Translation speed of convective plumes in the atmospheric surface layer

Abstract

AbstractExperiments conducted over a flat uniform ploughed field indicate that the small convective plumes commonly observed in the surface layer travel as an entity with horizontal speeds proportional to the friction velocity, u. This proportionality, in turn, implies a direct relationship between the inferred height of the plume base and roughness length. For these experiments, the height of the plume base averaged 1.2 m.