ATM S 547, Spring Quarter 2002

Boundary Layer Meteorology

Instructor: Professor Chris Bretherton
704 Atmospheric Sciences Bldg., 685-7414
breth@atmos.washington.edu

Lectures: MWF, 12:30-1:20PM; ATG 310c

Prerequisites: 505 (fluids) or permission of instructor

Textbook: The Atmospheric Boundary Layer, by J. R. Garratt, 1992, Cambridge University Press, 316 pp.

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. Energy fluxes at ocean and land surfaces, diurnal cycle. Cloud-topped boundary layers. Measurement technologies. Boundary layer modelling and parameterization.

Syllabus (pdf)

Lecture notes (pdf)

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-Obuhkov similarity theory
Lecture 7 BL wind profiles and large eddy structure in convective and neutral BLs
Lecture 8 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 Stable boundary layers
Lecture 14 Oceanic and cloud-topped BLs - observations
Lecture 15 Cloud-topped mixed-layers I
Lecture 16 Cloud-topped mixed-layers II
Lecture 17 Shallow cumulus convection
Student presentations will be We 5 Jun and Th 7 Jun.

Note that the following substitute classes have been scheduled. All are at the regular class time and place:

No class Mo 01 Apr - makeup 1p Tu 09 Apr, ATG 610(1-1:30)/406(1:30-1:50)
No class We 03 Apr - makeup on 1:30 Mo 15 Apr, location TBD
No class We 17 Apr - makeup on 1:30 Tu 23 Apr, ATG 310c
No class Mo 29 Apr - makeup on 1:30 Tu 07 May, ATG 310c
No class We 01 May - makeup on 1:30 Tu 14 May, ATG 310c
No class Mo 20 May - makeup on 1:30 Tu 28 May, ATG 310c
No class We 22 May - makeup on 1:30 Tu 02 Jun, ATG 310c
No class Mo 27 May - Memorial Day holiday
Homeworks (pdf)
- Homework 1 (Due Mo 22 Apr)
- rf18L1.txt for HW1, p3.
- psduw.m for HW1, p3b.
- highpassw.m for HW1, p3c.
- Homework 1 solutions
- hw1p3.m Matlab script for HW1, p3 solution.
- Homework 2 (Due Mo 06 May)
- Homework 2 solutions
- hw2p1.m Matlab script for HW2, p1 solution.
- hw2p23.m Matlab script for HW2, p2 and 3 solution.
- Homework 3 (Due We 15 May)
- Homework 3 solutions
- hw3p1.m Matlab script for HW3 p1 solution.
- hw3p2.m Matlab script for HW3 p2 solution.
- dthdt.m Matlab script for finding vector of derivatives d(theta)/dt at the desired heights for HW3 p2 solution.
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