The planetary-boundary-layer (PBL) flow and above is investigated for the central north coast of Brazil, an equatorial region spanning from 8° to 2°S. The daily PBL flow is controlled by vertical entrainment of horizontal momentum from a southerly large-scale flow associated with the Hadley cell, and by a mesoscale pressure gradient force (PGF) created by the differential heating between land and ocean

Experimental closure of the surface energy balance during convective periods is a long-standing problem. With experimental data from the Idealized horizontal Planar Array experiment for Quantifying Surface heterogeneity, the terms of the temperature-tendency equation are computed, with an emphasis on the total derivative. The experiment occurred at the Surface Layer Turbulence and Environmental Science

Submesoscale motions within the stable boundary layer were detected during the Shallow Cold Pool Experiment conducted in the Colorado plains, Colorado, U.S.A. in 2012. The submesoscale motion consisted of two air layers creating a well-defined front with a sharp temperature gradient, and further-on referred to as a thermal submesofront (TSF). The semi-stationary TSFs and their advective velocities

In the stable boundary layer, thermal submesofronts (TSFs) are detected during the Shallow Cold Pool experiment in the Colorado plains, Colorado, USA in 2012. The topography induces TSFs by forming two different air layers converging on the valley-side wall while being stacked vertically above the valley bottom. The warm-air layer is mechanically generated by lee turbulence that consistently elevates

Weather forecasts over mountainous terrain are challenging due to the complex topography that is necessarily smoothed by actual local-area models. As complex mountainous territories represent 20% of the Earth’s surface, accurate forecasts and the numerical resolution of the interaction between the surface and the atmospheric boundary layer are crucial. We present an assessment of the Weather Research

The WindStation software package is applied to simulate the wind field over the Bolund hill. The standard, ReNormalization Group (RNG), realizable, and limited-length k−ε turbulence models are tested, along with the quadratic upstream interpolation for convective kinetics (QUICK) and hybrid advection schemes. Comparisons with experimental results are made for the speed-up and turbulence kinetic energy

Surface-layer stability is important in many processes, such as in the surface energy budget, atmospheric pollution, and boundary-layer parametrizations. Most previous studies on stability, however, conducted either theoretical or observational investigations at specific sites, thus leaving a gap with regard to the large-scale pattern. Here, wind-speed and temperature observations at multiple heights

Two cases of an overlying inversion imposed on a stable boundary layer are investigated, extending the work of Hancock and Hayden (Boundary-Layer Meteorol 168:29–57, 2018; 175:93–112, 2020). Vertical profiles of Reynolds stresses and heat flux show closely horizontally homogeneous behaviour over a streamwise fetch of more than eight boundary-layer heights. However, profiles of mean temperature and

Accurate modelling of air–sea surface exchanges is crucial for reliable extreme surface wind-speed forecasts. While atmosphere-only weather forecast models represent ocean and wave effects through sea-state independent parametrizations, coupled multi-model systems capture sea-state dynamics by integrating feedbacks between the atmosphere, ocean and wave model components. Here, we investigate the sensitivity

We investigate the path-averaged visibility and discrimination of fog and rain events using a two-wavelength (near-infrared and microwave) scintillometer system. These systems are normally used to measure near-surface turbulent heat fluxes on scales of \({\mathscr {O}}\)(1 km). Fog attenuates electromagnetic radiation as a function of the wavelength and droplet-size spectra with a known refractive

Lower tropospheric thermal structure greatly affects atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) stability and mixing processes with the free troposphere. In particular, in polluted urban zones, ABL stratification becomes a key variable in air quality research. This study focuses on generating a climatology (1990–2017) of the seasonal variability of ABL thermal structure in Mexico City by way of radiosonde analysis

Green manuring of legume crops can improve soil fertility and sustainability. To evaluate its agronomic and environmental effectiveness, gaseous losses of ammonia (NH3) in the surface layer need to be quantified by direct measurements in the field. However, the application of the eddy-covariance technique to atmospheric NH3 is challenging: its high reactivity, water solubility, and low background concentrations

The airborne measurement platform MASC-3 (Multi-Purpose Airborne Sensor Carrier) is used for measurements over a forested escarpment in the Swabian Alps to evaluate the wind field. Data from flight legs between 20 and 200 m above the ground on two consecutive days with uphill (westerly) flow in September 2018 are analyzed. In the lowest 140 m above the ground a speed-up is found with increased turbulence

It has been repeatedly assumed that Heinz Lettau found the Obukhov length in 1949 independently of Obukhov in 1946. However, it was not the characteristic length scale, the Obukhov length L, but the ratio of height and the Obukhov length (z/L), the Obukhov stability parameter, that he analyzed. Whether Lettau described the parameter z/L independently of Obukhov is investigated herein. Regardless of

