Abstract
The structure parameter of temperature, \({C_{T}^{2}}\) , in the lower convective boundary layer was measured using the unmanned mini aerial vehicle M2AV. The measurements were carried out on two hot summer days in July 2010 over a heterogeneous land surface around the boundary-layer field site of the Lindenberg Meteorological Observatory—Richard-Aßmann-Observatory of the German Meteorological Service. The spatial series of \({C_{T}^{2}}\) showed considerable variability along the flight path that was caused by both temporal variations and surface heterogeneity. Comparison of the aircraft data with \({C_{T}^{2}}\) values derived from tower-based in situ turbulence measurements showed good agreement with respect to the diurnal variability. The decrease of \({C_{T}^{2}}\) with height as predicted by free-convection scaling could be confirmed for the morning and afternoon flights while the flights around noon suggest a different behaviour.
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van den Kroonenberg, A.C., Martin, S., Beyrich, F. et al. Spatially-Averaged Temperature Structure Parameter Over a Heterogeneous Surface Measured by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 142, 55–77 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-011-9662-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-011-9662-9