Urban stability is generally defined as either neutral or unstable. Stable conditions do occur in small urban complexes. These atypical environments have been the topic of investigation by the Army Research Laboratory since the first of three independent urban field studies sampled the atmospheric conditions around and above a single building in southeastern New Mexico. By inter-comparing the stable patterns from each of the three March field studies, repeated attributes were observed, extracted and analyzed. The intended goal of this effort was to extract an urban diurnal cycle for forecasting purposes.

Measurements from the first two studies revealed atmospheric conditions that included long periods of typical spring New Mexico strong winds (winds sustained at 10 m/s or greater). The latest study contained long periods of light winds. The contrasting weather scenarios were critical in defining the six spatial characteristics of the urban stable environments. The two temporal urban stable characteristics appeared to be independent of the seasonal effects.

In this paper, a brief overview of the three Urban Studies is followed by a discussion of the eight stable urban environmental characteristics. A consolidated outline of these urban stable characteristics concludes the paper.