Techniques for improving the removal of pollution from urban canyons are crucial for air quality control in cities. The removal mainly occurs at the building roof level, where it is supported by turbulent mixing and hampered by roof shear, which tends to isolate the internal canyon region from the atmospheric flow. Here, a modification of roof infrastructures is proposed with the aim of increasing

Simultaneous measurements of the vertical magnetic field (VMF), three-dimensional electric field, ambient temperature, ambient relative humidity, particle mass concentration, and three-dimensional velocity are conducted during dust, haze, rain, snow, and thunderstorms. The hourly VMF variation (the rate of VMF increment and time increment with a 1-h time interval) is used to evaluate the disturbance

Known as the heat-mitigation effect, irrigated rice-paddy fields distribute a large fraction of their received energy to the latent heat during the growing season. The present hypothesis is that increased atmospheric CO2 concentration decreases the stomatal conductance of rice plants and increases the air temperature by means of an increased sensible heat flux. To test this hypothesis, a coupled regional

We consider the Janjic (NCEP Office Note 437:61, 2001) boundary-layer model, which is one of the most widely used in numerical weather prediction models. This boundary-layer model is based on a number of length scales that are, in turn, obtained from a master length multiplied by constants. We analyze the simulation results obtained using different sets of constants with respect to measurements using

An analysis based on the law of linear momentum conservation demonstrates unequivocally that the mass fraction is the scalar whose gradient determines gas diffusion, both molecular and turbulent. It illustrates sizeable errors in previous micrometeorological definitions of the turbulent gas flux based on fluctuations in other scalars such as the mixing ratio or density. In deference to conservation

In the original publication, the same figure was illustrated twice as figures 10 and 11. Consequently, figure 11 was incorrect. The correct version of figure 11 is provided in this correction.

Exploration of the flow inside the roughness sublayer often suffers from sub-sampling of its complex three-dimensional and non-homogeneous flow fields. Based on detailed particle image velocimetry within a randomly-ordered canopy model, we analyze the potential differences between single-location flow statistics and their spatially-averaged values. Overall, higher variability exists inside the canopy

The propagation of a pollutant emitted from localized sources both within and above a regular street network is studied by analyzing data from direct numerical simulations of passive scalar dispersion. Two wind directions are considered, corresponding to aligned and oblique flow with respect to the street axes. Particular attention is paid to the role of entrainment of the scalar into the urban canopy

In most land-surface models, the evolution of soil moisture is governed by soil-hydraulic processes. In hyper-arid soils, these processes break down, but soil moisture continues to show clear temporal variations, suggesting that other processes may be at work. We hypothesize that moisture in such soils varies due to evaporation in the soil and to vapour fluxes at the air–soil interface. To test this

The correct simulation of pollutant dispersion in coastal regions demands understanding the turbulence structure of the thermal internal boundary layer (TIBL), which typically occurs in daytime when maritime air is advected over the continent. Such a structure is investigated using 10 levels of turbulence observations made at a 140-m micrometeorological mast installed at 3500 m from the shoreline in

We present ensemble-based large-eddy simulations based on a lattice Boltzmann method for a realistic urban area. A plume-dispersion model enables a real-time simulation over several kilometres by applying a local mesh-refinement method. We assess plume-dispersion problems in the complex urban environment of Oklahoma City on 16 July using realistic mesoscale velocity boundary conditions produced by

Over the past few years large-eddy simulation (LES) has demonstrated success in modelling continental radiation fog, and several recent studies have used LES to investigate the sensitivity of fog formation to physical processes such as turbulent mixing and surface heat and moisture exchange, as well as to the parametrization of microphysical processes such as cloud droplet activation. Here we extend

For a family of relatively common problems in micrometeorology, whose forms previously required iterative or indirect treatment, analytical solution is possible via the Lambert-W function. Use of this function reduces computational time and the need for approximations, while offering a clearer view of the character and solution of such problems. This note provides a generalized form for such problems

A large-eddy simulation model is coupled with a Lagrangian cloud model to study marine fog. In this model, aerosols and droplets are treated from a Lagrangian frame of reference, in contrast to the traditional bulk and bin microphysical models. Droplet growth via condensation is governed by Köhler theory and environmental conditions local to the droplet. Coupling to the vapour and temperature fields

Air-pollution modelling at the local scale requires accurate meteorological inputs such as from the velocity field. These meteorological fields are generally simulated with microscale models (here Code_Saturne), which are forced with boundary conditions provided by larger scale models or observations. Local atmospheric simulations are very sensitive to the boundary conditions, whose accurate estimation

The relationship between the wind speed derived from the outputs of a numerical-weather-prediction model and from observations is explored using statistical and machine-learning models. Eight years of wind-speed measurements at a height of 10 m (from 2010 to 2017) from 171 stations spread over mainland France and Corsica are used for reference. Operational analyses from the European Center for Medium

