Vanishing potential temperature gradients in strong convection

✍ Scribed by E. K. Webb

• Book ID: 104572084
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1958
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 489 KB
• Volume: 84
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0035-9009
• DOI: 10.1002/qj.49708436004

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Temperature profiles recorded up to 30 m show an unexpected feature in conditions of free convection with light wind. Above the strong lapse near the ground, there is a transition to zero potential temperature gradient. The height of the transition level falls as the wind strength decreases, becoming less than 8 m when the negative Richardson number at 1·5 m is greater than 0·4. From reported observations over the sea it seems that the feature is present there also.