Spatial and Temporal Occurrences of Intermittent Turbulence During CASES-99

Abstract

Occurrences of intermittent turbulence in very stable conditions during theCASES-99 field study near Leon, Kansas were detected at several sites separatedby horizontal distances from 1 km to 25 km using sonic anemometers, minisodarsand a laser scintillometer. Periods with significant turbulent heat fluxes wereseparated by extended quiescent periods with little or no flux, and most of theflux during a night was realized in relatively small fractions (<20%) of thetotal time. There appeared to be no relationship between this intermittencyfraction and the median z/L (z being height and L the Obukhov length)value for the night, although overall sensible heat flux values on very stablenights were significantly less than those on less stable nights. The intermittencyfraction at 7 m was found to increase with mean wind speed at 20 m and, to alesser extent, with wind shear between 20 m and 30 m. While correspondenceof turbulent episodes at two sites separated by 1 km was common, it was less common at separations on the order of 20 km. There were time periods, however, during which enhanced turbulence levels were seen nearly simultaneously at large separation distances. Turbulence episodes were found to propagate upward or downward at different times with no readily defined large-scale controlling mechanism.