Abstract
This paper investigates the existence of shear sheltering on turbulence data over a quasi-ideal experimental site in Oklahoma, USA. Originally developed for engineering flows, the shear-sheltering theory is predicated upon the idea of low-level jets blocking large eddies aloft, preventing them from propagating to the surface. In this scenario, suppression of low-frequency turbulence energy and reduction of surface fluxes would be expected. Results from the Oklahoma experiment show instead an enhancement of surface turbulence intensity and of the relative contribution of large scales to total (co)variances for low-level jet cases with strong shear, thus suggesting the absence of shear sheltering at the site. The results underline the complexity of surface-atmosphere interactions in nocturnal stable conditions. Atmospheric modeling of exchange using various scenarios of surface characteristics, flow regimes, and low-level jet properties is suggested to further assess the potential applicability of the shear-sheltering theory to atmospheric flows.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the US Department of Energy, Terrestrial Carbon Processes Program, grant ER64321. The authors wish to thank Nelson Luís Dias, Carmen Nappo, David Durden, Robert Kurzeja, Matthew Parker, and David Werth for their comments and suggestions, and Jinkyu Hong, Natchaya Pingintha, Chompunut Chayawat, and Xiaofeng Guo for the help in the field experiment. We also thank Brad Orr, Dan Rusk, and Dan Nelson (US Department of Energy’s ARM-SGP site) for the operational support provided during the campaign.
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Duarte, H.F., Leclerc, M.Y. & Zhang, G. Assessing the shear-sheltering theory applied to low-level jets in the nocturnal stable boundary layer. Theor Appl Climatol 110, 359–371 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-012-0621-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-012-0621-2