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Title: Effects of Vegetation and Topography on the Boundary Layer Structure above the Amazon Forest

Journal Article · · Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [6]
  1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Sao Paulo (Brazil)
  3. Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba (Brazil)
  4. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (Brazil); Max Planck Society, Mainz (Germany). Max Planck Inst. for Chemistry
  5. Max Planck Society, Mainz (Germany). Max Planck Inst. for Chemistry
  6. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Belém (Brazil)

Observational data from two field campaigns in the Amazon forest were used to study the vertical structure of turbulence above the forest. The analysis was performed using the reduced turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget and its associated two-dimensional phase space. Results revealed the existence of two regions within the roughness sublayer in which the TKE budget cannot be explained by the canonical flat-terrain TKE budgets in the canopy roughness sublayer or in the lower portion of the convective ABL. Data analysis also suggested that deviations from horizontal homogeneity have a large contribution to the TKE budget. Results from LES of a model canopy over idealized topography presented similar features, leading to the conclusion that flow distortions caused by topography are responsible for the observed features in the TKE budget. These results support the conclusion that the boundary layer above the Amazon forest is strongly impacted by the gentle topography underneath.

Research Organization:
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0011075
OSTI ID:
1802195
Journal Information:
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 77, Issue 8; ISSN 0022-4928
Publisher:
American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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