Potential Temperature Flux Research Articles

On dissipation timescales of the basic second-order moments: the effect on the energy and flux budget (EFB) turbulence closure for stably stratified turbulence

Abstract. The dissipation rates of the basic second-order moments are the key parameters playing a vital role in turbulence modelling and controlling turbulence energetics and spectra and turbulent fluxes of momentum and heat. In this paper, we use the results of direct numerical simulations (DNSs) to evaluate dissipation rates of the basic second-order moments and revise the energy and flux budget (EFB) turbulence closure theory for stably stratified turbulence. We delve into the theoretical implications of this approach and substantiate our closure hypotheses through DNS data. We also show why the concept of down-gradient turbulent transport becomes incomplete when applied to the vertical turbulent flux of potential temperature under stable stratification. We reveal essential feedback between the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), the vertical turbulent flux of buoyancy, and the turbulent potential energy (TPE), which is responsible for maintaining shear-produced stably stratified turbulence for any Richardson number.

The Mean Wind and Potential Temperature Flux Profiles in Convective Boundary Layers

Abstract We develop innovative analytical expressions for the mean wind and potential temperature flux profiles in convective boundary layers (CBLs). CBLs are frequently observed during daytime as Earth’s surface is warmed by solar radiation. Therefore, their modeling is relevant for weather forecasting, climate modeling, and wind energy applications. For CBLs in the convective-roll-dominated regime, the mean velocity and potential temperature in the bulk region of the mixed layer are approximately uniform. We propose an analytical expression for the normalized potential temperature flux profile as a function of height, using a perturbation method approach in which we employ the horizontally homogeneous and quasi-stationary characteristics of the surface and inversion layers. The velocity profile in the mixed layer and the entrainment zone is constructed based on insights obtained from the proposed potential temperature flux profile and the convective logarithmic friction law. Combining this with the well-known Monin–Obukhov similarity theory allows us to capture the velocity profile over the entire boundary layer height. The proposed profiles agree excellently with large-eddy simulation results over the range of −L/z0 ∈ [3.6 × 102, 0.7 × 105], where L is the Obukhov length and z0 is the roughness length.

Investigating the Diurnal Radiative, Turbulent, and Biophysical Processes in the Amazonian Canopy‐Atmosphere Interface by Combining LES Simulations and Observations

AbstractWe investigate the atmospheric diurnal variability inside and above the Amazonian rainforest for a representative day during the dry season. To this end, we combine high‐resolution large‐eddy simulations that are constrained and evaluated against a comprehensive observation set, including CO2 concentrations, gathered during GoAmazon2014/15. We design systematic numerical experiments to quantify whether a multilayer approach in solving the explicit canopy improves our canopy‐atmosphere representation. We particularly focus on the relationship between photosynthesis and plant transpiration, and their distribution at leaf and canopy scales. We found the variability of photosynthesis drivers like vapor pressure deficit and leaf temperature to be about 3 times larger for sunlit leaves compared to shaded leaves. This leads to a large spread on leaf stomatal conductance values with minimum and maximum values varying more than 100%. Regarding the turbulent structure, we find wind‐driven stripe‐like shapes at the canopy top and structures resembling convective cells at the canopy. Wind‐related variables provide the best spatiotemporal agreement between model and observations. The potential temperature and heat flux profiles agree with an observed decoupling near the canopy top interface, although with less variability and cold biases of up to 3 K. The increasing complexity on the biophysical processes leads to the largest disagreements for evaporation, CO2 plant assimilation and soil efflux. The model is able to capture the correct dependences and trends with the magnitudes still differing. We finally discuss the need to revise leaf and soil models and to complete the observations at leaf and canopy levels.

Vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers

SignificanceThe presented model describes the vertical structure of conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers. Due to the complicated interplay between buoyancy, shear, and Coriolis effects, analytical descriptions have been limited to the mean wind speed. We introduce an analytical approach based on the Ekman equations and the basis function of the universal potential temperature flux profile that allows one to describe the wind and turbulent shear stress profiles and hence capture features like the wind veer profile. The analytical profiles are validated against high-fidelity large-eddy simulations and atmospheric measurements. Our findings contribute to the scientific community's fundamental understanding of atmospheric turbulence with direct relevance for weather forecasting, climate modeling, and wind energy applications.

