Modeling the Evolution of the Convective Planetary Boundary Layer

Abstract

The level 3 turbulence closure model proposed by Mellor and Yamada (1974) is modified 1) to incorporate the formulations for the turbulence third-order moments and pressure terms proposed by Zeman and Lumley (1976) and 2) to introduce turbulence length scales which depend upon the stratification of the atmosphere. The vertical heat and moisture fluxes and the temperature-humidity covariance are determined from differential equations. The model includes two other differential equations, one for the turbulence kinetic energy and the other for virtual potential temperature variance. All other turbulence variables are determined from algebraic equations. The model is used to simulate the daytime evolution of the planetary boundary layer observed on day 33 of the Wangara boundary-layer experiment. The calculated vertical profiles of the mean wind, temperature and humidity are found to be in good agreement with the observations. The calculated vertical distributions of turbulence variables, including kinetic energy, temperature variance, heat and moisture fluxes, temperature and moisture variance, molecular dissipation, and some third-order moments, compare favorably with those estimated from other numerical models, aircraft observations and laboratory experiments.