Atmospheric planetary boundary-layer research in the U.S., 1991-1994

Chin-Hoh Moeng and Margaret A. LeMone

National Center for Atmospheric Research,¹ Boulder, Colorado, USA

¹ The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

• Introduction
• Clear PBL
  • Convective PBL
    • Top-down, bottom-up diffusion.
    • Coherent structures.
  • Stable or Near-Neutral PBL
    • Turbulence statistics.
    • Gravity waves and wave-turbulence dynamics.
  • PBL over Heterogeneous Surfaces
    • Terrain or surface effects.
    • Surface-induced circulations.
• Cloudy PBL
  • Stratus-Topped PBL
    • Cloud-top entrainment instability.
    • Other mechanisms for cloud dissipation.
    • Turbulent fluxes within the PBL.
    • Overlying free atmosphere.
  • PBL under Non-Precipitating Cumulus
  • PBL under Precipitating Cumulus
• Development of PBL parameterizations
  • Surface Flux Formulations
  • Clear-PBL Parameterizations
  • Cloudy-PBL Parameterizations
• Measurement techniques
• Future Outlook
• References