Daytime variation of the boundary-layer depth: Comparison of model computations and lidar measurements in the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez region
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
We compare the boundary-layer depth computed by the HOTMAC mesoscale meteorological model and measured with an elastic-backscatter lidar. Using lidar data collected during the September 1994 Border Air Quality Study in the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez region, the boundary-layer depth was determined based on the height at which the vertical scans of aerosol backscatter drop off to background values. The model-computed boundary-layer depth is calculated based on the height at which the turbulent kinetic energy (tke) drops to 10% of the maximum tke. As expected, the lidar scans, which cover approximately six kilometers in the horizontal dimension, show the {open_quotes}real-time{close_quotes} daytime boundary-layer top as a non-uniform, temporally and spatially varying quantity. Boundary-layer depths computed by HOTMAC with a newly incorporated two-stream delta-eddington shortwave radiation scheme agree quite will with the spatially-averaged lidar measurements, except in the late afternoon when convective clouds form and make comparisons quite difficult. Statistics of the measured boundary-layer depth and comparisons of model-computed boundary-layer depths using different radiation schemes will also be presented.
- OSTI ID:
- 466272
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9606185-; TRN: 96:005931-0223
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 5. international conference on atmospheric sciences and applications to air quality, Seattle, WA (United States), 18-20 Jun 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of The 5th international atmospheric sciences and applications to air quality conference; PB: 322 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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