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On the formation of a stably stratified internal boundary-layer by advection of warm air over a cooler sea

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Abstract

As a warm well-mixed air mass flows off a land surface and over a cooler sea, the air is modified in a layer near the surface. Within this layer, humidity decreases while temperature increases with height and a stably stratified internal boundary layer is formed. The non-dimensional parameters governing the growth of the modified layer are derived by dimensional analysis; simple forms are found for the increase of layer height with fetch and for the shapes of humidity and temperature profiles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RAN Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 706, 2010, Darlinghurst, N.S.W., Australia

    P. J. Mulhearn

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  1. P. J. Mulhearn
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Mulhearn, P.J. On the formation of a stably stratified internal boundary-layer by advection of warm air over a cooler sea. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 21, 247–254 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02033942

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02033942

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