Influence of Bowen Ratio on Boundary-Layer Cloud Structure

Abstract

An investigation of the influence of the ratio of surface sensible heat flux to latent heat flux, the Bowen ratio. on the structure of boundary-layer clouds is carried out utilizing numerical large eddy simulations (LES). The role of cloud-top radiational cooling, cloud-top temperature and moisture jump conditions, and wind shear are included in a secondary way. Although no detailed comparisons have been made, the LES results appear to be qualitatively consistent with the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment, the recent field study on marine boundary-layer cloud structure. Some conclusions that follow from an examination of these LES results are the following: First, there is a highly bimodal character to the cloud ceiling frequency within a very low Bowen ratio boundary layer. The updrafts tend to produce a lower cloud ceiling than the surrounding environment with its weak downdrafts. Second, a very low Bowen ratio with the aid of some boundary-layer shear makes the development of persistent microcell cloud circulations possible within the boundary layer. Third, when the surface latent heat flux is the dominant factor in the dynamics of the boundary layer, the approach to a conditionally stable lapse rate results in the potential for subsequent decoupling. Last, the maximum partial cloud fraction is very well represented by the relation suggested by Sommeria and Deardorff for a Gaussian probability distribution for the range of conditions studied.