Vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers

Conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers (ABLs) are frequently encountered in nature, and their flow dynamics affect the transfer of momentum, heat, and humidity in the atmosphere. Therefore, insight into the flow structure in conventionally neutral ABLs is necessary to further improve mod...

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Autores principales: Liu, Luoqin, Stevens, Richard J. A. M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Academy of Sciences 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9295800/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35609201
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2119369119
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author Liu, Luoqin
Stevens, Richard J. A. M.
author_facet Liu, Luoqin
Stevens, Richard J. A. M.
author_sort Liu, Luoqin
collection PubMed
description Conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers (ABLs) are frequently encountered in nature, and their flow dynamics affect the transfer of momentum, heat, and humidity in the atmosphere. Therefore, insight into the flow structure in conventionally neutral ABLs is necessary to further improve models for long-term weather and climate forecast, while it provides further insight for atmospheric applications like the wind industry. The structure of conventionally neutral ABLs is complicated due to the coexistence of shear- and buoyancy-generated turbulence, and therefore analytical descriptions have been limited to the mean wind speed. Here we introduce an innovative model based on the Ekman equations and the basis function of the universal potential temperature flux profile that allows one to describe the vertical profiles of the horizontal components of wind and shear stress and hence capture features like the wind veer profile. Our formulation in terms of departure from the geostrophic wind allows us to describe the profiles as a function of one control parameter, although the description of wind speed profile still needs two. We find excellent agreement between analytical predictions, high-fidelity simulations, and field measurement campaigns. These findings advance the fundamental understanding of the ABL structures and atmospheric turbulence.
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spelling pubmed-92958002022-11-24 Vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers Liu, Luoqin Stevens, Richard J. A. M. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Physical Sciences Conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers (ABLs) are frequently encountered in nature, and their flow dynamics affect the transfer of momentum, heat, and humidity in the atmosphere. Therefore, insight into the flow structure in conventionally neutral ABLs is necessary to further improve models for long-term weather and climate forecast, while it provides further insight for atmospheric applications like the wind industry. The structure of conventionally neutral ABLs is complicated due to the coexistence of shear- and buoyancy-generated turbulence, and therefore analytical descriptions have been limited to the mean wind speed. Here we introduce an innovative model based on the Ekman equations and the basis function of the universal potential temperature flux profile that allows one to describe the vertical profiles of the horizontal components of wind and shear stress and hence capture features like the wind veer profile. Our formulation in terms of departure from the geostrophic wind allows us to describe the profiles as a function of one control parameter, although the description of wind speed profile still needs two. We find excellent agreement between analytical predictions, high-fidelity simulations, and field measurement campaigns. These findings advance the fundamental understanding of the ABL structures and atmospheric turbulence. National Academy of Sciences 2022-05-24 2022-05-31 /pmc/articles/PMC9295800/ /pubmed/35609201 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2119369119 Text en Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Physical Sciences
Liu, Luoqin
Stevens, Richard J. A. M.
Vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers
title Vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers
title_full Vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers
title_fullStr Vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers
title_full_unstemmed Vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers
title_short Vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers
title_sort vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers
topic Physical Sciences
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9295800/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35609201
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2119369119
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