A Study of the Vertical Distribution of Ozone and the Variability of the Wind Field Above a Nocturnal Radiation Inversion.
Abstract
A Study of the Vertical Distribution of Ozone and the Variability of the Wind Field Above a Nocturnal Radiation Inversion. (Under the direction of Allen J. Riordan). The vertical distribution of ozone prior to the morning breakdown of the radiation inversion is related to the changes in the nocturnal wind field and the trajectory of the layer containing the ozone. Helicopter and hourly pilot-balloon data collected on five days during August 1976, in St. Louis, Missouri, were analyzed. The ozone was assumed to be uniformly mixed throughout the boundary layer at sunset the previous evening. The study indicates that the similarities and differences between the vertical distribution of ozone assumed at sunset and observed the following morning are related to the variability of the nocturnal wind field. Analysis of height-time cross sections of the nocturnal wind field indicated that the winds exhibited both vertical and temporal variability above an observation point. Most of the temporal variability in the nocturnal wind field occurs between scheduled radiosonde launch times and will not be completely detected. Therefore, the trajectory computations will not entirely represent the changes which occur. The study also indicates that due to the vertical variability of the wind field, more representative trajectories can be obtained by computing the trajectories for several thin layers versus computing a single trajectory for a thick layer. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA090633
Entities
People
- Donald Rogers Hood
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology