature published so far, with two of them leading to very unreliable expressions for both

H_{0}

and

T_{*}

. All considered, a convincing description of flux–profile relationships still needs to be found and seems to represents a considerable challenge. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Stable Boundary Layer: Observations and Modeling)

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14 pages, 873 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Turbulence in the Neutral and Stable Surface Layer at Jang Bogo Station, Antarctica

by Mauro Mazzola, Angelo Pietro Viola, Taejin Choi and Francesco Tampieri

Atmosphere 2021, 12(9), 1095; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12091095 - 25 Aug 2021

Viewed by 2195

Abstract

The availability of 5-year time series of velocity and temperature data from two sonic anemometers installed at Jang Bogo Station, Antarctica, allowed a systematic investigation of the turbulence features in a stable layer affected by submeso motions and characterized by the vertical divergence of some second-order moments for a large fraction of time (quite a non-ideal surface layer). The investigation of the effect of the averaging time interval on the statistics of the second-order moments showed that this is greater for the variances of the velocity components with respect to that for the vertical fluxes. This corresponds to a greater contribution from low-frequency motions. The turbulence statistics were investigated and compared with current literature results in terms of vertical structure, share of energy between horizontal and vertical components, skewness of the vertical velocity and turbulent velocities. As a general result, all the normalized second-order moments show a clear change passing from neutral to stable conditions, passing through the range of bulk Richardson number equal to 0.1–1. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Stable Boundary Layer: Observations and Modeling)

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28 pages, 7948 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Fine-Resolution WRF Simulation of Stably Stratified Flows in Shallow Pre-Alpine Valleys: A Case Study of the KASCADE-2017 Campaign

by Michiel de Bode, Thierry Hedde, Pierre Roubin and Pierre Durand

Atmosphere 2021, 12(8), 1063; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12081063 - 19 Aug 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2711

Abstract

In an overall approach aiming at the development and qualification of various tools designed to diagnose and/or forecast the flows at the local scale in complex terrain, we qualified a numerical model based on the WRF platform and operated in a two-way nested domain mode, down to a horizontal resolution of 111 m for the smallest domain. The area in question is the Cadarache valley (CV), in southeast France, which is surrounded by hills and valleys of various sizes. The CV dimensions (1 km wide and 100 m deep) favor the development of local flows greatly influenced by the diurnal cycle and are prone to thermal stratification, especially during stable conditions. This cycle was well documented due to permanent observations and dedicated field campaigns. These observations were used to evaluate the performance of the model on a specific day among the intensive observation periods carried out during the KASCADE-2017 campaign. The model reproduced the wind flow and its diurnal cycle well, notably at the local CV scale, which constitutes considerable progress with respect to the performances of previous WRF simulations conducted in this area with kilometric resolution, be it operational weather forecasts or dedicated studies conducted on specific days. The diurnal temperature range is underestimated however, together with the stratification intensity of the cold pool observed at night. Consequently, the slope drainage flows along the CV sidewalls are higher in the simulation than in the observations, and the resulting scalar fields (such as specific humidity) are less heterogeneous in the model than in the observations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Stable Boundary Layer: Observations and Modeling)

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18 pages, 524 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

On the u_⋆−U Relationship in the Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer over Arctic Sea Ice

by Dmitry Chechin

Atmosphere 2021, 12(5), 591; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12050591 - 2 May 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2381

Abstract

A relationship between the friction velocity

u_{⋆}

and mean wind speed U in a stable atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over Arctic sea ice was considered. To that aim, the observations collected during the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) experiment [...] Read more.

