Turbulence Structures in the Very Stable Boundary Layer Under the Influence of Wind Profile Distortion
Open accessAbstract
In very stable boundary layers (VSBL), a “cocktail” of submeso motions routinely result in elevated mean wind speed maxima above the ground, acting as a new source of turbulence generation. This new source of turbulent kinetic energy enhances turbulent mixing and causes mean wind profile distortion (WPD). As a results, this transient distortion in the wind profile adjusts the classical log‐law. Addressing how WPD‐induced turbulence regulates flow structures, turbulent fluxes, and transitions in stability regimes across layers remains a challenge. Eddy covariance data measured at four levels on a 62‐m tower are employed to address these questions. It is shown that the WPD initiates large turbulent eddies that penetrate downward, leading to enhanced vertical mixing and comparable turbulent transport efficiencies across layers. As a consequence, turbulence intensity and fluxes are increased. As the WPD is intensified, turbulent fluxes and turbulent flux transport caused by large eddies are also enhanced, leading to a transition from very stable to weakly stable regimes. Due to the influence of WPD‐induced large eddies, the large‐eddy turbulent Prandtl number does not deviate appreciably from unity and the partitioning between turbulent kinetic and potential energies is linearly related to the gradient Richardson number.
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The vertical mixing in the very stable boundary layer is difficult to simulate in models because they often use Monin-Obukhov similarity theory with its assumed continuous turbulence and are therefore not able to correctly describe the very stable conditions of the high-latitude stable boundary layer.
“The vertical mixing in the VSBL is difficult to simulate in models because they often use the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) with its assumed continuous turbulence and are therefore not able to correctly describe the very stable conditions of the high-latitude SBL (Lan et al., 2022).”
From In situ vertical observations of the layered structure of air pollution in a continental high-latitude urban boundary layer during winter (2025) · cites this paper as Lan et al., 2022
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAs a result, numerical weather prediction models frequently struggle to accurately simulate the very stable boundary layer, leading to significant forecast errors.
“As a result, numerical weather prediction models frequently struggle to accurately simulate the VSBL, leading to significant forecast errors (Lan et al., 2022).”
From In situ vertical observations of the layered structure of air pollution in a continental high-latitude urban boundary layer during winter (2025) · cites this paper as Lan et al., 2022
The Introduction calls the very stable boundary layer a “thorny” issue for numerical weather prediction models and explains why their assumptions can fail to represent its turbulence. It does not report or characterize the resulting forecast errors as significant. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredUnder increased radiative cooling, the surface energy demand will typically exceed the downward heat flux eventually, resulting in further increase of the positive temperature gradient, leading to a stronger inversion and very stable boundary layer.
“Under increased radiative cooling, the surface energy demand will typically exceed the downward heat flux eventually, resulting in further increase of the positive temperature gradient (Lan et al., 2022), leading to a stronger inversion and VSBL.”
From In situ vertical observations of the layered structure of air pollution in a continental high-latitude urban boundary layer during winter (2025) · cites this paper as Lan et al., 2022
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- Authors
- Lan, C., Liu, H., Katul, G. G., Li, D., & Finn, D.
- Affiliations
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
- Washington State University (US)
- Duke University (US)
- Boston University (US)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)
- Corresponding author
- Liu, Heping
- Venue
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2022-10-17
- Volume
- 127
- Issue
- 20
- ISSN
- 0148-0227 (ISSN-L)
- 2169-897X
- 2169-8996
- OpenAlex
- W4302004070
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 2.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres (publishedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- NOAA Institutional Repository (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (NSF‐AGS‐1419614, NSF‐AGS‐1853050, NSF‐ AGS‐1644382, NSF‐AGS‐1853354, NSF‐AGS‐2028633)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Wind and Air Flow Studies
- Keywords
- very stable boundary layer, turbulence structure, large-scale eddies, turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent fluxes, log law, turbulent Prandtl number, gradient Richardson number, vertical mixing
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