Open cellular convection (OCC) over, for example, the North Sea is often observed in connection with cold-air outbreaks. It is accompanied by large temporal and spatial variability in wind speed, which affects offshore wind energy in the area. This study uses the global Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS), with regional mesh refinement down to convection-permitting scales of 2 km, to simulate

To simulate the airflow through a wind farm across a wide range of atmospheric conditions, microscale models (e.g., large-eddy simulation, LES, models) have to be coupled with mesoscale models, because microscale models lack the atmospheric physical processes to represent time-varying local forcing. Here we couple mesoscale model outputs to a LES solver by applying mesoscale momentum- and temperature-budget

In north-west China, extensive areas of gravel desert exist, whose surface properties have an important effect on the wind-erosion threshold friction velocity \( u_{*t} \). In this study, we use four models and field observations of gravel mass fraction, soil physical crust, and soil clay content to assess the effect of gravel-surface properties on the value of \( u_{*t} \). Results show that gravel

In this commentary, we revisit Raupach’s flow-sheltering paradigm that asserts reduced wall-shear stress behind a surface roughness element (MR Raupach in Boundary-Layer Meteorol, 60(4):375–395, 1992). Direct numerical simulations of a turbulent boundary layer over a wall-mounted rectangular roughness are conducted we consider roughness with three different aspect ratios and flows at two Reynolds numbers

Cities intimately intermingle people and air pollution. It is very difficult to monitor or model neighbourhood-scale pollutant transport explicitly. One computationally efficient way is to treat neighbourhoods as patches of porous media to which the flow adjusts. Here we use conceptual arguments and large-eddy simulation to formulate two flow regimes based on the size of patches of different frontal-area

Observations from the 2014 Arctic Clouds in Summer Experiment indicate that, in summer, warm-air advection over melting sea-ice results in a strong surface melting feedback forced by a very strong surface-based temperature inversion and fog formation exerting additional heat flux on the surface. Here, we analyze this case further using a combination of reanalysis dataset and satellite products in a

Observations of the near-surface components of the vegetated terrestrial air–surface system during and around the complete solar eclipse of 21 August 2017 were made in the U.S.A. at three sites of intensive measurement in Tennessee and at a number of locations in Idaho. Data obtained relate to a variety of surfaces, from barren to forest. Results reveal details of how the atmospheric, vegetative, and

Some 60 years ago, six researchers obtained a semi-empirical equation that describes how the stability correction function for the mean velocity profile (\(\phi _\mathrm{m}\)) in the atmospheric surface layer varies with the stability parameter—the famous O’KEYPS equation. Their derivations are essentially based on interpolation of the turbulent eddy viscosity between neutral and convective conditions

Five planetary-boundary-layer parametrizations of the Weather Research and Forecasting model are compared with respect to their ability to simulate the very stable and the weakly stable regimes of the stable boundary layer. This is performed for single column models where the large-scale mechanical forcing is represented by geostrophic wind speeds ranging from 0.5 to 12 m \(\hbox {s}^{-1}\). The performance

The lower nocturnal boundary layer is governed by intermittent turbulence which is thought to be triggered by sporadic activity of so-called sub-mesoscale motions in a complex way. We analyze intermittent turbulence based on an assumed relation between the vertical gradients of the sub-mean scales and turbulence kinetic energy. We analyze high-resolution nocturnal eddy-correlation data from 30-m tower

The correct definition of the psychrometric constant in the Penman equation is provided depending on the variable of use, the specific humidity or the water vapour pressure.

In a recent study (Želi et al. in Bound Layer Meteorol 176:229–249, 2020), we have shown that the explicit algebraic Reynolds-stress (EARS) model, implemented in a single-column context, is able to capture the main features of a stable atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) for a range of stratification levels. We here extend the previous study and show that the same formulation and calibration of the EARS

Using data for 3 days in the Cooperative Atmosphere-Surface Exchange Study 1997 field experiment that are analyzed in LeMone et al. (Boundary-Layer Meteorol 104:1–52, 2002, hereafter L2002), it is shown that direct radiative heating can have a significant role in warming the nearly cloudless fair-weather convective boundary layer (CBL). Radiative heating becomes especially important in the presence

Accurate measurements of the depth of the convective boundary layer (CBL) are fundamental for understanding and forecasting weather, air quality, and climate. However, the CBL depth (BLD) shows significant spatial and temporal variability, which is challenging to measure and model. Ceilometer instruments, which estimate the CBL depth from aerosol layers, are relatively cheap, have high temporal resolution

We propose a method for estimating the convective-heat-transfer coefficient (CHTC) distribution on building walls by using the water-evaporation method involving filter paper and three-dimensional laser scanning, and demonstrates consistency with the gravimetric evaporation method. The theory and method are established based on the convective heat- and mass-transfer analogy and a near-infrared laser-scanning

