Extended Abstract (276K)5.4
Development of the coastal boundary layer in offshore flow from New England
Wayne M. Angevine, University of Colorado/CIRES/NOAA, Boulder, CO; and J. E. Hare, C. W. Fairall, and D. E. Wolfe
When warm air from land flows over colder water, a stable internal boundary layer is formed. The column spanning the depth of the continental boundary layer separates into possibly several layers, which are then advected in different directions. Analysis of data and modeling of scenarios from the 2002 New England Air Quality Study showed that the details of the coastal boundary layer transition were important in understanding ozone pollution episodes in New Hampshire and Maine. An outstanding question was how the stable internal boundary layer develops, specifically what the surface flux magnitudes are; whether the fluxes are continuous or intermittent; and how the temperature profile evolves. Measurements in 2004 addressed these questions as part of the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) study. Instruments on the NOAA Research Vessel Ronald H. Brown measured surface heat and moisture fluxes and temperature profiles in the coastal waters at varying distances from the coast. This presentation will report on the analysis of those measurements and relate them to model results.
Session 5, atmospheric and oceanic processes
Thursday, 13 January 2005, 8:30 AM-11:45 AM
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