ALBERT

Notes: Abstract A brief summary is given of five main field experiments (or sets of expeditions) carried out in Australia in the last thirty years. The main objectives and results of each are described, and an indication is given of their impact on progress in our understanding of the planetary boundary layer (PBL).

Notes: Abstract On March 26, 1971, eddy fluxes of momentum, sensible heat and water vapour were measured over Lake Mendota, Wisconsin, U.S.A., which was covered by an extensive snowfall. An evaporation rate of about 0.7mm day−1 (2.2 mW cm−2) was detected. Wind speeds were light and the atmosphere near the surface was highly stable. In these conditions, the average sensible heat transfer and Reynolds stress were -0.9 mW cm−2 and 0.10 dyn cm−2, respectively. Comparison with measured gradients of wind speed, temperature and humidity yield a drag coefficient of about 0.54 × 10−3, and bulk transfer coefficients for sensible and latent heat of 0.41 × 10−3 and 0.78 × 10−3, respectively, applied to 10-m data. When corrected for the effect of atmospheric stability, these three coefficients become (in the same order) 1.2 × 10−3, 0.9 × 10−3 and 2.5 × 10−3. The errors in these estimates are such that the drag coefficient is not significantly different from that corresponding to an aerodynamically smooth surface, while the heat coefficients are similar to those normally applied over liquid water surfaces.

Notes: Abstract Turbulence data for the International Turbulence Comparison Experiment (ITCE) held at Conargo, N.S.W. (35° 18′ S., 145° 10′ E.) during October, 1976 are analysed. The standard deviation % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaaiikaiqado% hagaqbamaaCaaaleqabaGaaGOmaaaakiaacMcadaahaaWcbeqaaiaa% igdacaGGVaGaaGOmaaaaaaa!3B93!\[(s'^2 )^{1/2} \] and covariance % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaWaa0aaaeaace% WG3bGbauaaceWGZbGbauaaaaaaaa!3809!\[\overline {w's'} \] measured by a number of instruments and instrument arrays have been compared to assess their field performance and calibration accuracy. Satisfactory agreement, i.e. typically 5% for % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaaiikamaana% aabaGabm4CayaafaWaaWbaaSqabeaacaaIYaaaaaaakiaacMcadaah% aaWcbeqaaiaaigdacaGGVaGaaGOmaaaaaaa!3BA4!\[(\overline {s'^2 } )^{1/2} \] (except in humidity) and of the order of 20% for % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaaiikaiqado% hagaqbamaaCaaaleqabaGaaGOmaaaakiaacMcadaahaaWcbeqaaiaa% igdacaGGVaGaaGOmaaaaaaa!3B93!\[(s'^2 )^{1/2} \], was achieved, but only after consideration of: (1) Instrumental response at high frequencies. (2) Flow distortion induced by instruments and supporting structures. (3) Spatial separation of instruments used for covariance measurements. (4) Statistical errors associated with single point measurements over a finite averaging time, and with lateral separation of two sensor arrays being compared.

Notes: Abstract Three recent experiments allow evaluation of the bulk transfer coefficients for momentum, water vapour and sensible heat over water bodies of different sizes. As part of a study of evaporation rates from a swamp, measurements of latent and sensible heat fluxes were made over Lake Wyangan in southern N.S.W., Australia. This lake is of several kilometers diameter. In a later experiment, Reynolds stress and sensible heat transfer were measured from a natural-gas platform standing in Bass Strait, south of mainland Australia. The most recent experiment involved the direct measurement of each of these turbulent fluxes from a fixed tower erected in Lake Michigan, U.S.A. Perhaps the most important of the results is the finding that drag coefficients measured over Bass Strait are not significantly different from those over Lake Michigan, despite the obvious differences in depth, fetch, and hence surface wave structure. At both locations, drag coefficients are found to increase slightly with increasing wind speed, while at low wind speeds they are not significantly different from those corresponding to aerodynamic smoothness. Near-neutral bulk transfer coefficients for sensible heat and for water vapour are found to be similar. An average value of about 1.4 × 10−3 is obtained. It is emphasized that stability effects should be considered in any discussion of drag coefficients or bulk transfer coefficients. Large errors can result if near-neutrality is incorrectly assumed.

Notes: Abstract Panofsky et al. (1977) have presented an analysis which seems to show a clear dependence of the dimensionless turbulence statistics Σ u /u * and Σv/u * on the planetary boundary-layer stability parameter z i/L. However it is possible that much of the apparent relationship results from artificial correlations introduced by the use of inter-related dimensionless parameters. Apparent dependencies of similar statistical quantities on z/L in the surface boundary layer might also be contaminated.

Notes: Abstract Important questions concerning the turbulent exchange of atmospheric pollutants between the air and natural surfaces urgently require answers, but sensors for many important species are not yet sufficiently well developed for use with standard micrometeorological methods. There is need, therefore, to develop methods by which deficient sensors can be used in micrometeorological applications. There is also need to extend micrometeorological methods to circumstances which do not satisfy the conventional perfect-site constraints. Here, methods based upon the assumption of cospectral similarity are explored. Initial tests indicate that it is possible to estimate daytime turbulent fluxes with sensors giving response times considerably greater than the values normally quoted for eddy correlation (e.g., 5 s instead of 1 s), and to compute first-order corrections for the error resulting from the lack of detection of high-frequency turbulence. It is suggested that a similar method might be used to derive flux data in terrain more complex than can be handled by conventional micrometeorology. The techniques outlined here should be applied only with caution, but appear adequate to permit the use of deficient sensors in some circumstances, and good sensors over some micrometeorologically deficient terrain.

Notes: Abstract The deposition velocity (V d) of nitric acid vapor over a fully leafed deciduous forest was estimated using flux/gradient theory. HNO3 deposition velocities ranged from 2.2 to 6.0cm/s with a mean V don the order of 4.0cms-1. Estimates of V dfrom a detailed canopy turbulence model gave deposition velocities of similar magnitude. The model was used to investigate the sensitivity of V dto the leaf boundary-layer resistance and leaf area index (LAI). Although modeled deposition velocities were found to be sensitive to the parameterization of the leaf boundary-layer resistance, they were less sensitive to the LAI. Modeled V d's were found to peak at LAI = 7.

Notes: Abstract Measurements made as part of studies of the evolution of the planetary boundary layer (the “Sangamon” experiments of 1975 and 1976) are used to compare the surface eddy fluxes of heat and momentum over adjacent fields of soybeans and maize. Although the maize canopy was much taller and rougher than that of the soybeans, daytime eddy fluxes of momentum over the maize exceeded those over the soybeans by only about 35%, in good agreement with predictions based on PBL similarity theory. Heat flux was about 10% greater over the maize, probably as a consequence of greater evaporation over the soybeans. Infrared surface temperatures generally differed by less than 0.4 °C and net radiation by less than 10%. For the soybean canopy, the momentum displacement height was found to be located at approximately 90% of the crop height, and the roughness length was about 5%. The roughness length for sensible heat transfer was found to be 2–3% of the soybean canopy height. For the maize canopy, the momentum displacement height was about 60% of the crop height, and the roughness length about 7%.

Notes: Abstract Our understanding of the structure and dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is often limited by a lack of experimental data. The voluminous amount of high quality data obtained from the Wangara Experiment (Clarke et al., 1971) has contributed greatly to meeting a long-standing need, particularly for data describing the ABL in middle latitudes over land. In the surface layer the measurements provided the basis for determination of the stability dependence of the dimensionless gradients Φ M and Φ H arising out of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (Hicks, 1976). In the outer layer where the choice of scaling parameters is not unique, the data have been used to determine the stability dependence of the similarity functions A, B, and C, and the most appropriate choices of scaling parameters (e.g., Yamada, 1976). In addition, the experimental data give determinations of some of the fundamental constants of turbulent flow in the ABL, such as the Von Kármán constant k = 0.41−0.41 (Hicks, 1969), and the neutral barotropic ABL similarity constants A 0=1.1 and B 0=4.3 (Clarke and Hess, 1974), where the subscript 0 indicates that the surface geostrophic wind was used as reference. Perhaps the greatest impact of the Wangara Experiment has been to provide a data bank which could be used to test numerical simulations of the ABL. This has been useful not only for the newly developed higher-order closure models, but also for one-layer integral models predicting the height of the mixed layer and the height of the nocturnal surface inversion layer. Lastly, the Wangara Experiment has pointed out some of the limitations and difficulties of obtaining accurate measurements of thermal winds, vertical velocity, acceleration terms, and representative spatially averaged fluxes. Microscale turbulence measurements outside the surface layer were not included in the Wangara Experiment and further experiments are needed to determine these statistics.