Modulation of Small-Scale Turbulence by Ducted Gravity Waves in the Nocturnal Boundary Layer

Abstract

Abstract Constant altitude measurements of temperature and velocity in the residual layer of the nocturnal boundary layer, collected by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Tethered Lifting System (TLS), exhibit fluctuations identified by previous work (Fritts et al.) as the signature of ducted gravity waves. The concurrent high-resolution TLS turbulence measurements (temperature structure constant C2T and turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate ɛ) reveal the presence of patches of enhanced turbulence activity that are roughly synchronized with the troughs of the temperature and velocity fluctuations. To investigate the potentially dominant role ducted gravity waves might play on the modulation of atmospheric stability and therefore, on turbulence, time series of the wave-modulated gradient Richardson number (Ri) and of the vertical gradient of potential temperature ∂θ/∂z(t) are computed numerically and compared to the TLS small-scale turbulence measurements. The results of this study agree with the predictions of previous theoretical studies (i.e., wave-generated fluctuations of temperature and velocity modulate the gradient Richardson number), resulting in periodic enhancements of turbulence at Ri minima. The patches of turbulence observed in the TLS dataset are subsequently identified as convective instabilities generated locally within the unstable phase of the wave.