A relationship between the friction velocity

u_{⋆}

u_{⋆} - U

relationship, which consists of a slow increase of

u_{⋆}

with increasing wind speed for

U < U_{t r}

and a more rapid almost linear increase of

u_{⋆}

for

U > U_{t r}

, where

U_{t r}

is the wind speed of transition between the two regimes. Such a relationship is most pronounced at the highest observational levels, namely at 9 and 14 m, and is also sharper when the air-surface temperature difference exceeds its average values for stable conditions. It is shown that the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) reproduces the observed

u_{⋆} - U

relationship rather well. This suggests that at least for the SHEBA dataset, there is no contradiction between MOST and the “hockey-stick” shape of the

u_{⋆} - U

relationship. However, the SHEBA data, as well as the single-column simulations show that for cases with strong stability,

u_{⋆}

significantly decreases with height due to the shallowness of the ABL. It was shown that when

u_{⋆}

was assumed independent of height, the value of the normalized drag coefficient, i.e., of the so-called stability correction function for momentum, calculated using observations at a certain level, can be significantly underestimated. To overcome this, the decrease of

u_{⋆}

with height was taken into account in the framework of MOST using local scaling instead of the scaling with surface fluxes. Using such an extended MOST brought the estimates of the normalized drag coefficient closer to the Businger–Dyer relation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Stable Boundary Layer: Observations and Modeling)

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14 pages, 4164 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ventilation of a Mid-Size City under Stable Boundary Layer Conditions: A Simulation Using the LES Model PALM

by Jonathan Lukas Biehl, Bastian Paas and Otto Klemm

Atmosphere 2021, 12(3), 401; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12030401 - 20 Mar 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2893

Abstract

City centers have to cope with an increasing amount of air pollution. The supply of fresh air is crucial yet difficult to ensure, especially under stable conditions of the atmospheric boundary layer. This case study used the PArallelized Large eddy simulation (LES) Model PALM to investigate the wind field over an urban lake that had once been built as a designated fresh air corridor for the city center of Münster, northwest, Germany. The model initialization was performed using the main wind direction and stable boundary layer conditions as input. The initial wind and temperature profiles included a weak nocturnal low-level jet. By emitting a passive scalar at one point on top of a bridge, the dispersion of fresh air could be traced over the lake’s surface, within street canyons leading to the city center and within the urban boundary layer above. The concept of city ventilation was confirmed in principle, but the air took a direct route from the shore of the lake to the city center above a former river bed and its adjoining streets rather than through the street canyons. According to the dispersion of the passive scalar, half of the city center was supplied with fresh air originating from the lake. PALM proved to be a useful tool to study fresh air corridors under stable boundary layer conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Stable Boundary Layer: Observations and Modeling)

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17 pages, 28804 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Nocturnal Boundary Layer Erosion Analysis in the Amazon Using Large-Eddy Simulation during GoAmazon Project 2014/5

by Rayonil Carneiro, Gilberto Fisch, Theomar Neves, Rosa Santos, Carlos Santos and Camilla Borges

Atmosphere 2021, 12(2), 240; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12020240 - 10 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3266

Abstract

This study investigated the erosion of the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) over the central Amazon using a high-resolution model of large-eddy simulation (LES) named PArallel Les Model (PALM) and observational data from Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon) project 2014/5. This data set was collected during four intense observation periods (IOPs) in the dry and rainy seasons in the years 2014 (considered a typical year) and 2015, during which an El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event predominated and provoked an intense dry season. The outputs from the PALM simulations represented reasonably well the NBL erosion, and the results showed that it has different characteristics between the seasons. During the rainy season, the IOPs exhibited slow surface heating and less intense convection, which resulted in a longer erosion period, typically about 3 h after sunrise (that occurs at 06:00 local time). In contrast, dry IOPs showed more intensive surface warming with stronger convection, resulting in faster NBL erosion, about 2 h after sunrise. A conceptual model was derived to investigate the complete erosion during sunrise hours when there is a very shallow mixed layer formed close to the surface and a stable layer above. The kinematic heat flux for heating this layer during the erosion period showed that for the rainy season, the energy emitted from the surface and the entrainment was not enough to fully heat the NBL layer and erode it. Approximately 30% of additional energy was used in the system, which could come from the release of energy from biomass. The dry period of 2014 showed stronger heating, but it was also not enough, requiring approximately 6% of additional energy. However, for the 2015 dry period, which was under the influence of the ENSO event, it was shown that the released surface fluxes were sufficient to fully heat the layer. The erosion time of the NBL probably influenced the development of the convective boundary layer (CBL), wherein greater vertical development was observed in the dry season IOPs (~1500 m), while the rainy season IOPs had a shallower layer (~1200 m). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Stable Boundary Layer: Observations and Modeling)

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