Response of a tropical cyclone to a subsurface ocean eddy and the role of boundary layer dynamics

AbstractWe analyse a tropical cyclone simulated for a realistic ocean‐eddy field using the global, nonhydrostatic, fully coupled atmosphere–ocean ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) model. After intensifying rapidly, the tropical cyclone decays following its interaction with a cold wake and subsequently reintensifies as it encounters a subsurface, warm‐core eddy. To understand the change in the azimuthal‐mean structure and intensity of the tropical cyclone, we invoke a conceptual framework, which recognises the importance of both boundary‐layer dynamics and air–sea interactions. Crucially, the framework recognises that the change in the mean radius of updraught at the boundary‐layer top is regulated by the expanding outer tangential wind field through boundary‐layer dynamics. The decrease in the average equivalent potential temperature of the boundary‐layer updraught during the early decay phase is related to an increase in the mean radius of the updraught rather than air–sea interactions. However, later in the decay phase, air–sea interactions contribute to the decrease, which is accompanied by a decrease in the vertical mass flux in the eyewall updraught and, ultimately, a more pronounced spin‐down of the tropical cyclone. Air–sea interactions are also important during reintensification, where the tendencies are reversed, that is, the mean radius of the boundary‐layer updraught decreases along with an increase in its average equivalent potential temperature and vertical mass flux. The importance of boundary‐layer dynamics to the change in the azimuthal‐mean structure is underscored by the ability of a steady‐state slab boundary‐layer model to predict an increasing and, to a lesser extent, decreasing radius of forced ascent for periods of decay and reintensification, respectively. Finally, our simulation highlights the importance of the ocean‐eddy field for tropical cyclone intensity forecasts, since the simulated warm‐core eddy does not display any sea‐surface temperature (SST) signal until it is encountered by the tropical cyclone.

Universal Wind Profile for Conventionally Neutral Atmospheric Boundary Layers.

Conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers (CNBLs), which are characterized with zero surface potential temperature flux and capped by an inversion of potential temperature, are frequently encountered in nature. Therefore, predicting the wind speed profiles of CNBLs is relevant for weather forecasting, climate modeling, and wind energy applications. However, previous attempts to predict the velocity profiles in CNBLs have had limited success due to the complicated interplay between buoyancy, shear, and Coriolis effects. Here, we utilize ideas from the classical Monin-Obukhov similarity theory in combination with a local scaling hypothesis to derive an analytic expression for the stability correction function ψ=-c_{ψ}(z/L)^{1/2}, where c_{ψ}=4.2 is an empirical constant, z is the height above ground, and L is the local Obukhov length based on potential temperature flux at that height, for CNBLs. An analytic expression for this flux is also derived using dimensional analysis and a perturbation method approach. We find that the derived profile agrees excellently with the velocity profile in the entire boundary layer obtained from high-fidelity large eddy simulations of typical CNBLs.

Effect of offshore troughs on the South India erratic summer monsoon rainfall in June 2017

The onset and advance of southwest monsoon are accompanied by the appearance of the offshore trough along the southwest coast of India. This offshore trough escorts a deluge of rainfall to the southwest coast, and sometimes rainfall band moves eastward further into south India. These broad observations were noticed during the summer monsoon of June 2017. Meteorological agencies and media had reported a huge amount of rainfall over the southwest coast of India during the month. But, in the far interior of south India, rainfall was less. Due to the less rainfall, water resources depleted, which affected local farmers and common man of south India. The confused views of the common man on southwest coast rainfall could be due to lack of understanding related to various factors affecting rainfall over the same region. This article is an endeavor to address the preliminary understanding of the southwest coast rainfall during June 2017, with more stress on offshore troughs. The study begins with area-averaged rainfall statistics over south, southwest, and southeast India by employing satellite and rain gauge merged rainfall datasets. Area averaged analysis revealed offshore trough contributed 80 % of rainfall over the South West India, 68 % over South East India, contributing to an overall 75 % over south India in 2017. To identify offshore trough position and strength in the reanalysis and model simulations, a new method called VSV (Vertical Shear of Vorticity) method was introduced. The computed offshore troughs were categorized into Active, Normal, and Feeble based on the strength of meridional gradient of mean sea level pressure and 850 hPa horizontal winds. The contribution due to each category of the offshore trough over different sub-regions was investigated to find out the effect of the offshore trough to total rainfall. Dynamic and thermodynamic features of these categories of the offshore trough were investigated by using proxies like equivalent potential temperature and moisture flux convergence. We found that during active offshore trough an eastward propagation of rain bands persists, which was explained by using moisture flux convergence and equivalent potential temperature at different levels of the atmosphere.

Atmospheric response to the 20 March 2015 solar eclipse along the whole aerosol column by lidar measurements

Lidar measurements at 355, 532, and 1064 nm have been performed at Lecce (40.3°N, 18.1°E), in south-eastern Italy, to investigate for the first time the impact of the 20 March 2015 solar eclipse on both the planetary boundary layer (PBL) height and the aerosol optical and microphysical properties along the whole aerosol column. The partial solar eclipse lasted from 08:30 up to 10:47 UTC and reached the full phase at 09:37 UTC. The maximum percentage obscuration of the solar disk was 43.6%. The eclipse cooling effect was responsible at the full phase time (tF) for the downward solar irradiance decrease at the top of the atmosphere, at the surface, and within the atmosphere of 429.2 ± 0.6, 373 ± 25, and 56 ± 26 W m−2, respectively. The turbulent kinetic energy, the potential temperature flux, the sensible heat flux, the variance of air temperature, and the vertical wind speed at the surface revealed that the turbulence activity reached the maximum weakening at the time tF. The standard deviation (SD) technique has been applied to both the lidar range corrected signals (RCS) at 1064 nm and the linear volume depolarization ratio (δV) profiles at 355 nm to determine the time evolution of the shallow PBL height and the aloft aerosol layers. The SD technique applied to RCS and δV profiles revealed similar results within experimental uncertainties. The PBL height, which was equal to 380 ± 40 m above ground level (AGL) at the eclipse full phase (09:37 UTC), decreased up to 220 ± 20 m at 09:45 UTC because of the eclipse cooling effect and, then, increased up to 320 ± 30 m at 10:17 UTC. The determined PBL height time evolution was in good agreement with the ones of the main turbulence parameters at the surface after tF. The vertical profiles of the aerosol backscatter coefficient (ββ), the δV at 355 nm, and the extinction-related Ångström exponent (Å), calculated at the 355–1064 nm wavelength pair revealed a marked decrease of β, δV, and Å at the eclipse full phase within the aloft aerosol layers. The abrupt β, δV, and Å decrease due to the aerosol concentration and type changes has mainly been associated with the decrease of the fine-mode particle contribution.

A Scale-Adaptive Turbulent Kinetic Energy Closure for the Dry Convective Boundary Layer

Abstract A pragmatic scale-adaptive turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) closure is proposed to simulate the dry convective boundary layer for a variety of horizontal grid resolutions: from 50 m, typical of large-eddy simulation models that use three-dimensional turbulence parameterizations/closures, up to 100 km, typical of climate models that use one-dimensional turbulence and convection parameterizations/closures. Since parameterizations/closures using the TKE approach have been frequently used in these two asymptotic limits, a simple method is proposed to merge them with a mixing-length-scale formulation for intermediate resolutions. This new scale-adaptive mixing length naturally increases with increasing grid length until it saturates as the grid length reaches mesoscale-model resolution. The results obtained using this new approach for dry convective boundary layers are promising. The mean vertical profiles of potential temperature and heat flux remain in good agreement for different resolutions. A continuous transition (in terms of resolution) across the gray zone is illustrated through the partitioning between the model-resolved and the subgrid-scale transports as well as by documenting the transition of the subgrid-scale TKE source/sink terms. In summary, a natural and continuous transition across resolutions (from 50 m to 100 km) is obtained, for dry convection, using exactly the same atmospheric model for all resolutions with a simple scale-adaptive mixing-length formulation.

Solar eclipse of 20 March 2015 and impacts on irradiance, meteorological parameters, and aerosol properties over southern Italy

The effects of the partial solar eclipse of 20 March 2015 on short-wave (SW) and long-wave (LW) irradiance measurements, meteorological variables, and near surface particle properties have been investigated. Measurements were performed at three southern Italy observatories of the Global Atmospheric Watch - World Meteorological Organization (GAW-WMO): Lecce (LE, 40.3°N, 18.1°E, 30ma.s.l.), Lamezia Terme (LT, 38.9°N, 16.2°E, 50ma.s.l.), and Capo Granitola (CG, 37.6°N, 12.7°E, 50ma.s.l.), to investigate the dependence of the eclipse effects on monitoring site location and meteorology. LE, LT, and CG were affected by a similar maximum obscuration of the solar disk, but meteorological parameters and aerosol optical and microphysical properties varied from site to site on the eclipse's day. The maximum obscuration of the solar disk, which was equal to 43.6, 42.8, and 45.1% at LE, LT, and CG, respectively, was responsible for the decrease of the downward SW irradiance up to 45, 44, and 45% at LE, LT, and CG, respectively. The upward SW irradiance decreased up to 45, 48, and 44% at LE, LT, and CG, respectively. Consequently, the eclipse SW direct radiative forcing (DRF) was equal to −307, −278, and −238Wm−2 at LE, LT, and CG, respectively, at the maximum obscuration of the solar disk. The downward and upward LW irradiance decrease was quite small (up to 4%) at the three sites. The time evolution of the meteorological parameters and aerosol optical and microphysical properties and their response strength to the solar eclipse impact varied from site to site, mainly because of the local meteorology and geographical location. Nevertheless, the solar eclipse was responsible at the study sites for a temperature decrease within 0.5–0.8K, a relative humidity increase within 3.5–4.5%, and a wind speed decrease within 0.5–1.0ms−1, because of its cooling effect. The solar eclipse was also responsible at all the sites for the increase of near surface particle scattering coefficient (σsp) and scattering color ratio (CRσ), mainly for the increase of both ultrafine and fine mode particle concentrations. In more detail, σsp, CRσ, and number concentration increased up to 2Mm−1, 0.2, and 9·103cm−3, respectively. The atmospheric turbulence weakening, driven by the eclipse cooling effect and revealed by the decrease of turbulent kinetic energy and potential temperature flux, mainly contributed to the changes of near surface particle concentrations and size distributions.

The impact of the QNSE‐EDMF scheme and its modifications on boundary layer parameterization in WRF: modelling of CASES‐97

In recent years, many eddy‐diffusivity mass‐flux (EDMF) planetary boundary layer (PBL) parametrizations have been introduced. Yet most validations are based on idealized set‐ups and/or single‐column models. To address this gap, this article focuses on the effect the mass‐flux part has on the performance in the Quasi‐Normal Scale Elimination‐EDMF (QNSE‐EDMF) PBL scheme in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model by comparing the results to observations from the CASES‐97 field campaign. In addition, two refined versions, one introducing the parametrized clouds to the WRF radiation scheme, and the second adding a different entrainment formulation, have been evaluated.The introduction of mass flux reduced errors in the average moisture profile, but virtual temperature and wind speed profiles did not change as much. The modelled mixed‐layer depth, while still low compared to observations, was closer to observed values with the addition of mass flux. The major changes in the virtual potential temperature flux profiles were an increase in entrainment ratios and a slight decrease in surface values. Allowing for biases in the observed fluxes, modelled and observed flux profiles had a similar shape. However, the agreement among the modelled and between the modelled and observed water‐vapour flux profiles and vertical flux divergence was often poor, a likely result of the model's failure to capture the timing of the morning boundary‐layer water‐vapour maximum. Further, both virtual potential temperature and water‐vapour flux profiles display spurious spikes attributed to the way the non‐local and local terms interact in the model. Adding mass‐flux‐based clouds to the radiation calculation improved the time‐and space‐averaged modelled incoming short‐wave flux. The choice of the representation for entrainment/detrainment often affected the results to the same extent as adding mass flux.

Direct numerical simulations of turbulent Ekman layers with increasing static stability: modifications to the bulk structure and second-order statistics

AbstractDirect numerical simulations of stably stratified Ekman layers are conducted to study the effect of increasing static stability on turbulence dynamics and modelling in wall-bounded flows at three moderate Reynolds numbers. The flow field is analysed by examining the mean profiles of wind speed, potential temperature and momentum flux, as well as streamwise velocity and temperature spectra. The maximum stabilizing buoyancy flux that a flow can sustain while remaining fully turbulent is found to depend on the Reynolds number. The flows with the highest Reynolds number display a relatively well-developed inertial range and logarithmic layer, and are found to bear similarities to much higher-Reynolds-number flows like the ones encountered in the atmospheric boundary layer. In particular, the near-wall mean profiles follow the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory. However, several flow features, such as the critical Richardson number and the stress–strain alignment, are found to maintain significant dependence on the Reynolds number. The budgets of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), vertical velocity variance, momentum and buoyancy fluxes, and temperature variance are analysed. The results indicate that the effect of stability on turbulence is first directly manifested in the vertical velocity variance budget, and results in damping of vertical motions. This then leads to a reduction in the downward transport of horizontal momentum components towards the surface, and consequently to a decrease in the shear production term in the TKE budget: changes in the vertical profile of TKE shear production with increasing Richardson number are significant and have a larger impact on TKE than direct buoyancy destruction. The reduction in vertical velocity variance also results in significant drops in the production terms in the momentum flux, buoyancy flux and temperature variance budgets. Various assumptions and parameters related to low-order turbulence closures are investigated. The results suggest that the vertical velocity variance is a more appropriate parameter than the full TKE on which to base eddy-diffusivity and viscosity models.

Role of Convective Structures and Background Turbulence in the Dry Convective Boundary Layer

We quantify the role of the convective buoyant structures and the remainder turbulence, here called background turbulence, in the convective atmospheric boundary layer in horizontally homogeneous, dry and barotropic conditions. Three filtering methods to separate the structures and the background turbulence are first evaluated. These are: short-time averaging, Fourier filtering and proper orthogonal decomposition. The Fourier method turns out to be the most appropriate for the present purpose. The decomposition is applied to two cases: one with no mean flow and another with moderate mean wind speed. It is shown that roughly 85 % of the vertical flux of the potential temperature and about 72 % of the kinetic energy is carried by the structures in the mixed layer in both cases. The corresponding percentage for the potential temperature variance is 81 % in the zero mean-wind case and 76 % in the moderate mean-wind case. The structures are responsible for as much as 94 % of the momentum flux in the mixed layer of the moderate mean-wind case. In the surface layer the background turbulence is generally more important than the structure contribution in both cases. The budget of the potential temperature flux is analyzed in detail and it is shown that its turbulent transport term is mostly built up by the structures but also the interaction between the structures and the background turbulence plays a significant role. The other important budget terms are shown to be dominated by the structures except for the pressure–temperature gradient covariance.

Investigation of the subgrid-scale fluxes and their production rates in a convective atmospheric surface layer using measurement data

The subgrid-scale (SGS) potential temperature flux and stress in the atmospheric surface layer are studied using field measurement data. We analyse the mean values of the SGS temperature flux, the SGS temperature flux production rate, the SGS temperature variance production rate, the SGS stress and the SGS stress production rate conditional on both the resolvable-scale velocity and temperature, which must be reproduced by SGS models for large-eddy simulation to reproduce the one-point resolvable-scale velocity–temperature joint probability density function (JPDF). The results show that the conditional statistics generally depend on the resolvable-scale velocity and temperature fluctuations, indicating that these conditional variables have strong influences on the resolvable-scale statistics. The dependencies of the conditional SGS stress and the SGS stress production rate, which are partly due to the effects of flow history and buoyancy, suggest that model predictions of the SGS stress also affect the resolvable-scale temperature statistics. The results for the conditional flux and the conditional flux production rate vectors have similar trends. These conditional vectors are also well aligned. The positive temperature fluctuations associated with updrafts are found to have a qualitatively different influence on the conditional statistics than the negative temperature fluctuations associated with downdrafts. The conditional temperature flux and the temperature flux production rate predicted using several SGS models are compared with measurements in statistical a priori tests. The predictions using the nonlinear model are found to be closely related to the predictions using the Smagorinsky model. Several potential effects of the SGS model deficiencies on the resolvable-scale statistics, such as the overprediction of the vertical mean temperature gradient and the underprediction of the vertical temperature flux, are identified. The results suggest that efforts to improve the LES prediction of a resolvable-scale statistic must consider all the relevant SGS components identified using the JPDF equation and the surface layer dynamics. This study also provides impetus for further investigations of the JPDF equation, especially analytical studies on the relationship between the JPDF and the SGS terms that govern its evolution.

