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Determining surface roughness and displacement height

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Abstract

Vertical flux densities of momentum and sensible heat, obtained from simultaneous wind speed and air temperature profiles in the surface layer, depend on the displacement height of the profile system and the surface roughness. A criterion for selecting the displacement height and the surface roughness is introduced, which requires a minimum value for the error squares between the observed and a calculated wind speed profile as determined by diabatic surface layer theory. Values of displacement height and surface roughness, which provide a minimum error squares fit within a desired tolerance, are selected by the rule of false position. The method is programmed for digital computer solution and applied to a total number of 628 profiles obtained during a 7-day period at a micrometeorological test site near Davis, California, using five measurement levels to 160 cm height.

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  1. Dept. of Meteorology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisc., USA

    Charles R. Stearns

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  1. Charles R. Stearns
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Stearns, C.R. Determining surface roughness and displacement height. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 1, 102–111 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00193908

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