Boundary Layer Convection
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w* = (g Ho Zi / T)1/3 |
Boundary Layer Convection is the result of surface fluxes of heat and moisture triggering small-scale non-precipitating updrafts. Cloud-top radiative cooling can also play an important role. Scales range from a few 10s of m to a few km in the horizontal and a few hundred m to a few km in the vertical. The up- and downdrafts of boundary layer convection is the primary way in which the atmosphere moves heat, moisture, momentum, and pollutants between the Earth's surface and the atmosphere. Thus, boundary layer convection is important in the global climate modeling, numerical weather prediction, air-quality modeling, and the dynamics of numerous mesoscale phenomena. The role of boundary layer convection in triggering thunderstorms remains largely unexplored as does the extent to which small scale terrain features impact the location and structure of boundary layer convective elements.
Field Experiments | Selected Publications
| Year | Project | Location | Platform |
| 1997-1998 | Lake ICE | Lake Michigan | NCAR Electra Aircraft |
| 1992 | ASTEX | Eastern North Atlantic | |
| Research Vessel Oceanus | |||
| 1987 | FIRE | Eastern North Pacific | NCAR Electra Aircraft |
| 1984 | PHOENIX 84 | Colorado | NCAR Kingair Aircraft |
Young, G.S., D.A.R. Kristovich, M.R. Hjelmfelt, R.C. Foster, 2002: Rolls, streets, waves, and more: A review of quasi-two dimensional structures in the atmospheric boundary layer. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 83, 997-1001. Also, an extended electronic supplement --- Abstract
Mason, R.A., H.N. Shirer, R. Wells, G.S. Young, 2002: Improved description of fluxes by convective plumes within the marine atmospheric surface layer. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 59, 1337-1355. --- Abstract
Young G.S., T.D. Sikora, and N.S. Winstead, 2000: On inferring marine atmospheric boundary layer properties from the spectral characteristics of satellite-borne SAR imagery. Monthly Weather Review, 128, 1506-1520. --- Abstract
Young, G.S., B.K. Cameron, E.E. Hebble, 2000: Observations of the entrainment zone in a rapidly entraining boundary layer. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 57, 3145-3160. --- Abstract
Kristovich, D.A.R., G.S. Young, J. Verlinde, P.J, Sousounis, P. Mourad, D. Lenschow, R.M. Rauber, M.K. Ramamurthy, B.F. Jewett, K. Beard, E. Cutrim, P.J. DeMott, E.W. Eloranta, M.R. Hjelmfelt, S.M. Kreidenweis, J. Martin, J. Moore, H.T. Ochs III, D.C. Rogers, J. Scala, G. Tripoli, J. Young, 2000: The lake-Induced Convection Experiment and the Snowband Dynamics Project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 81, 519-542. --- Abstract
Young, G.S., 1999: Some SAR signatures of the marine atmospheric boundary layer: Implications for numerical forecasting. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Technical Digest, 21, 27-32. --- Abstract
Sikora, T.D., G.S. Young, H.N. Shirer, and R.D. Chapman, 1997: Estimating convective atmospheric boundary layer depth from microwave radar imagery of the sea surface.Journal of Applied Meteorology, 36, 833-845. --- Abstract
Rinker, D.K., and G.S. Young, 1996: Use of obliquely rotated principal component analysis to identify coherent structures. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 80, 19-47. --- Abstract
Sikora, T.D., G.S. Young, R.C. Beal, and J.B. Edson, 1995: Use of spaceborne synthetic aperture radar imagery of the sea surface in detecting the presence and structure of the convective marine atmospheric boundary layer. Monthly Weather Review, 123, 3623-3632. --- Abstract
Sikora, T.D., and G.S. Young, 1994: Observations and applications of the horizontal perturbation wind field within convective structures of the marine atmosphere surface layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 68, 419-426. --- Abstract
Sikora, T.D., and G.S. Young, 1993: Observations of planview flux patterns within convective structures of the marine atmospheric surface layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 65, 273-288. --- Abstract
Moyer, K.A., and G.S. Young, 1993: Buoyant forcing within the marine stratocumulus-topped boundary layer. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 50, 2759-2771. --- Abstract
Nucciarone, J.J., and G.S. Young, 1991: Aircraft measurements of turbulence spectra in the marine stratocumulus topped boundary layer. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 48, 2382-2392. --- Abstract
Moyer, K.A., and G.S. Young, 1991: Observations of vertical velocity skewness within the marine stratocumulus-topped boundary layer. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 48, 403-410. --- Abstract
Young, G.S., 1988: Convection in the atmospheric boundary layer. Earth Science Reviews., 25, 179-198. --- Abstract
Young, G.S., 1988: Turbulence structure of the convective boundary layer III: The vertical velocity budgets of thermals and their environment. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 45, 2039-2049. --- Abstract
Young, G.S., 1988: Turbulence structure of the convective boundary layer II: PHOENIX 78 aircraft observations of thermals and their environment. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 45, 727-735. --- Abstract
Young, G.S., 1988: Turbulence structure of the convective boundary layer I: Variability of normalized turbulence statistics. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 45, 719-726. --- Abstract
Young, G.S., 1987: Mixed layer spectra from aircraft measurements. Journal
of the Atmospheric Sciences, 44, 1251-1256. --- Abstract