Aerodynamic drag coefficient and roughness length for three seasons over a tropical western Indian station

Abstract

Land Surface Processes Experiment (LASPEX) was conducted over semi-arid region of western India in 1997. As a part of this program, wind and temperature observations were taken using slow as well as fast response sensors over a semi-arid station Anand (22°35′N, 72°55′E) situated in Gujarat state of India. Turbulent parameters such as drag coefficient and sensible heat flux were estimated using eddy correlation method and aerodynamic roughness length was estimated using wind profiles. The analysis has been carried out for the data representing summer, monsoon and winter seasons. It was found that the wind speed does not exceed 5 ms − 1 during the observational period considered in this study. Relationship of aerodynamic drag coefficient and roughness length with wind speed and stability has been investigated. Aerodynamic roughness length was greater in the stable conditions when the wind speed was low and it reduced drastically during convective conditions. The resulting values of aerodynamic roughness length and drag coefficient for the monsoon period agree well with values reported in literature over Indian subcontinent for homogeneous grass covered surfaces.