Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Simulation of diurnal variation in a stratocumulus-capped marine boundary layer during FIRE

Journal Article · · Monthly Weather Review
 [1];  [2]
  1. Utrecht Univ. (Netherlands)
  2. Meteorological Research Flight, Hampshire (United Kingdom)

A model simulation is presented of the diurnal cycle of a marine stratocumulus-capped boundary layer. The model results are compared with observations obtained during the 1987 First ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) Regional Experiment marine stratocumulus project, made from San Nicholas Island, off the coast of California. Both the simulation and the observations show a marked diurnal variation in cloud properties, as a result of the decoupling of the boundary layer into a separate cloud and a subcloud layer. In the model simulations the decoupling is caused by the absorption of the solar radiation in the cloud layer. 30 refs., 13 figs.

OSTI ID:
441387
Journal Information:
Monthly Weather Review, Journal Name: Monthly Weather Review Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 121; ISSN MWREAB; ISSN 0027-0644
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English