Factors controlling the latent and sensible heat FLuxes over Erhai Lake under different atmospheric surface layer stability conditions

The stratification of the atmospheric surface layer(ASL)plays an important role in regulating the water vapor and heat exchange across the lake–air interface.Based on one year of data measured by the eddy covariance technique over Erhai Lake in 2015,the ASL stability(ζ)was divided into six ranges,including unstable(-1ζ<-0:1),weakly unstable(-0:1ζ<-0:01),near-neutral1(-0:01ζ<0),near-neutral2(0ζ<0:01),weakly stable(0:01ζ<0:1),and stable(0:1ζ<1).The characteristics of ASL stability conditions and factors controlling the latent(LE)and sensible heat(H)fluxes under different stability conditions were analyzed in this study.The stability conditions of Erhai Lake have noticeably seasonal and diurnal variation,with the nearneutral and(weakly)stable stratification usually occurring before July,with frequencies of 51.7%and 23.3%,respectively,but most of the(weakly)unstable stratification was observed after July,with a frequency of 59.8%.Large evaporation occurred even in stable atmospheric conditions,due to the coupled effects of the relatively larger lake–air vapor pressure difference and wind speed.The relative controls of LE and H by different atmospheric variables are largely dependent on the stability conditions.In stable and unstable ranges,LE is closely correlated with the vapor pressure difference,whereas in weakly unstable to weakly stable ranges,it is primarily controlled by wind speed.H is related to wind speed and the lake–air temperature difference under stable conditions,but shows no obvious relationship under unstable conditions.

Dimethyl sulfide in the atmospheric surface layer of the Equatorial Pacific Ocean

This paper reports a case study of atmospheric stability effect on dimethyl sulfide(DMS) concentration in the air. Investigation includes model simulation and field measurements over the Pacific Ocean. DMS concentration in surface sea water and in the air were measured during a research cruise from Hawaii to Tahiti. The diurnal variation of air temperature over the sea surface differed from the diurnal cycle of sea surface temperature because of the high heat capacity of sea water. The diurnal cycle of average DMS concentration in the air was studied in relation to the atmospheric stability parameter and surface heat flux. All these parameters had minima at noon and maxima in the early morning. The correlation coefficient of the air DMS concentration with wind speed (at 15 m high) was 0. 64. The observed concentrations of DMS in the equatorial marine surface layer and their diurnal variability agree well with model simulations. The simulated results indicate that the amplitude of the cycle and the mean concentration of DMS are dependent on the atmospheric stratifications and wind speed.

Analytic derivation of Monin-Obukhov similarity function for open atmospheric surface layer

The Monin-Obukhov(MO)similarity functionφm of the atmospheric surface layer(ASL)describing the deviation from the log law of the canonical turbulent boundary layer because of thermal stratification has been traditionally determined empirically.This study presents a unified analytic expression derived from a symmetry-based theory of wall turbulence,called structural ensemble dynamics(SED),which postulates a generalized dilation symmetry principle expressing the effect of the wall on turbulence,leading to an analytic multi-regimes expression for the mixing length.For ASL in unstable and stable conditions(i.e.,UC and SC),a unified two-regime formula of the mixing length is proposed,leading to aφm,similar to the Businger-Dyer(BD)formula;with a simplified model energy balance equation,φm is completely specified with no free parameter.Furthermore,the theory allows the study of the open ASL’s underlying additional physical processes such as bottom-up or top-down flux due to pressure variations Tp.Assuming that Tp is decomposed into shear-like and buoyancy-like components,we propose new explanations for two important features of typical ASL:a significantly smaller Karman constant of 0.36 and a varyingφm for SC mean speed profiles.The theory is validated by the data obtained at Kansas and also at Qingtu Lake Observation Array in Northern China for a variety of heat flux conditions.In conclusion,due to pressure variations,we assert that ASL is intrinsically open and that the current theory offers a new basis for its quantification.

Eddy Covariance Tilt Corrections over a Coastal Mountain Area in South-east China:Significance for Near-Surface Turbulence Characteristics

Turbulence characteristics of an atmospheric surface layer over a coastal mountain area were investigated under different coordinate frames. Performances of three methods of coordinate rotation： double rotation （DR）, triple rotation （TR）, and classic planar-fit rotation （PF） were examined in terms of correction of eddy covariance flux. Using the commonly used DR and TR methods, unreasonable rotation angles are encountered at low wind speeds and cause significant run-to-run errors of some turbulence characteristics. The PF method rotates the coordinate system to an ensemble-averaged plane, and shows large tilt error due to an inaccurate fit plane over variable terrain slopes. In this paper, we propose another coordinate rotation scheme. The observational data were separated into two groups according to wind direction. The PF method was adapted to find an ensemble-averaged streamline plane for each group of hourly runs with wind speed exceeding 1.0 m s-1. Then, the coordinate systems were rotated to their respective best- fit planes for all available hourly observations. We call this the PF10 method. The implications of tilt corrections for the turbulence characteristics are discussed with a focus on integral turbulence characteristics, the spectra of wind-velocity components, and sensible heat and momentum fluxes under various atmospheric stabilities. Our results show that the adapted application of PF provides greatly improved estimates of integral turbulence characteristics in complex terrain and maintains data quality. The comparisons of the sensible heat fluxes for four coordinate rotation methods to fluxes before correction indicate that the PF10 scheme is the best to preserve consistency between fluxes.

Influence of advection on the characteristics of turbulence over uneven surface in the oasis and the Gobi Desert

Utilizing experimental data of the atmospheric surface layer in the Gobi Oasis of Jinta in a comparative study, we demonstrate that under the condition of unstable stratification, the normalization variances of temperature in the oasis and Gobi Desert meetφs （z∧）= φθ（Z/∧） =αθ（-Z/ ∧）-1/3 while normalization variances of both humidity and CO2 in the oasis meet φ（Z/∧）= αs （1 - βs z /∧）-1/3 ; the normalization variance of temperature in the oasis is large due to disturbance by advection, whereas variance of CO2 in the Gobi Desert has certain degree of deviation relative to Monin-Obukhov （M-O） scaling, and humidity variance completely deviates from variance M-O scaling. The above result indicates that under the condition of advection, hu-midity variance meets the relation δ2 sm=D2 δ2SA ＋ δ2SB and it is determined by relative magnitude of scalar variance of ad- midity variance meets the relation δsm = D2δsA ＋ δsB vection transport. Our study reveals that, if the scalar variance of humidity or CO2 transported by advection is much larger than local scalar variance, observation value of scalar variance will deviate from M-O scaling; when scalar variance of advection transport is close to or less than local scalar variance, the observation value of scalar variance approximately meets M-O scal- ing.

Experimental demonstration of the coupling effect of vertical velocity on latent heat flux

According to the cross coupling theorem of atmospheric turbulence, latent heat flux comprises two components, a vertical humidity gradient flux and a coupling flux of vertical velocity. In this paper, observational data are employed to demonstrate and analyze the coupling effect of vertical velocity on latent heat flux. The results highlight the presence of a coupling zero-effect height. When the observational level exceeds or underlies the coupling zero-effect height, the coupling effect suppresses or enhances the latent heat flux, respectively. Above the heterogeneous terrain in the experimental region, the overall difference between the estimated and the observed latent heat fluxes decreases from 27% to 2% (for ascending flow) and from 47% to 28% (for descending flow), after compensating for gradient flux. The coupling theorem of atmospheric turbulence is well validated by our analysis, supporting a role for experimental datasets in unraveling the mysteries of atmospheric turbulence.