ATM S 547, Spring Quarter 2013
Boundary Layer
Meteorology
Instructor: Professor Chris Bretherton
704
Atmospheric Sciences Bldg., 685-7414
breth@washington.edu
(office hours 1:30-2:30 MW or by appointment)
Lectures: Tu Th 11:30-12:50; ATG 406
Prerequisites: 505 (fluids) or permission of instructor
Recommended Text: The Atmospheric Boundary Layer, by J. R.
Garratt, 1992, Cambridge University Press, 316 pp. (available at
University Bookstore)
Course Description:
Turbulence and turbulent fluxes, averaging. Convection and shear
instability. Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, surface roughness. Wind
profiles. Organized large eddies. Convective and stably stratified
boundary layers. Measurement technologies. Large-eddy simulation. Boundary-layer
parameterization. Energy fluxes at ocean and land surfaces (including
soil and vegetation interactions),
diurnal cycle. Cloud-topped
boundary layers.
Grading
- Homework (50%): you may collaborate on this, though I ask that
you write your own Matlab scripts and description of results. To minimize
paper use, please email me any supporting Matlab scripts as attachments
when you submit your assignment.
- Term project (50%) on some topic of your choice related to the
class (please see me for approval of your proposed topic). Each
student will do a 15-20 minute oral presentation on their topic
during one of the last two class sessions (5 and 7 June) and email
me a 5-10 page written report by 5 pm on We 12 June.
Lecture notes (pdf). Some lectures take more than one
period to complete. I plan to update some lectures as we go
along, so you might not want to print them out more than a day in
advance. The overall structure will not change, however.
- Lecture 1
Introduction; instabilities
- Lecture 2
Turbulent flow
- Lecture 3
Turbulent fluxes and TKE budgets
- Lecture 4
Boundary layer turbulence and mean wind profiles
- Lecture 5
Surface roughness and the logarithmic sublayer
- Lecture 6
Monin-Obukhov similarity theory
- Lecture 7
BL wind profiles and large eddy structure in convective and neutral BLs
- Lecture 8
Mixed layer and K-theory parameterizations of BL turbulence
- Lecture 9
Nonlocal parameterizations of BL turbulence
- Lecture 10
Surface energy balance
- Lecture 11
Surface evaporation and soil moisture
- Lecture 12
Diurnal cycle over land
- Lecture 13
Lecture 13 - Stable boundary layers - only present highlights
- Lecture 14 notes and slides
Oceanic and cloud-topped BLs - observations
- Lecture 15
Cloud-topped physical processes and mixed layer modeling.
Figures (ppt)
- Lecture 16
Cloud-topped mixed-layers II
- Lecture 17
Shallow cumulus convection
Class Schedule Notes
- No class Tu-Th 9-11 Apr - Instructor travel.
These lectures will be made up after students' schedule constraints
are known.
Homeworks
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