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The Minimum Wind Speed for Sustainable Turbulence in the Nocturnal Boundary Layer
Open accessAbstract
The collapse of turbulence in the nocturnal boundary layer is studied by means of a simple bulk model that describes the basic physical interactions in the surface energy balance. It is shown that for a given mechanical forcing, the amount of turbulent heat that can be transported downward is limited to a certain maximum. In the case of weak winds and clear skies, this maximum can be significantly smaller than the net radiative loss minus soil heat transport. In the case when the surface has low heat capacity, this imbalance generates rapid surface cooling that further suppresses the turbulent heat transport, so that eventually turbulence largely ceases (positive feedback mechanism). The model predicts the minimum wind speed for sustainable turbulence for the so-called crossing level. At this level, some decameters above the surface, the wind is relatively stationary compared to lower and higher levels. The critical speed is predicted in the range of about 5–7 m s−1, depending on radiative forcing and surface properties, and is in agreement with observations at Cabauw. The critical value appears not very sensitive to model details or to the exact values of the input parameters. Finally, results are interpreted in terms of external forcings, such as geostrophic wind. As it is generally larger than the speed at crossing height, a 5 m s−1 geostrophic wind may be considered as the typical limit below which sustainable, continuous turbulence under clear-sky conditions is unlikely to exist. Below this threshold emergence of the very stable nocturnal boundary layer is anticipated.
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“This positive feedback can lead ultimately to a very stable boundary layer (VSBL), where turbulence collapses and becomes only intermittent (Steeneveld et al., 2006;Sun et al., 2012;Van de Wiel et al., 2012).”
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 Van de Wiel et al., 2012
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Metadata
- Authors
- Van de Wiel, B. J. H., Moene, A. F., Jonker, H. J. J., Baas, P., Basu, S., Donda, J. M. M., Sun, J., & Holtslag, A. A. M.
- Affiliations
- Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
- Delft University of Technology (NL)
- Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (NL)
- North Carolina State University (US)
- NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (US)
- Venue
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
- Publisher
- American Meteorological Society
- Published
- 2012-11-01
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 3116-3127
- ISSN
- 0022-4928 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-0469
- OpenAlex
- W2105365857
- Cited by
- 165
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 6.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences (publishedVersion)
- TU/e Research Portal (publishedVersion)
- Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Research Repository (Delft University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Wind and Air Flow Studies
- Keywords
- nocturnal boundary layer, turbulence collapse, minimum wind speed, surface energy balance, turbulent heat transfer, surface cooling, positive feedback, geostrophic wind, clear-sky conditions, soil heat flux, radiative cooling, surface heat capacity, Cabauw
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