Multiple Regimes of Flow, Stratification, and Turbulence in the Stable Boundary Layer

It is well established that the atmospheric Stable Boundary Layer (SBL) can display distinct regimes of flow. In the weakly stable boundary layer, turbulence is weak but continuous and the surface flow is coupled to that aloft. In the very stable boundary layer, turbulence collapses and the surface flow becomes decoupled from the flow above.

This study demonstrates the clear presence of two distinct SBL regimes in a long record of observations from the 213m tower in Cabauw, Netherlands. These regimes are found in the joint distribution of near-surface stratification, shear, and vertically-averaged wind speed. Hidden Markov model (HMM) analysis is used to distinguish these regimes and objectively classify states as being in one regime or the other. This classification allows for a detailed diagnosis of the flow, stratification, and turbulence structures within each of the two regimes, as well as their relation to large-scale forcing through the geostrophic wind and cloud cover. Observational evidence is presented that the very stable boundary layer is produced by a previously-discussed positive feedback associated with a maximum sustainable turbulent heat flux.