Abstract
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 107,
4002,
13 PP., 2002
doi:10.1029/2000JD000146
Turbulence parameters in the tropical troposphere and lower stratosphere
Department of Physics, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Department of Physics, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Using the mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere (MST)radar observations in the troposphere and lower stratosphere at a tropicalstation, Gadanki, the rate of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation ϵ,as estimated by the spectral width method, the power method, and the variancemethod, has been compared. It is found that ϵ from the spectral widthmethod and variance method agree quite well under low background wind conditions,whereas under high background wind conditions, ϵ from the spectral widthmethod appears to be an underestimate. The ϵ from the power method isgenerally lower than that from the other two methods. Adopting the variancemethod, the turbulence parameters ϵ and the eddy diffusivity for momentum Km have beenestimated for tropospheric and lower stratospheric regions over Gadanki forthe period 18 January 1999 to 5 March 1999, making use of the vertical windobservations from MST radar on each night for ∼2 hours. Average altitudeprofiles of ϵ and Kmfor the winter season are presented. The turbulence parameter profiles reveala prominent peak in the upper troposphere. From Richardson number considerationsthe observed turbulence is attributed mainly to wind shear.
Published 1 January 2002.
Citation: (2002), Turbulence parameters in the tropical troposphere and lower stratosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D1), 4002, doi:10.1029/2000JD000146.
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