A review and comparative evaluation of multilevel boundary layer parameterizations for first‐order and turbulent kinetic energy closure schemes

Multilevel parameterizations of the atmospheric boundary layer using first-order and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) closure schemes are reviewed. Eleven schemes, chosen as representative of both first-order and TKE closure, are then used for comparison in a one-dimensional barotropic planetary boundary layer model. TKE closure schemes evaluated are the E-e schemes in which eddy viscosity Km is determined from turbulent kinetic energy and energy dissipation e and the l model schemes in which Km is determined from TKE and mixing length l. Comparison of model simulations of mean and turbulence structure for first-order closure and TKE closure schemes to observational data (MONEX79) is given. The two main conclusions drawn from this comparison are that (1) the mean structure of the boundary layer is fairly insensitive to the type of closure scheme, given that the scheme properly accounts for turbulent boundary layer mixing, and (2) TKE closure is preferable to first-order closure in predicting the overall turbulence structure of the boundary layer. Among the TKE schemes compared in this paper, the modified Detering and Etling (1985) scheme is preferred.

[1]  Vagn Walfrid Ekman,et al.  On the influence of the earth's rotation on ocean-currents. , 1905 .

[2]  J. Deardorff,et al.  The Counter-Gradient Heat Flux in the Lower Atmosphere and in the Laboratory , 1966 .

[3]  P. Mason,et al.  A two-dimensional numerical study of horizontal roll vortices in the neutral atmospheric boundary layer , 1980 .

[4]  G. Mellor,et al.  Development of a turbulence closure model for geophysical fluid problems , 1982 .

[5]  Tetsuji Yamada,et al.  Simulations of Nocturnal Drainage Flows by a q2l Turbulence Closure Model , 1983 .

[6]  A. Blackadar,et al.  High resolution models of the planetary boundary layer , 1979 .

[7]  J. Andre,et al.  Modeling the 24-Hour Evolution of the Mean and Turbulent Structures of the Planetary Boundary Layer , 1978 .

[8]  G. Marchuk,et al.  On the Dynamics of the Ocean Surface Mixed Layer , 1977 .

[9]  G. A. McBean.  The planetary boundary layer , 1979 .

[10]  Francis H. Harlow,et al.  Transport Equations in Turbulence , 1970 .

[11]  W. S. Lewellen,et al.  Prediction of the Monin-Obukhov Similarity Functions from an Invariant Model of Turbulence , 1973 .

[12]  Francis H. Harlow,et al.  Turbulence Transport Equations , 1967 .

[13]  Y. Mahrer,et al.  Representation of the Heated Planetary Boundary Layer in Mesoscale Models with Coarse Vertical Resolution , 1975 .

[14]  S. Kao,et al.  Finite-Element Numerical Modeling of Atmospheric Turbulent Boundary Layer , 1979 .

[15]  P. Lacarrére,et al.  Improving the Eddy Kinetic Energy model for planetary boundary layer description , 1983 .

[16]  K. Krishna.  The planetary-boundary-layer model of Ellison (1956)—A retrospect , 1980 .

[17]  C. Rossby,et al.  The layer of frictional influence in wind and ocean currents , 1935 .

[18]  J. Wyngaard,et al.  A Model Study of the Stably Stratified Planetary Boundary Layer , 1978 .

[19]  A. Lacser,et al.  A comparative assessment of mixing-length parameterizations in the stably stratified nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) , 1986 .

[20]  G. Mellor,et al.  A Hierarchy of Turbulence Closure Models for Planetary Boundary Layers. , 1974 .

[21]  C. C. Shir,et al.  A Preliminary Numerical Study of Atmospheric Turbulent Flows in the Idealized Planetary Boundary Layer , 1973 .

[22]  S. Raman,et al.  A study of mean boundary-layer structures over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal during active and break monsoon periods , 1987 .

[23]  J. Deardorff,et al.  Three-dimensional numerical study of turbulence in an entraining mixed layer , 1974 .

[24]  M. Tapp,et al.  A non‐hydrostatic mesoscale model , 1976 .

