Experimental investigations into variations of ground-based inversions and comparisons with results of simple boundary-layer models

Abstract

Meteorological data obtained from sensors mounted on a 300-m antenna mast, including wind components and temperature fluctuations together with high resolution profile measurements, were used to calculate quantities which describe the most important processes during the development and decay of ground-based inversions. The vertical distribution of air temperature during the developing phase of radiation inversions has been measured continuously and compared with an existing simple prognostic model. Free and forced convection conditions have been investigated for the inversion lifting phase by measuring the heat fluxes at the surface (H s) and at the inversion base (H i), the heating rate of the mixed layer (∂θ/∂z) m , the friction velocity (u *) and the entrainment rate (dh/dt). Comparisons between the directly measured entrainment rates and those calculated by models show good agreement. For nearly free convection conditions, the entrainment parameter (k = -H i/Hs) has been determined to be about 0.25.