Wind and temperature profiles near the ground in stable stratification

• Published in: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
• Main Author: McVehil, G. E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1964
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/qj.49709038403; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fqj.49709038403; https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/qj.49709038403

Abstract Observed wind and temperature profiles from O'Neill, Nebraska and Antarctica are analysed to determine their characteristics in inversion conditions. Analyses of the similarity between wind and temperature profiles are presented. These show that the profiles are generally similar when the Richardson number is small. However, there is strong evidence in the Antarctic data for a departure from similarity and a decrease in the ratio of eddy conductivity to eddy viscosity for Richardson numbers greater than 0·08. It is shown that the log‐linear wind profile fits the observations well for Richardson numbers less than about 0·14. the constant in the log‐linear equation is found to have a value of approximately seven in stable air, implying a critical gradient Richardson number of 1/7. From the log‐linear theory, heat flux and surface stress can be calculated given winds at two levels and the surface roughness. Predicted values are compared with observations. the agreement is good in the case of surface stress and fair for heat flux.