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Title: On the Departure from Monin–Obukhov Surface Similarity and Transition to the Convective Mixed Layer

Journal Article · · Boundary-Layer Meteorology

Large-eddy simulations are used to evaluate mean profile similarity in the convective bound ary layer (CBL). Particular care is taken regarding the grid sensitivity of the profiles and the mitigation of inertial oscillations in the simulation spin-up. The nondimensional gradients φ for wind speed and air temperature generally align with Monin–Obukhov similarity across cases but have a steeper slope than predicted within each profile. The same trend has been noted in several other recent studies. The Businger-Dyer relations are modified here with an exponential cutoff term to account for the decay in φ to first-order approximation, yielding improved similarity from approximately 0.05zi to above 0.3zi, where zi is the CBL depth. The necessity for the exponential correction is attributed to an extended transition from surface scaling to zero gradient in the mixed layer, where the departure from Monin–Obukhov similarity may be negligible at the surface but becomes substantial well below the conventional surface layer height of 0.1zi.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Data Center
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE
Contributing Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0022072
OSTI ID:
2367206
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2382662
Journal Information:
Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 190, Issue 6; ISSN 0006-8314
Publisher:
SpringerCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Figures / Tables (12)