Climatology of wave-like phenomena in the nocturnal boundary layer

Quantification of waves is important due to the energy and momentum they transport, but recent studies show they may also influence the calculation of fluxes in the nocturnal boundary layer (Nappo et al., 2008). A climatology study of the occurrence of coherent wave-like structures in the nocturnal boundary layer is carried out over a year at a coastal site in the Southeastern U.S. In this study, the surface pressure from a microbarograph array is analyzed using wavelet transform to identify coherent pressure disturbances that propagate across the sensor array. Statistics on frequency of occurrence, duration, and amplitude are presented. Characteristics of the wave-like events are discussed.