Low level wind maxima and temperature inversions over the northern great plains

Abstract

Abstract Discriminant analysis is employed with kite sounding data from Drexel, Nebraska in an attempt to clarify the interaction between the wind shear and temperature inversions in the planetary boundary layer. The mean height of the inversion layer and a measure of the vertical wind shear either above or below the wind maximum combine in a statistically significant function to discriminate between cases when the level of the wind maximum is coincident either with the top or with the base of the inversion near sunrise.