A single column model (SCM) was used to evaluate the performance of several commonly used lower-order planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterizations in simulating the arctic PBL.

Simulations using five different PBL schemes representing a range of typical physical formulations were intercompared in the context of case studies culled from data collected during the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) field experiment.

Representative case studies characterizing many of the commonly observed structures of the arctic PBL were created for which data sets for forcing and evaluation could be prepared. Analysis of each scheme's performance over the spectrum of case studies allowed for some tentative conclusions regarding the applicability of the various assumptions and physical processes embodied in the different schemes to modeling the arctic PBL.