Free convection in the turbulent Ekman layer of the atmosphere

Abstract

The paper deals with the problem of fully developed free convection in the atmospheric boundary layer. In free convection, the height of the Ekman layer is much larger than the absolute value of the Monin- Oboukhov length. The dissimilarity between the heat flux and the momentum flux is studied in terms of time- and length- scale ratios and in terms of a flux Richardson number. A definitive solution of the problem, however, cannot be formulated until an expression for the height of unstable Ekman layers, as a function of the time of day and the stability conditions at the top of the boundary layer, can be found.