The Nature, Theory, and Modeling of Atmospheric Planetary Boundary Layers

Abstract

lanetary boundary layers (PBLs) represent sensitive and changeable coupling agents that regulate the fluxes of energy, momentum, and matter between the atmosphere and land or sea over a range of scales, from local to global. Numerical weather prediction (NWP), climate, air pollution, and coupled atmosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere models all include PBL schemes as submodels. With the development of high-resolution models, requirements for PBL schemes have dramatically increased, making them a key element of modern model suites that address essential environmental features. Further advancements in this field are stymied, however, as long as the surface boundary conditions provided by PBL schemes remain uncertain.