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Similarity equations for wind and temperature profiles in the radix layer, at the bottom of the convective boundary layer
- Article from:
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Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
- Article date:
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June 1, 2001
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright American Meteorological Society Jun 1, 2001. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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ABSTRACT
In the middle of the convective boundary layer, also known as the mixed layer, is a relatively thick region where wind speed and potential temperature are nearly uniform with height. Below this uniform layer (UL), wind speed decreases to zero at the ground, and potential temperature increases to the surface skin value. This whole region below the UL is called the radix layer (RxL), and is of order hundreds of meters thick. Within the bottom of the RxL lies the classical surface layer (order of tens of meters thick) that obeys traditional MoninObukhov similarity theory.
The RxL depth is shown to depend on friction velocity, Deardorff velocity, and boundary layer depth. The wind ...