Scale dependence of coherent structures' contribution to the daytime buoyancy heat flux over the Pantanal wetland, Brazil

Author(s)

Zeri, Marcelo ^[1] ; Deane de Abreu Sa, Leonardo ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Illinois, Energy Biosci Inst, Urbana, IL 61801 - USA

^[2] INPE, CRA, BR-66077830 Belem, Para - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Atmospheric Science Letters; v. 12, n. 2, p. 200-206, APR-JUN 2011.
• Web of Science Citations: 9

Abstract

The contribution of organized motions to buoyancy heat flux was determined for several time scales by applying wavelet decomposition to signals of vertical velocity and air temperature. Measurements were performed using an eddy covariance system installed over the Pantanal wetland, in Brazil, during two campaigns ( 1998 and 1999). The signals were decomposed in several time scales and then used in the quadrant analysis. Overall, coherent structures were responsible for similar to 40% of the buoyancy heat flux, if the contributions of ejections and sweeps are summed over the range of 10-100 s, which excludes the contribution of stochastic high-frequency turbulence and low-frequency mesoscale motions. Copyright (C) 2011 Royal Meteorological Society (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 98/00105-5 - Study of the surface boundary layer of Pantanal in south Mato Grosso
• Grantee: Antonio Ocimar Manzi
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants