Abstract
The development and characteristics of coastal internal boundary layers were investigated in 28 tests. These were made at all seasons and in both gradient and sea-breeze flows but only during mid-day periods. Measurements of turbulence and temperature were taken from a light aircraft which flew traverses across Long Island at successive altitudes parallel to the wind direction. These were used to locate the boundary between modified and unmodified air as a function of height and distance from the coast. The same measurements plus tower measurements of wind, turbulence and temperature, pilot balloon soundings and measurements of land and water surface temperatures by a remote sensing IR thermometer were used to quantify the characteristics of the modified and unmodified air.
The boundary layer slope was steep close to the land-water interface and became shallower with downwind distance. Growth of the boundary layer was initially slower with stable lapse rates upwind than with neutral or unstable conditions over the water. An equilibrium height was found in many tests except under conditions of free convection when the internal boundary layer merged into the mixed layer inland and with sea-breeze conditions. The equilibrium height depended on downwind conditions and was greater with low wind speeds and strong land surface heating than with stronger winds and small land-water temperature differences. Current theoretical models are not adequate to predict the height of the boundary layer at the altitudes and distances studied but reasonably good predictions were given by an empirical model developed earlier.
Wind speed in the modified air averaged about 70% of that at the coast but turbulence levels were several times higher both near the surface and aloft. These findings have important implications for diffusion from coastal sites.
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Raynor, G.S., Sethuraman, S. & Brown, R.M. Formation and characteristics of coastal internal boundary layers during onshore flows. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 16, 487–514 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03163565
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03163565