Algorithms for Obtaining Atmospheric Surface-Layer Fluxes from Scintillation Measurements

Abstract

Algorithms are derived for obtaining atmospheric surface-layer fluxes of heat, humidity, and momentum from scintillation measurements. Both the three-wavelength and two-wavelength methods are examined, as is combining the two-wavelength method with other micrometeorological measurements. Corrections for the effects of strong scintillation are discussed. Deriving turbulence inner-scale and refractive structure parameters from scintillation variances is discussed, as is using these quantities to obtain the energy dissipation rate and structure parameters of temperature and humidity. Given these latter quantities, Monin?Obukhov similarity theory is applied to specific humidity and temperature (equivalently, potential temperature) to obtain the fluxes.