Tuesday, 13 January 2009: 4:00 PM
Spectra and cospectra of turbulence in the hurricane boundary layer over the ocean
Room 128A (Phoenix Convention Center)
Spectra and cospectra of three component wind velocity, potential temperature and humidity have been analyzed using data collected in the atmospheric boundary layer of Hurricanes Fabian (2003) and Isabel (2003) during the Coupled Boundary Layer Air-Sea Transfer (CBLAST) - Hurricane Experiment sponsored through the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The universal shape spectra and cospectra of the wind velocity, temperature and humidity are derived and compared to those given by Miyake et al. (1970) based on standard scaling method of Monion-Obukhov similarity theory using near-neutral surface layer data over the ocean. Our analysis shows that the CBLAST data gathered in the atmospheric layer lower than 400m between the outer rain bands can be grouped into universal spectra and cospectra when scaled following Miyake et al. The shapes of the CBLAST universal spectra and cospectra show both similarity and difference with the Miyake et al. curves. The dominant scales of variability related to turbulent fluxes are also discussed.
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