Energy- and Flux-Budget Turbulence Closure Model for Stably Stratified Flows. Part II: The Role of Internal Gravity Waves

We advance our prior energy- and flux-budget (EFB) turbulence closure model for stably stratified atmospheric flow and extend it to account for an additional vertical flux of momentum and additional productions of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), turbulent potential energy (TPE) and turbulent flux of potential temperature due to large-scale internal gravity waves (IGW). For the stationary, homogeneous regime, the first version of the EFB model disregarding large-scale IGW yielded universal dependencies of the flux Richardson number, turbulent Prandtl number, energy ratios, and normalised vertical fluxes of momentum and heat on the gradient Richardson number, Ri. Due to the large-scale IGW, these dependencies lose their universality. The maximal value of the flux Richardson number (universal constant ≈0.2–0.25 in the no-IGW regime) becomes strongly variable. In the vertically homogeneous stratification, it increases with increasing wave energy and can even exceed 1. For heterogeneous stratification, when internal gravity waves propagate towards stronger stratification, the maximal flux Richardson number decreases with increasing wave energy, reaches zero and then becomes negative. In other words, the vertical flux of potential temperature becomes counter-gradient. Internal gravity waves also reduce the anisotropy of turbulence: in contrast to the mean wind shear, which generates only horizontal TKE, internal gravity waves generate both horizontal and vertical TKE. Internal gravity waves also increase the share of TPE in the turbulent total energy (TTE = TKE + TPE). A well-known effect of internal gravity waves is their direct contribution to the vertical transport of momentum. Depending on the direction (downward or upward), internal gravity waves either strengthen or weaken the total vertical flux of momentum. Predictions from the proposed model are consistent with available data from atmospheric and laboratory experiments, direct numerical simulations and large-eddy simulations.

Gravity Wave Instability Dynamics at High Reynolds Numbers. Part I: Wave Field Evolution at Large Amplitudes and High Frequencies

Abstract Direct numerical simulations are employed to examine gravity wave instability dynamics at a high intrinsic frequency, wave amplitudes both above and below nominal convective instability, and a Reynolds number sufficiently high to allow a fully developed turbulence spectrum. Assumptions include no mean shear, uniform stratification, and a monochromatic gravity wave to isolate fluxes due to gravity wave and turbulence structures from those arising from environmental shears or varying wave amplitudes. The results reveal strong wave breaking for both wave amplitudes, severe primary wave amplitude reductions within ∼1 or 2 wave periods, an extended turbulence inertial range, significant excitation of additional wave motions exhibiting upward and downward propagation, and a net positive vertical potential temperature flux due to the primary wave motion, with secondary waves and turbulence contributing variable and negative potential temperature fluxes, respectively. Turbulence maximizes within ∼1 buoyancy period of the onset of breaking, arises almost entirely owing to shear production, and decays rapidly following primary wave amplitude decay. Secondary waves are excited by wave–wave interactions and the turbulence dynamics accompanying wave breaking; they typically have lower frequencies and smaller momentum fluxes than the primary wave following breaking.

Consistent Scale Interaction of Gravity Waves in the Doppler Spread Parameterization

Abstract The standard Doppler spread parameterization of gravity waves, which was proposed by C.-O. Hines and has been applied in a number of middle atmosphere general circulation models, is extended by the inclusion of all effects associated with vertical diffusion. Here the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (WKB) approximation is employed to calculate the vertical propagation of the wave spectrum in the presence of wave damping. According to the scale interaction between quasi-stationary turbulence and the larger nonturbulent flow, all vertical diffusion applied to the resolved flow should damp the parameterized gravity waves as well. Hence, the unobliterated part of the gravity wave spectrum is subject to diffusive damping by the following processes: 1) the background diffusion derived from the model’s boundary layer vertical diffusion scheme, which may extend into the middle atmosphere, 2) molecular diffusion, and 3) the turbulent diffusion resulting from the truncation of the gravity wave spectrum by Doppler spreading, which thus feeds back on the unobliterated gravity waves. The extended Doppler spread parameterization is examined using perpetual July simulations performed with a mechanistic general circulation model. For reasonable parameter settings, the convergence of the potential temperature flux cannot be neglected in the sensible heat budget, especially in the thermosphere. Less gravity wave flux enters the model thermosphere when vertical diffusion is included, thus avoiding the need for artificial means to control the parameterized gravity waves in the upper atmosphere. The zonal wind in the tropical middle and upper atmosphere is found to be especially sensitive to gravity wave damping by diffusion.

