Hybrid Profile-Gradient Approaches for the Estimation of Surface Fluxes

Area of Science:

• Atmospheric Science
• Meteorology
• Boundary Layer Meteorology

Background:

• Monin-Obukhov similarity theory links wind speed and temperature profiles.
• These coupled profiles complicate direct flux estimation.
• Accurate atmospheric stability assessment is crucial for various applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop hybrid approaches for disentangling coupled wind speed and temperature profiles.
• To enable effortless estimation of Obukhov length and turbulent fluxes.
• To introduce new, easily measurable indices for atmospheric stability.

Main Methods:

• Developed novel hybrid methods to decouple wind and temperature profiles.
• Utilized Monte-Carlo numerical experiments for performance evaluation.
• Compared hybrid approaches against traditional gradient and profile methods.

Main Results:

• Hybrid approaches simplify the estimation of Obukhov length and turbulent fluxes.
• Two new, easily measurable atmospheric stability indices were derived.
• Performance is comparable to profile methods in error-free conditions.
• Performance degrades in the presence of random input errors.

Conclusions:

• The proposed hybrid methods offer a simplified pathway for analyzing atmospheric profiles.
• These methods provide practical tools for estimating turbulent fluxes and stability.
• Careful consideration of input data quality is necessary for optimal application.