Atmospheric Stability and Monin-Obukhov Lengths during the MAGIC Field Campaign
Authors
Ernie R. Lewis — Brookhaven National Laboratory
R. Michael Reynolds — Remote Measurements & Research Company (RMR Co.)
Category
Boundary layer structure, including land-atmosphere interactions and turbulence
Description
Monin-Obukhov lengths as a function of longitude during the MAGIC field campaign.
Many important geophysical and atmospheric processes occur at the air-sea interface, including sea spray production, which affects the aerosol budget of the marine boundary layer (MBL), and fluxes of momentum, mass, and energy, which affect the MBL budgets of heat and water vapor. These processes can have an impact on cloud properties in the MBL, and thus exert a strong influence on radiation fluxes in the MBL. These processes are driven by meteorological and oceanic conditions such as wind speed and air-sea temperature difference. These conditions also determine atmospheric stability, often parameterized by the Monin-Obukhov length. The MAGIC field campaign, which occurred in the Eastern North Pacific between October, 2012 and September, 2013, collected an extensive data set of properties of clouds and precipitation, aerosols, radiation, and meteorological and oceanic conditions. An investigation of the meteorological conditions experienced during the campaign, including air-sea temperature difference, wind speed, atmospheric stability, and resultant Monin-Obukhov lengths, will be presented.
