Distributions of surface-layer buoyance versus lifting condensation level over a heterogeneous land surface

Journal Article · Mon Apr 15 04:00:00 EDT 1996 · Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1996)053<1086:DOSLBV>2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:435023

Schrieber, K; Zhang, Qing ^[1]; Stull, R ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
2. Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada)

Onset and coverage of small cumulus clouds depend on the relative abundance of surface-layer air parcels possessing favorable buoyancy and moisture - two variables that are coupled through the surface energy budget. This abundance is described using a joint frequency distribution (JFD) as a function of virtual potential temperature {theta}{sub v} and height of the lifting condensation level z{sub LCL}. It is shown analytically that the shape and spread of this JFD depends on the ranges of Bowen ratios and solar forcings (albedoes, cloud shading, etc.) that exist within a domain of heterogeneous land use. To sample the character of such JFDs in the real atmosphere, a case study is presented using turbulence data gathered by aircraft flying in the surface layer of southwest France. This case study includes 4 days of clear skies during the Hydrologic Atmospheric Pilot Experiment (HAPEX) of 1986. The full flight track during HAPEX overflew a wide range of land use including evergreen forest, corn, vineyards, pastures, and irrigated fields over varied topography. The JFDs from these full tracks are found to be quite complex, being frequently multimodal with a convoluted perimeter. However, when a full track is broken into segments, each over a subdomain of quasi-homogeneous land use, the resulting segment JFDs are mono-modal with simpler topology. Such a characterization of JFDs provides guidance toward eventual subgrid cumulus parameterization in large-scale forecast models, with associated impacts in aviation forecasting, pollutant venting and chemical reactions, verticle dispersion and turbulence modulation, and radiation balance in climate-change models. 48 refs., 17 figs., 7 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 435023
• Journal Information: Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Journal Name: Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 53; ISSN 0022-4928; ISSN JAHSAK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CLOUDS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
MATHEMATICAL MODELS