Estimates of the potential temperature profile from lidar measurements of boundary layer evolution

Abstract

The Soil Moisture-Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (SMACEX) was conducted in the Walnut Creek Watershed near Ames, Iowa, over the period from 15 June to 11 July 2002. A main focus of SMACEX is the investigation of the interactions between the atmospheric boundary layer, surface moisture, and canopy. A vertically staring elastic lidar was used to provide a high time resolution, continuous record of the mixed layer height at the edge between a soybean and a corn field. The height and thickness of the entrainment zone are used to estimate the vertical potential temperature profile in the boundary layer using surface energy measurements in the Batchvarova-Gryning mixed layer model. Calculated values of potential temperature compared well to radiosonde measurements taken simultaneously with the lidar measurements. The root-mean-square difference between the lidar-derived values and the balloon-based values is 1.20°C. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.