Diurnal climatology of correlations between the planetary boundary layer height and surface meteorological factors over the contiguous United States

Abstract

AbstractThe correlations between the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) and surface meteorological factors, including the surface wind speed (RWS), temperature (RTS), specific humidity (RSH), pressure (RPS), and lower tropospheric stability (RLTS), are investigated using hourly profiles from the Aircraft Meteorological Data Reports at 54 major airports over the contiguous United States (CONUS) and surface observations from weather stations. At the diurnal cycle, the RWS and RTS are positive and the RPS and RLTS are negative across the CONUS, while the RSH is negative over most areas but tends to be positive in the inland humid region. At the annual cycle, the correlations show significant diurnal variations that cannot be well captured by routine twice‐daily radiosonde data. The RWS is significantly positive at night but less significant during the daytime over most regions. The RTS and RSH are positive and the RPS and RLTS are negative at the daytime, which are of the opposite sign at the nighttime, with exceptions in some coastal areas. The diurnal variations of the correlations at the annual cycle also exhibit significant geographic variability, with the diurnal variation generally stronger in central eastern humid areas, weaker in some coastal areas, and moderate in relatively arid or mountain areas. This study highlights that the correlations between the PBLH and meteorological variables depend on the thermal stratification and are affected by the local hydrological and synoptic factors.