Michael L. Jensen

CASES-99: A Comprehensive Investigation of the Stable Nocturnal Boundary Layer

Abstract The Cooperative Atmosphere-Surface Exchange Study—1999 (CASES-99) refers to a field experiment carried out in southeast Kansas during October 1999 and the subsequent program of investigation. Comprehensive data, primarily taken during the nighttime but typically including the evening and morning transition, supports data analyses, theoretical studies, and state-of-the-art numerical modeling in a concerted effort by participants to investigate four areas of scientific interest. The choice of these scientific topics is motivated by both the need to delineate physical processes that characterize the stable boundary layer, which are as yet not clearly understood, and the specific scientific goals of the investigators. Each of the scientific goals should be largely achievable with the measurements taken, as is shown with preliminary analysis within the scope of three of the four scientific goals. Underlying this effort is the fundamental motivation to eliminate deficiencies in surface layer and turbul...

Atmospheric disturbances that generate intermittent turbulence in nocturnal boundary layers

Using the unprecedented observational facilities deployed duringthe 1999 Cooperative Atmosphere-Surface Exchange Study (CASES-99),we found three distinct turbulent events on the night of 18October 1999. These events resulted from a density current,solitary wave, and internal gravity wave, respectively. Our studyfocuses on the turbulence intermittency generated by the solitarywave and internal gravity wave, and intermittent turbulenceepisodes associated with pressure change and wind direction shiftsadjacent to the ground. Both the solitary and internal gravitywaves propagated horizontally and downward. During the passage ofboth the solitary and internal gravity waves, local thermal andshear instabilities were generated as cold air was pushed abovewarm air and wind gusts reached to the ground. These thermal andshear instabilities triggered turbulent mixing events. Inaddition, strong vertical acceleration associated with thesolitary wave led to large non-hydrostatic pressure perturbationsthat were positively correlated with temperature. The directionaldifference between the propagation of the internal gravity waveand the ambient flow led to lateral rolls. These episodic studiesdemonstrate that non-local disturbances are responsible for localthermal and shear instabilities, leading to intermittentturbulence in nocturnal boundary layers. The origin of thesenon-local disturbances needs to be understood to improve mesoscalenumerical model performance.

The Summertime Arctic Atmosphere: Meteorological Measurements during the Arctic Ocean Experiment 2001

An atmospheric boundary layer experiment into the high Arctic was carried out on the Swedish icebreaker Oden during the summer of 2001, with the primary boundary layer observations obtained while t ...

Measurements of Boundary Layer Profiles in an Urban Environment

Boundary layer profiles of mean temperature, velocity, and small-scale turbulence from in situ sensors, Doppler lidar, sodar, and rawinsondes are intercompared for an urban environment. A new Doppler lidar algorithm is presented to produce high-resolution profiles of small-scale velocity statistics. The lidar-derived profiles are robust and accurate even for challenging conditions such as stable boundary layers with a low-level jet, low turbulence, and low wind speed. Similar results are expected for other locations and convective conditions.

Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis: Molossidae, Chiroptera) at high altitude: links to migratory insect populations

Existing information on the activity of bats in the aerosphere is restricted almost exclusively to altitudes that are within a few tens of meters above the ground. We report a total of 50.2 h of ultrasonic recordings made using radio microphonic bat detectors suspended from free-floating helium balloons and from kites. The data include a total of 22 353 echolocative calls from ground-level to 1118 m above ground level (AGL). These calls are attributed to Brazilian free-tailed bats based on acoustic features and the large numbers and high-altitude aerial dispersion of these bats over the local landscape. Bat activity varied significantly throughout the air column and was greatest at 400-500 m AGL and near ground level. Feeding buzzes, indicating feeding on aerial prey, were most abundant near ground level and at 400-500 m, and were detected to altitudes of ∼ 900 m AGL. The peak activity of bats at 400-500 m AGL is concordant with the altitude of the atmospheric boundary layer and the seasonal formation of the low-elevation southerly wind jet that has been identified as a major aeroecological corridor for the nocturnal dispersal of noctuid moths and other insects.

Extreme gradients in the nocturnal boundary layer: Structure, evolution, and potential causes

During the Cooperative Atmosphere‐Surface Exchange Study-1999 (CASES-99) campaign in southeastern Kansas in the fall of 1999, the University of Colorado’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) made a series of vertical profiling measurements using the CIRES tethered lifting system (TLS). The results reported here began during a period when the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) was characterized by a low-level jet (LLJ) peaking at 120 m and a temperature profile that increased smoothly with height to a point slightly above the height of the LLJ peak. Then, within a period of less than 30 min, the character of the NBL changed abruptly, with the breakdown of the well-defined LLJ and the appearance of a surprisingly steep temperature change of some 3.5 K around 180‐190 m AGL. Part of this inversion was extremely sharp, with the steepest portion showing a temperature change of 1 K over an altitude range of only 5 cm, corresponding to a vertical temperature gradient in excess of 20 K m 21. The general shape of this steep gradient was maintained—albeit with slightly reduced values—for at least 20 min. It is understood that the magnitude of the steepest portion of this gradient exceeds all previously observed atmospheric gradients by over an order of magnitude, although comparable gradients—albeit under very disparate conditions—have been observed in the ocean. A second surprising feature apparent in these results was the steepness of the gradients in turbulence structure at the top of the NBL and within the residual layer (RL), the region above the NBL that is usually slightly stably stratified and extends upward to the height marked by the vestiges of the previous day’s capping inversion. At the NBL top, energy dissipation rates and temperature structure parameters dropped sharply by more than one order of magnitude over a distance of only a few meters. At higher altitudes within the RL, a 60-m-thick region of very weak turbulence was observed. This low-turbulence region also exhibited sharp edges, where energy dissipation rates and temperature structure parameters changed by at least an order of magnitude over vertical distances of only a few meters.

The Use of State-of-the-Art Kites for Profiling the Lower Atmosphere

This paper presents the capabilities and limitations of using state-of-the-art kites for atmospheric research. A brief historical review of the subject is first presented, followed by an outline of the current status of kite-borne measurement technology. The utility of the technique is then illustrated by presenting a series of recent measurements made using kite-borne technology. A summary of the advantages and limitations of kite-based measurements relative to other technologies is provided for reference.

Turbulence Measurements with the CIRES Tethered Lifting System during CASES-99: Calibration and Spectral Analysis of Temperature and Velocity

Abstract Finescale temperature and velocity measurements with multiple vertically spaced cold-wire and hot-wire sensors on the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences (CIRES) tethered lifting system (TLS) were produced during the Cooperative Atmosphere–Surface Exchange Study-1999 (CASES-99). The various calibration methods are presented as well as algorithms to extract high-resolution estimates of the energy dissipation rate ϵ and the temperature structure constant C2T. The instrumentation is capable of measurements of ϵ ≈ 10−7 m2 s−3 and C2T ≈ 10−6 K2 m−2/3.

High-Resolution In Situ Profiling through the Stable Boundary Layer: Examination of the SBL Top in Terms of Minimum Shear, Maximum Stratification, and Turbulence Decrease

Abstract Some 50 separate high-resolution profiles of small-scale turbulence defined by the energy dissipation rate (e), horizontal wind speed, and temperature from near the surface, through the nighttime stable boundary layer (SBL), and well into the residual layer are used to compare the various definitions of SBL height during nighttime stable conditions. These profiles were obtained during postmidnight periods on three separate nights using the Tethered Lifting System (TLS) during the Cooperative Atmosphere–Surface Exchange Study (CASES-99) campaign in east-central Kansas, October 1999. Although the number of profiles is insufficient to make any definitive conclusions, the results suggest that, under most conditions, the boundary layer top can be reasonably estimated in terms of a very significant decrease in the energy dissipation rate (i.e., the mixing height) with height. In the majority of instances this height lies slightly below the height of a pronounced minimum in wind shear and slightly above...

THE PENTAGON SHIELD FIELD PROGRAM Toward Critical Infrastructure Protection

The Pentagon, and its 25,000+ occupants, represents a likely target for a future terrorist attack using chemical, biological, or radiological material released into the atmosphere. Motivated by this, a building-protection system, called Pentagon Shield, is being developed and deployed by a number of government, academic, and private organizations. The system consists of a variety of data-assimilation and forecast models that resolve processes from the mesoscale to the city scale to the building scale, and assimilate meteorological and contaminant data that are measured by remote and in situ sensors. This paper reports on a field program that took place in 2004 in the area of the Pentagon, where the aim was to provide meteorological data and concentration data from tracer releases, and to support the development and evaluation of the system. In particular, the results of the field program are being used to improve our understanding of urban meteorological processes, verify the overall effectiveness of the ...