Surface heat flux estimation with wind-profiler/RASS and radiosonde observations

✍ Scribed by Jennifer M Jacobs; Richard L Coulter; Wilfried Brutsaert

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 225 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0309-1708
• DOI: 10.1016/s0309-1708(99)00028-7

✦ Synopsis

A bulk ABL similarity approach was used to make regional estimates of the sensible heat ¯ux by combining surface temperature measurements with mixed layer temperature and wind speed pro®les. The mixed layer pro®les were measured by a 915 MHz Pro®ler/ Radio Acoustic Sounding System and by radiosondes in north-central Oklahoma at the ARM Southern Great Plains CART Central Facility. A comparison of calculated sensible heat ¯ux values with regional mean values measured at two ground stations showed good agreement with r 0X88 and r 0X76 for the 915 MHz pro®ler and the radiosonde data sets, respectively. Estimates of friction velocity u à by means of radiosonde wind pro®les gave good results when compared to values measured by an surface eddy correlation system with a correlation coecient r 0X77. However, u à values obtained from wind pro®les measured by the 915 MHz pro®ler were underestimated, because these velocity measurements were systematically too small. The results also show that the 915 MHz Pro®ler/Radio Acoustic Sounding System is capable of providing the needed temperature measurements to make reasonable regional estimates of sensible heat ¯ux.