Lidar-observed stress vectors and veer in the atmospheric boundary layer

This study demonstrates that a pulsed wind lidar is a reliable instrument for measuring angles between horizontal vectors of significance in the atmospheric boundary layer. Three different angles are considered: the wind turning, the angle between the stress vector and the mean wind direction, and the angle between the stress vector and the vertical gradient of the mean velocity vector. The latter is assumed to be zero by the often applied turbulent-viscosity hypothesis, so that the stress vector can be described through the vertical gradient of velocity. In the atmospheric surface layer, where the Coriolis force is negligible, this is supposedly a good approximation. High-resolution large-eddy simulation data show that this is indeed the case even beyond the surface layer. In contrast, through analysis of WindCube lidar measurements supported by sonic measurements, the study shows that it is only valid very close to the surface. The deviation may be significant even at 100 m. This behavior is attributed to mesoscale effects.

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Author Berg, J.
Mann, J.
Patton, Edward G.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2013-09-01T00:00:00
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2025-07-12T01:16:40.768028
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:12890
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Berg, J., Mann, J., Patton, Edward G.. (2013). Lidar-observed stress vectors and veer in the atmospheric boundary layer. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d77945j5. Accessed 12 August 2025.

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