Formation of coastal fog was observed near the southern tip of Nova Scotia when warm, humid air was advected towards the shore over an area of colder water. The sea-surface temperature in the colder and higher salinity patch near the coast was below 14 °C compared to that of the surrounding sea of ≈ 17–18 °C. Measurements of stratification, currents, and the dissipation rate of turbulence kinetic energy

A model for the spectrum of the lateral velocity component \(S_v(f)\) is developed for a frequency range from about 0.2 \(\hbox {day}^{-1}\) to the turbulence inertial subrange, with the intent of improving the calculation of flow meandering over areas the size of offshore wind farms and clusters. These sizes can correspond to a temporal scale of several hours, much larger than the validity limit of

The development and assessment of subgrid-scale (SGS) models for large-eddy simulations of the atmospheric boundary layer is an active research area. In this study, we compare the performance of the classical Smagorinsky model, the Lagrangian-averaged scale-dependent (LASD) model, and the anisotropic minimum dissipation (AMD) model. The LASD model has been widely used in the literature for 15 years

We review developments in the field of boundary-layer flow over complex topography, focussing on the period from 1970 to the present day. The review follows two parallel strands: the impact of hills on flow in the atmospheric boundary layer and gravity-driven flows on hill slopes initiated by heating or cooling of the surface. For each strand we consider the understanding that has resulted from analytic

We describe and explain the turbulent processes at play in the lower part of the urban boundary layer through performing a large-eddy simulation of the flow over an urban-like canopy composed of a staggered array of cubes with a packing density of 25%. The simulation models neutral thermal conditions at a Reynolds number (based on both velocity at the top of the domain and the domain height) of \(Re

Polarization lidar observations were made to study the transport of an elevated aerosol layer over Gadanki, India (13.45° N, 79.17° E) during the pre-monsoon period of the year 2009. Observations show significant aerosol layering within and above the boundary layer. Coordinated observations with radiosondes were carried out from 2 to 10 April 2009. Temporal and spatial variations of the parameters

Large-eddy simulations of nine idealized heterogeneous urban morphologies with identical building density and frontal area index are used to explore the impact of heterogeneity on urban airflow. The fractal-like urban morphologies were generated with a new open-source Urban Landscape Generator tool (doi:10.5281/zenodo.3747475). The vertical structure of mean flow and the dispersive vertical momentum

The shear-stress cospectrum and the horizontal and vertical temperature-flux cospectra in the convective boundary layer (CBL) are predicted using the multi-point Monin–Obukhov similarity (MMO theory). MMO theory was recently proposed and then derived from first principles by Tong and Nguyen (Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 2015, Vol. 72, 4337 – 4348) and Tong and Ding (Journal of Fluid Mechanics

Studying the microclimate of plant canopies has long motivated scientists in various research fields such as agronomy, ecology or silviculture, and almost a century has passed since the first measurements of wind speed in a forest stand were published in the scientific literature. The behaviour of wind in canopies is an essential component of their microclimate, which largely conditions the rate of

Peatlands often experience turbulent sheltering from their surrounding upland forests, which results in spatially variable surface–atmosphere exchanges of momentum, heat, and moisture produced by flow-separation dynamics, which suppresses the transport of such scalars in the sheltered region while promoting transport in the reattachment zone. With evapotranspiration being the dominant source of water

We report the ability of an urban canopy model, coupled with a regional climate model, to simulate energy fluxes, the intra-urban variability of air temperature, urban-heat-island characteristics, indoor temperature variation, as well as anthropogenic heat emissions, in Berlin, Germany. A building energy model is implemented into the Double Canyon Effect Parametrization, which is coupled with the mesoscale

Inland freshwater bodies form the largest natural source of carbon to the atmosphere. To study this contribution to the atmospheric carbon cycle, eddy-covariance flux measurements at lake sites have become increasingly popular. The eddy-covariance method is derived for solely local processes from the surface (lake). Non-local processes, such as entrainment or advection, would add erroneous contributions

We investigate sensible and latent heat exchange between evaporating saline droplets and carrier air by performing direct numerical simulation (DNS) of an idealized flow modelling the marine atmospheric boundary layer. Turbulent, droplet-laden Couette airflow over a waved water surface is considered in the DNS under two different sets of bulk air and water temperatures, \( T_{a} = -\, 10\,^{\circ}{\hbox{C}}

Mesoscale simulations are typically performed at coarse resolutions that do not adequately represent underlying topography; nesting large-eddy simulations within a mesoscale model can better resolve terrain and hence capture topographically-induced stable flow phenomena. In the case of the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modelling and Observations (MATERHORN) program, large temperature fluctuations were