Flux and turbulence measurements at a densely built-up site in Marseille: heat, mass (water and carbon dioxide), and momentum

Grimmond, C. S. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3166-9415, Salmond, J. A., Oke, T. R., Offlerle, B. and Lemonsu, A. (2004) Flux and turbulence measurements at a densely built-up site in Marseille: heat, mass (water and carbon dioxide), and momentum. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109 (D24). ISSN 0148-0227 doi: 10.1029/2004JD004936

Abstract/Summary

Eddy covariance (EC) observations above the densely built-up center of Marseille during the Expérience sur site pour contraindre les modèles de pollution atmosphérique et de transport d'émissions (ESCOMPTE) summertime measurement campaign extend current understanding of surface atmosphere exchanges in cities. The instrument array presented opportunities to address issues of the representativeness of local-scale fluxes in urban settings. Separate EC systems operated at two levels, and a telescoping tower allowed the pair to be exposed at two different sets of heights. The flux and turbulence observations taken at the four heights, stratified by wind conditions (mistral wind and sea breeze), are used to address the partitioning of the surface energy balance in an area with large roughness elements. The turbulent sensible heat flux dominates in the daytime, although the storage heat flux is a significant term that peaks before solar noon. The turbulent latent heat flux is small but not negligible. Carbon dioxide fluxes show that this central city district is almost always a source, but the vegetation reduces the magnitude of the fluxes in the afternoon. The atmosphere in such a heavily developed area is rarely stable. The turbulence characteristics support the empirical functions proposed by M. Roth.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/98286
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	American Geophysical Union
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