The Influence of Cold Front Passage on Turbulent Fluxes in a Forested Coastal Wetland

Turbulent fluxes have been well documented over inland lakes, oceans, and terrestrial environments. However, the effects of a cold front passage on turbulent fluxes in coastal wetland environments are not well documented due to the complexity of taking these observations. Turbulent fluxes were measured in a freshwater bald cypress/tupelo coastal wetland that is transitioning to a wax myrtle shrub forest in Georgetown, SC in 2015. The turbulent fluxes were analyzed for five cold front passages that occurred during the measurement period. The work presented here found a remarkable amount of variation in energy fluxes despite relatively static water flooding conditions and thus constant water availability to plants. In summary, these large variations were a result of cold dry air moving over warm moist forest floor.