Variations of energy fluxes across Oklahoma City

Joint Urban 2003 was the largest urban dispersion experiment ever conducted in North America. Between the dates of 28 June to 31 July 2003, a vast array of instrument systems collected high-resolution observations of meteorological variables in and around Oklahoma City. The data collected from the field instrumentation, combined with data collected from existing atmospheric observing systems in central Oklahoma, provided a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of urban areas on atmospheric processes within the planetary boundary layer. For this study, simulations utilizing the single-layer urban canopy model in the High-Resolution Land Data Assimilation System (HRLDAS) and Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (ARW) modeling systems quantify the spatial and temporal variability of the partitioning of available energy into heat fluxes across Oklahoma City. The sensitivity of energy fluxes to urban canopy parameters (width, albedo, and thermal conductivity of the roof) is also investigated. The model results are compared with energy fluxes collected by the Oklahoma Mesonet and Joint Urban 2003 collaborators.