Sensitivity of Land‐Atmosphere Exchanges to Overshooting PBL Thermals in an Idealized Coupled Model

The response of atmospheric carbon dioxide to a given amount of surface flux is inversely proportional to the depth of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Overshooting thermals that entrain free tropospheric air down into the boundary layer modify the characteristics and depth of the mixed layer through the insertion of energy and mass. In addition, entrainment “dilutes” the effects of surface fluxes on scalar quantities (temperature, water vapor, carbon dioxide, etc.) in the PBL. Therefore, incorrect simulation of PBL depth can lead to linear errors in estimates of carbon dioxide fluxes in inverse models. Dilution by entrainment directly alters the surface‐air gradients in scalar properties, which serve as the “driving force” for surface fluxes. In addition, changes in near‐surface temperature and water vapor affect surface fluxes through physiological processes in plant canopies (e.g. stomatal conductance). Although overshooting thermals are important in the physical world, their effects are unresolved in most regional models. We explore the sensitivity of surface fluxes and PBL scalars to the intensity of PBL top entrainment by manipulating its strength in an idealized version of the coupled SiB‐RAMS model. An entrainment parameterization based on the virtual potential temperature flux at the surface is implemented into SiB‐RAMS to produce a warmer and drier mixed layer, to alter the surface fluxes, and to increase the depth of the PBL. These variations produce modified CO2 concentrations and vary with the strength of the parameterized entrainment.

Scaling Laws and Regime Transitions of Macroturbulence in Dry Atmospheres

Abstract In simulations of a wide range of circulations with an idealized general circulation model, clear scaling laws of dry atmospheric macroturbulence emerge that are consistent with nonlinear eddy–eddy interactions being weak. The simulations span several decades of eddy energies and include Earth-like circulations and circulations with multiple jets and belts of surface westerlies in each hemisphere. In the simulations, the eddy available potential energy and the barotropic and baroclinic eddy kinetic energy scale linearly with each other, with the ratio of the baroclinic eddy kinetic energy to the barotropic eddy kinetic energy and eddy available potential energy decreasing with increasing planetary radius and rotation rate. Mean values of the meridional eddy flux of surface potential temperature and of the vertically integrated convergence of the meridional eddy flux of zonal momentum generally scale with functions of the eddy energies and the energy-containing eddy length scale, with a few exceptions in simulations with statically near-neutral or neutral extratropical thermal stratifications. Eddy energies scale with the mean available potential energy and with a function of the supercriticality, a measure of the near-surface slope of isentropes. Strongly baroclinic circulations form an extended regime in which eddy energies scale linearly with the mean available potential energy. Mean values of the eddy flux of surface potential temperature and of the vertically integrated eddy momentum flux convergence scale similarly with the mean available potential energy and other mean fields. The scaling laws for the dependence of eddy fields on mean fields exhibit a regime transition between a regime in which the extratropical thermal stratification and tropopause height are controlled by radiation and convection and a regime in which baroclinic entropy fluxes modify the extratropical thermal stratification and tropopause height. At the regime transition, for example, the dependence of the eddy flux of surface potential temperature and the dependence of the vertically integrated eddy momentum flux convergence on mean fields changes—a result with implications for climate stability and for the general circulation of an atmosphere, including its tropical Hadley circulation.

A numerical study of daily transitions in the convective boundary layer

We examine daily (morning–afternoon) transitions in the atmospheric boundary layer based on large-eddy simulations. Under consideration are the effects of the stratification at the top of the mixed layer and of the wind shear. The results describe the transitory behaviour of temperature and wind velocity, their second moments, the boundary-layer height Z m (defined by the maximum of the potential temperature gradient) and its standard deviation σ m , the mixed-layer height z i (defined by the minimum of the potential temperature flux), entrainment velocity W e, and the entrainment flux H i . The entrainment flux and the entrainment velocity are found to lag slightly in time with respect to the surface temperature flux. The simulations imply that the atmospheric values of velocity variances, measured at various instants during the daytime, and normalized in terms of the actual convective scale w*, are not expected to collapse to a single curve, but to produce a significant scatter of observational points. The measured values of the temperature variance, normalized in terms of the actual convective scale Θ*, are expected to form a single curve in the mixed layer, and to exhibit a considerable scatter in the interfacial layer.