Sensible heat flux and boundary layer depth measurements by Doppler SODAR and sonic anemometer data

A validation of a simple mixed-layer similarity relationship, firstly propo sed by Panofsky and McCormick (1960), is presented for wind speeds up to 7 ms(-1) and over an uneven terrain. The surface heat flux and the Planetary Boundary Layer depth, z(i), are retrieved from this relationship, by using SODAR measurements of the vertical velocity variance sigma(w)(2), under the hypothesis that the heat flux linearly decreases with height. All the meas urements are relative to days characterized by high-pressure conditions, du ring periods of well-developed convection. The values of the surface heat f lux obtained from such a method are compared with those obtained by applyin g the eddy correlation technique to the vertical wind velocities and virtua l temperatures measured by a sonic anemometer. The values of z(i) obtained from the same relationship are compared with the height of the lowest inver sion layer estimated from the facsimile record-of the echoes received by th e vertical antenna of the SODAR. The spectral behavior of vertical and long itudinal wind velocity from the anemometer and the SODAR is examined, too. In such a way an independent estimate of z(i) is obtained from the position of the spectral maximum.