Vertical heat fluxes generated by mesoscale atmospheric flow induced by thermal inhomogeneities in the PBL
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins (United States) IFA-CNR, Rome (Italy)
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins (United States)
An analytical evaluation of the vertical heat fluxes associated with the mesoscale flow generated by thermal inhomogeneities in the PBL in the absence of a synoptic wind is presented. Results show that the mesoscale fluxes are of the same order as the diabatic beat fluxes. In the sea-breeze case, results show that in the lower layer of the atmosphere the heat flux is positive over the land and negative over the sea with an overall positive horizontal average. In the free atmosphere above the PBL, the mesoscale vertical heat flux is negative over the land and over the sea. The mesoscale flow contributes to the weakening of the atmospheric stability within a region that extends a Rossby radius distance from the coastline and up to an altitude larger than twice the depth of the convective PBL. The average momentum flux equals zero. Sinusoidally periodic thermal inhomogeneities induce periodic atmospheric cells of the same horizontal scale. The intensity of mesoscale cells increases for increasing values of the wavenumber, maximizes when the wavelength of the forcing is of the order of the local Rossby radius, and then decreases as the wavelength of the forcing decreases. The intensity of the vertical velocity and vertical fluxes is only a weak function of the wavenumber, at large wavenumber. The intensity of the mesoscale heat flux does not decrease substantially at high wavenumbers; however, the transport of cool air over small heated patches of land may cut off the temperature gradient in the atmosphere between the land and water early in the day, thereby reducing the duration of the mesoscale activity. Horizontal diffusion of heat in the convective boundary layer can significantly weaken horizontal temperature gradients for large wavenumbers. Periodic square-wave thermal inhomogeneities are more effective than sinusoidal waves in generating mesoscale cells. When dealing with low resolution models the mesoscale heat fluxes have to be introduced in a parametric form.
- OSTI ID:
- 6534660
- Journal Information:
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences; (United States), Vol. 50:6; ISSN 0022-4928
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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