Heat Energy Balance in the Convective Atmospheric Boundary Layer at Xianghe (Beijing Area), China

Abstract

A simple and physically consistent expression for the turbulent heat flux equation in the convective atmospheric boundary layer (CABL) has been suggested by Holtslag and Moeng in 1991. In their equation, valid under quasi-steady states and horizontal homogeneity, the countergradient term resulted from the third-moment transport effect rather than from the buoyancy production term. In this paper, experimental observation data from the World Laboratory Applied Research Project on Drought and Desertification (WL-ARPDD94 Experiment), carried out in a flat region of the greater Beijing area, China, have been utilized with the purpose of checking the validity of the Holtslag and Moeng equation. The result of this experimental check proved to be more than satisfactory through most of the CABL.