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The Effect of Submeso Motions on the Budgets of the Mean Turbulent Kinetic Energy and Temperature Variance in the Stable Atmospheric Surface Layer

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Abstract

By considering turbulence observations in the atmospheric stable surface layer over complex terrain, we study the effect of submeso motions on the budgets of the mean turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and (half) the temperature variance. Different averaging times are considered (i.e., 100 s and 30 min), to filter out or retain the submeso contributions to second-order moments. Furthermore, results are interpreted by introducing four parameters that express the relative submeso contribution to the TKE, the temperature variance, and the vertical fluxes of heat and momentum. Four regimes are identified according to these four submeso parameters and the budgets are evaluated for these regimes. A balance among production, buoyancy (for the TKE) and dissipation occurs for the two regimes characterized by small submeso contribution to the fluxes, while an unbalance occurs for the other two regimes, where the submeso contribution to the fluxes is large. Instead, the budgets are independent of the magnitude of the submeso contribution to the TKE and the temperature variance.

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Data Availability

The data generated and analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author with permission of the National Research Council, Institute of Polar Sciences (CNR-ISP).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Department of Earth System Sciences and Technologies for the Environment of the National Research Council (CNR-DSSTTA) and its staff for the logistical support at the Arctic Station Dirigibile Italia in Ny-Ålesund; two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions that helped to improve the manuscript.

Funding

M. C. has been supported by the Praemium Academiae of Š. Nečasová and by the Czech Science Foundation under the grant GAČR GA19-04243S.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent, Bologna, Italy

    Mario Schiavon

  2. National Research Council, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), Via P. Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy

    Francesco Tampieri

  3. Institute of Mathematics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Zitná 25, 11567, Prague 1, Czech Republic

    Matteo Caggio

  4. National Research Council, Institute of Polar Sciences (CNR-ISP), Via P. Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy

    Mauro Mazzola

  5. National Research Council, Institute of Polar Sciences (CNR-ISP), Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133, Rome, Italy

    Angelo Pietro Viola

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  1. Mario Schiavon
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Correspondence to Mario Schiavon.

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Schiavon, M., Tampieri, F., Caggio, M. et al. The Effect of Submeso Motions on the Budgets of the Mean Turbulent Kinetic Energy and Temperature Variance in the Stable Atmospheric Surface Layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 186, 595–613 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-022-00774-x

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