General Characteristics of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Over a Flaw Lead Polynya Region in Winter and Spring

Abstract

A time series of microwave radiometric profiles over Arctic Canada’s Cape Bathurst (70°N, 124.5°W) flaw lead polynya region from 1 January to 30 June, 2008 was examined to determine the general characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer in winter and spring. A surface based or elevated inversion was present on 97% of winter (January–March) days, and on 77% of spring (April–June) days. The inversion was the deepest in the first week of March (≈1100 m), and the shallowest in June (≈250 m). The mean temperature and absolute humidity from the surface to the top of the inversion averaged 250.1 K (−23.1°C), and 0.56 × 10−3 kg m−3 in winter, and in spring averaged 267.5 K (−5.6°C), and 2.77 × 10−3 kg m−3. The median winter atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) potential temperature profile provided evidence of a shallow, weakly stable internal boundary layer (surface to 350 m) topped by an inversion (350–1,000 m). The median spring profile showed a shallow, near-neutral internal boundary layer (surface to 350 m) under an elevated inversion (600–800 m). The median ABL absolute humidity profiles were weakly positive in winter and negative in spring. Estimates of the convergence of sensible heat and water vapour from the surface that could have produced the turbulent internal boundary layers of the median profiles were 0.67 MJ m−2 and 13.1 × 10−3 kg m−2 for the winter season, and 0.66 MJ m−2 and 33.4 × 10−3 kg m−2 for the spring season. With fetches of 10–100 km, these accumulations may have resulted from a surface sensible heat flux of 15–185 W m−2, plus a surface moisture flux of 0.001–0.013 mm h−1 (or a latent heat flux of 0.7–8.8 W m−2) in winter, and 0.003–0.033 mm h−1 (or a latent heat flux of 2–22 W m−2) in spring.