This thesis examines the mechanisms that couple the monthly-averaged
atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) to open-ocean sea surface temperature (SST)
perturbations on scales of 50-500 km. The observed positive correlation between
surface wind speed anomalies and SST anomalies is successfully simulated using
the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model.
In numerical...
Transition phenomena commonly occur in nature. These arise
either due to structural or behavioral changes in the medium. Examples
for these abound in all applied sciences and to mention a few
of these, we have, boundary layer, elastic-plastic deformation, and
shocks. The present work is devoted to the study of...
Atmospheric boundary layers become stably stratified at night over land when the surface becomes colder than the air layer above. In stable nocturnal boundary layers (SNBL), turbulence becomes weak and intermittent, terrain-induced phenomena such as drainage currents or gravity-waves emerge and the surface heterogeneity is enhanced. Because of their complexity...
Detailed current profiles between the sediment-water interface
and 20 cm above it reveal a viscous sublayer in the bottom boundary
layer on the Oregon continental shelf. Data from three field experiments
are used to test fundamental assumptions about boundary layer
flow in the ocean. The first study, discussed in Chapter...
A baroclinic, convective mixed-layer was modeled, using
water, in a laboratory convection tank identical to that
used in the free convection study of Deardorff and Willis
(1985). Baroclinicity and mean-flow shearing were achieved
by tilting the tank by an angle of 1O⁰. The resulting
mechanical-production rate of turbulence kinetic energy...
Simple models of transpiration, e.g., the Penman-Monteith equation, treat atmospheric conditions as driving variables. In fact, transpiration modifies temperature and humidity throughout the convective boundary layer, creating feedbacks that stabilize the water use of vegetation. This thesis concentrates on the new empirical relationships proposed by Monteith (1995), for developing simple...
This study concentrates on analysis of LongEZ aircraft data taken offshore of the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Due to the land structure of the region, it was possible to isolate the effect of narrow land on air as it flows offshore. The narrow land (Outer Banks) separates inland...