Abstract
The Convective Boundary Layer (CBL) is one of the prototypes of the atmospheric boundary layer over a homogeneous surface, the other being the neutral and stable boundary layer. For a review of the meteorological characteristics of the three prototypes we refer to Nieuwstadt and Duynkerke [10]. Here we shall concentrate on the CBL. Convection or rather the term free convection is used to describe the process whereby turbulence is produced by buoyancy. In the atmospheric boundary layer, buoyant air generally results from the heating of the atmosphere at the surface which in case of a land surface is heated by solar radiation. Therefore the CBL is frequently identified with sunny and clear meteorological conditions. However, even small temperature variations are already sufficient to cause buoyant air motions. So the CBL is not restricted to only clear and sunny skies.
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Nieuwstadt, F.T.M. (1998). Review of Diffusion Processes in the Convective Boundary Layer. In: Plate, E.J., Fedorovich, E.E., Viegas, D.X., Wyngaard, J.C. (eds) Buoyant Convection in Geophysical Flows. NATO ASI Series, vol 513. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5058-3_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5058-3_16
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