An approach for the aggregation of aerodynamic surface parameters in calculating the turbulent fluxes over heterogeneous surfaces in atmospheric models

Abstract

Experimental evidence indicates that there is a significant departure of the wind profile above the underlying surface consisting of patches of solid and liquid parts, and plant communities with different morphological from that predicted by the logarithmic relationship, which gives the values larger than those observed. This situation can seriously affect the transfer of momentum, heat and water vapor from the surface fluxes into the atmosphere. The object of this paper is to generalize the calculation of the exchange of momentum between the atmosphere and a very heterogeneous surface, find a general equation for the wind speed profile in a roughness sublayer under neutral conditions, and, then, derive aggregated roughness length and displacement height over the grid cell. The suggested expression for the wind profile is compared with some earlier approaches, using a common parameterization of aerodynamic parameters over the grid cell, and the observations obtained at an experimental site in Philadelphia, PA.