Spatial variability of heat fluxes in a suburban area of Oklahoma City

As part of the Joint Urban 2003 field project in Oklahoma City (OKC), conducted during July 2003, surface energy balance fluxes were measured in a suburban area of southern OKC. Four sites, which were aligned approximately north-south along a 2 km transect, were instrumented in the anticipated upwind area of the OKC downtown where the dispersion and canyon studies of the Joint Urban 2003 project were conducted. The surface energy balance fluxes of the area upwind of the release sites and their aggregation are of interest. The sites consisted of an area that was predominately grass (termed GR), an area with wooden houses (WH), an area with brick houses (BH), and the integrated response of all of these individual sites (TM). In this area, houses are small, predominately one-storied (3-4 m tall), and interspersed with tracks of grass and commercial properties. Extensive tree cover is found on individual properties. The trees, although generally mature, are typically less than 8 m tall. Garden irrigation occurs on some of the properties on a regular basis. The turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat measured using eddy covariance techniques will be presented. Campbell Scientific (CS) Krypton Hygrometers (KH20) were used to determine the latent heat fluxes in conjunction with RM Young (Model 81000) and CS CSAT3 sonic anemometers. All fast response data were logged on CS CR5000 dataloggers at 10 Hz. In addition, observations of net all wave radiation short wave radiation, infra-red surface temperatures, profiles of 1 Hz thermocouples, and extensive surface temperature measurements of two individual buildings were conducted. The results from the individual and integrated sites are compared.