Characteristics of the turbulent flow in the boundary layer of a Tropical Glacier

An extensive micro-meteorological experiment has been deployed within the atmospheric boundary layer over the ablation zone of the tropical Zongo glacier, Bolivia, during the dry season from July to August, 2007. It included two complete eddy correlation systems (Campbell CSAT and LICOR7500) at a 2-m mean level and a 6-m mast measuring the mean profiles of air temperature (type-T artificially ventilated thermocouples) and of wind speed (Vector A100R). Weakly stable conditions prevailed in the first meters above the ice or snow surface. With weak large scale forcing, a katabatic downslope flow with a wind maximum at about 2-m height usually appeared in the middle of the afternoon and maintained itself during most of the night. Characteristics and structure of the turbulent flow were studied using spectral and quadrant analysis, along with the study of statistical moments of high frequency wind speed and temperature data. The wind regime was found to be highly gusty and irregular: more than 50% of the flux was exchanged during less than 10% of the time. Stationary conditions were rarely encountered. The spectral analysis shows that the observed turbulence cannot be generated only by local shear, and that some outside layer perturbations must transport kinetic energy in the vicinity of the surface. Flux exchanges are thus found to be greater than predicted by aerodynamic approaches which use mean temperature and wind speed measurements and stability-correction functions based on the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. The net surface energy balance is quantified during selected periods using fusion measurements derived from height variations of the ice surface (measured with an ultrasonic depth gauge). It is compared to the energy balance computed from radiative balance along with mean wind speed and temperature or eddy covariance fluxes.This data helps us to quantify errors made with classical similarity methods, and their variation regarding to meteorological forcings.