[25]  C. Bhumralkar,et al.  A method for solving the planetary boundary-layer equations , 1970 .

[26]  N. Busch,et al.  A Multi-Level Model of the Planetary Boundary Layer Suitable for Use with Mesoscale Dynamic Models , 1976 .

[27]  S. Arya.  Suggested Revisions to Certain Boundary Layer Parameterization Schemes Used in Atmospheric Circulation Models , 1977 .

[28]  P. Duynkerke,et al.  A Model for the Turbulent Structure of the Stratocumulus–Topped Atmospheric Boundary Layer , 1987 .

[29]  J. Businger,et al.  Height of the Mixed Layer in the Stably Stratified Planetary Boundary Layer , 1975 .

[30]  Peter A. Taylor,et al.  A mixed spectral finite-difference model for neutrally stratified boundary-layer flow over roughness changes and topography , 1987 .

[31]  J. O'Brien,et al.  A Note on the Vertical Structure of the Eddy Exchange Coefficient in the Planetary Boundary Layer , 1970 .

[32]  D. Etling,et al.  Application of the E-ε turbulence model to the atmospheric boundary layer , 1985 .

[33]  R. Benoit,et al.  A Finite-Element Model of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Suitable for Use with Numerical Weather Prediction Models , 1982 .

[34]  R. Russell,et al.  A numerical study of the effects of synoptic baroclinicity on stable boundary-layer evolution , 1985 .

[35]  M. Aida,et al.  Diurnal Variation of Wind and Temperature Fields in the Ekman Layer , 1973 .

[36]  An Examination of the Breakup of Marine Stratus: a Three-Dimensional Numerical Investigation , 1987 .

[37]  C. Kao,et al.  A Modeling Study on the Fair Weather Marine Boundary Layer of the GATE. , 1986 .

[38]  B. Launder,et al.  The numerical computation of turbulent flows , 1990 .

[39]  A. N. Kolmogorov.  Equations of turbulent motion in an incompressible fluid , 1941 .

[40]  S. Bodin.  A predictive numerical model of the atmospheric boundary layer based on the turbulent energy equation , 1979 .

[41]  John C. Wyngaard,et al.  Modeling the planetary boundary layer — Extension to the stable case , 1975 .

[42]  E. F. Bradley,et al.  Flux-Profile Relationships in the Atmospheric Surface Layer , 1971 .

[43]  I. Orlanski,et al.  Diurnal Variation of the Planetary Boundary Layer in a Mesoscale Model , 1974 .

[44]  Brian Launder,et al.  A Reynolds stress model of turbulence and its application to thin shear flows , 1972, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[45]  J. Rotta,et al.  Statistische Theorie nichthomogener Turbulenz , 1951 .

[46]  Y. Delage,et al.  A numerical study of the nocturnal atmospheric boundary layer , 1974 .

[47]  A. Blackadar.  The vertical distribution of wind and turbulent exchange in a neutral atmosphere , 1962 .

[48]  Tetsuji Yamada.  The Critical Richardson Number and the Ratio of the Eddy Transport Coefficients Obtained from a Turbulence Closure Model , 1975 .

[49]  J. Deardorff,et al.  Parameterization of the Planetary Boundary layer for Use in General Circulation Models1 , 1972 .

[50]  G. Stubley,et al.  The sensitivity of k-ɛ model computations of the neutral planetary boundary layer to baroclinicity , 1986 .

[51]  R. Pielke.  Mesoscale Meteorological Modeling , 1984 .

[52]  A.M.O. Smith,et al.  Turbulence models and their application in hydraulics: W. Rodi, University of Karlsruhe, International Association for Hydraulic Research, Rotterdamseweg 185, 2600 MH Delft, The Netherlands , 1981 .

[53]  John C. Wyngaard,et al.  Boundary-Layer Modeling , 1984 .

[54]  S. Raman,et al.  Observations of the Mean and Turbulence Structure of the Marine Boundary Layer over the Bay of Bengal during MONEX 79 , 1986 .