The Effect of Submeso Motions on the Budgets of the Mean Turbulent Kinetic Energy and Temperature Variance in the Stable Atmospheric Surface Layer

By considering turbulence observations in the atmospheric stable surface layer over complex terrain, we study the effect of submeso motions on the budgets of the mean turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and (half) the temperature variance. Different averaging times are considered (i.e., 100 s and 30 min), to filter out or retain the submeso contributions to second-order moments. Furthermore, results are interpreted by introducing four parameters that express the relative submeso contribution to the TKE, the temperature variance, and the vertical fluxes of heat and momentum. Four regimes are identified according to these four submeso parameters and the budgets are evaluated for these regimes. A balance among production, buoyancy (for the TKE) and dissipation occurs for the two regimes characterized by small submeso contribution to the fluxes, while an unbalance occurs for the other two regimes, where the submeso contribution to the fluxes is large. Instead, the budgets are independent of the magnitude of the submeso contribution to the TKE and the temperature variance.