Record Details
Observations of non-dimensional wind shear in the coastal zone
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Observations of non-dimensional wind shear in the coastal zone |
| Names |
Vickers, Dean
(creator) Mahrt, Larry (creator) |
| Date Issued | 1999 (iso8601) |
| Abstract | Vertical profiles of the time-averaged wind stress, wind speed and buoyancy flux from the off-shore tower site in the Risø Air Sea Experiment are used to evaluate similarity theory in the coastal zone. The observed dependence of the non-dimensional wind shear on stability is compared to the traditional parametrization. Relationships between the non-dimensional shear, development of internal boundary layers and wave state are explored. We find that the largest-scale turbulent eddies are suppressed in shallow convective internal boundary layers, leading to larger non-dimensional shear than that of the traditional prediction based only on stability. In shallow stable boundary layers, elevated generation of turbulence leads to smaller non-dimensional shear compared to the traditional prediction. Over young growing waves in stable stratification, the observed non-dimensional shear is less than that over older more mature waves in otherwise similar conditions. The non-dimensional shear is a function of wave state for stable conditions even though the observations are well above the wave boundary layer. We conclude that development of shallow internal boundary layers and young growing-wave fields, both of which are common in the coastal zone, can lead to substantial departures of the non-dimensional shear from the prediction based only on stability. |
| Genre | Article |
| Topic | Boundary layer |
| Identifier | Vickers, D., & Mahrt, L. (1999). Observations of non-dimensional wind shear in the coastal zone. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 125, 2685-2702. |
