Measurement challenges for characterizing the nocturnal stable boundary layer and low-level jet
Abstract
A major measurement challenge is the nocturnal stable boundary layer (SBL), because its structure and dynamics are compressed into a vertical layer shallower than the daytime boundary layer (BL) by at least a factor of 10. Improved knowledge of the SBL is critical to improving numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecast models, to reducing uncertainties in the nocturnal wind resource for wind energy, and to determine overnight transport for air-quality and emergency-response applications. Recent studies have shown that SBL dynamics are closely tied to the LLJ, which provides the shear to drive the turbulence in the SBL. The measurement challenge is that accurate wind and turbulence profile data are required at high resolution through the SBL and LLJ layers, which are often less than 100 m deep. An instrument that has demonstrated these capabilities is NOAA/ESRL's High Resolution Doppler Lidar (HRDL), a scanning, pulsed, coherent lidar system that has been used in SBL-LLJ studies. Results of those studies show the strong tie between LLJ properties and SBL turbulence structure. These and other results will be presented along with observational requirements for further advancing understanding of these poorly understood phenomena.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFM.A13P..04B
- Keywords:
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- 3307 ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES / Boundary layer processes;
- 3329 ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES / Mesoscale meteorology;
- 3360 ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES / Remote sensing;
- 3394 ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES / Instruments and techniques