Turbulent diffusivity and diurnal variations in the atmospheric boundary layer

Abstract

Diurnal variations of the vertical profiles of wind and temperature have been surveyed, and the diffusivity and the dimensionless gradient function in the atmospheric boundary layer have been estimated. Even in the middle of the atmospheric boundary layer (e.g., below a height of 442 m), the vertical wind profile normalized by the surface friction velocity has approximately a universal profile function different from that in the surface boundary layer. Under strong stability conditions, the dimensionless gradient function has a value of about 9. © 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers.