Premium
A field study of nocturnal stratocumulus II Turbulence structure and entrainment
Author(s) -
Caughey S. J.,
Crease B. A.,
Roach W. T.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49710845508
Subject(s) - entrainment (biomusicology) , marine stratocumulus , turbulence , boundary layer , atmospheric sciences , daytime , convective boundary layer , environmental science , cloud top , convection , meteorology , planetary boundary layer , radiative cooling , radiative transfer , geology , mechanics , cloud computing , physics , aerosol , rhythm , acoustics , computer science , operating system , quantum mechanics
Tethered balloon‐borne instrumentation has been used to study the small‐scale air motion and temperature variations occurring within a layer of nocturnal stratocumulus. The observations indicate a very sharp and intermittently turbulent entrainment interfacial layer with some evidence for a characteristic entrainment scale of about 10m. Within the cloud layer convective motions are apparent and these take the form of cold, downward moving plumes which increase in scale away from cloud top. They are generated by the large radiative loss from the upper part of the cloud. Some statistical features of the turbulence field in cloud are discussed and compared with other observations from stratocumulus and the daytime convective boundary layer.