Aircraft Measurements in the Coupled Boundary Layers Air-Sea Transfer (CBLAST)Light Wind Pilot Field Study

摘要

A research aircraft was used in the low-wind pilot field study of the CoupledBoundary Layers Air-Sea Transfer (CBLAST) Departmental Research Initiative (DRI) to acquire high-resolution in situ atmospheric turbulent fluxes in the marine atmospheric boundary layer while simultaneously documenting the characteristics of the surface wave field with various remote sensors. The CBLAST-Low pilot study was successfully conducted during a three-week period from July to early August 2001 off the south shore of Martha's Vineyard Island, Massachusetts. Twenty missions (approximately 48 flight hours) were flown by the LongEZ (registration N3R) on days with light winds less than 7 m s1 under various atmospheric stabilities. Data acquired by N3R in CBLAST-Low will support the test and refinement of parameterizations used in air-sea models for light wind regimes. In addition, such measurements will provide important boundary conditions to determine boundary layer turbulence and other atmospheric processes controlling the exchange of energy across the air-sea interface. This report summarizes the data acquired by N3R in the CBLAST-Low pilot field study.