Simulation of the observed evening transition and nocturnal boundary layers: Single‐column modelling

Observations of the evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer through the evening transition and the early hours of the night are presented. Parallel simulations in a single‐column model are conducted to assess the performance of the parametrization scheme and the sensitivity to vertical resolutio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quarterly journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 2006-01, Vol.132 (614), p.61-80
Main Authors: Edwards, J. M., Beare, R. J., Lapworth, A. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Convection, turbulence, diffusion. Boundary layer structure and dynamics
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Meteorology
parametrization
Stable boundary‐layer
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Observations of the evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer through the evening transition and the early hours of the night are presented. Parallel simulations in a single‐column model are conducted to assess the performance of the parametrization scheme and the sensitivity to vertical resolution. The study is set within the context of a numerical weather‐prediction system and the importance of the synoptic situation is emphasized. Comparisons are also drawn with an accompanying study describing large‐eddy simulations based on these same data. These show that, when the single‐column model is run with sharp‐tailed stability functions, turbulent diffusion is systematically underestimated in and just above the surface layer, while it is overestimated at greater heights; the parametrized profile of diffusivity is therefore too uniform, causing the temperature profile in the single‐column model to exhibit negative curvature, rather than the positive curvature seen in the observations and in the large‐eddy simulations. Copyright © 2006 Crown copyright
ISSN:0035-9009
1477-870X
DOI:10.1256/qj.05.63