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- Title
An Auxiliary Tool to Determine the Height of the Boundary Layer.
- Authors
Johansson, Cecilia; Bergström, Hans
- Abstract
Results from radiosoundings, performed both over land and over sea, show that the ascent rate of a radiosounding balloon, the vertical velocity of the balloon, can be used to determine the height of the boundary layer. In many cases the balloon has a higher ascent rate in the boundary layer and a lower, less variable, ascent rate above. The decrease in ascending velocity appears as a jump at the top of the boundary layer. Two examples of potential temperature profiles for unstable stratification and one profile for stable conditions are shown with the corresponding ascent rates. A comparison between the boundary-layer height determined from potential temperature profiles and from ascent rates is presented for a larger dataset. The different ascent rates of the balloon in the boundary layer and above can be explained by a decrease in drag on the balloon in combination with a lowering of the critical Reynolds number in the boundary layer caused by turbulence. Hence, by simply logging the time from release of a radiosonde, it is possible to obtain additional information that can be used to estimate the height of both the unstable and stable boundary layers.
- Subjects
ATMOSPHERIC boundary layer; BOUNDARY layer (Aerodynamics); HYDRODYNAMICS; METEOROLOGY; FLUID dynamics; BALLOONING
- Publication
Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 2005, Vol 115, Issue 3, p423
- ISSN
0006-8314
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10546-004-1424-5