edu.ucar.opensky::articles:6143 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-26T16:12:52.494568 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7nv9jd2 Surface stress in offshore flow and quasi-frictional decoupling 2001-09-27T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7nv9jd2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JD000159 Mahrt, L. author Vickers, D. author Sun, Jielun author Crawford, T. author Crescenti, G. author Frederickson, P. author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher Aircraft data collected at approximately 15 m above the sea surface in the coastal zone are analyzed to examine the spatial distribution of surface stress. Advection of stronger turbulence from land dominates the near-surface turbulence for the first few kilometers offshore. With offshore flow of warm air over cold water, strong stratification leads to very small surface stress. Because the stability restricts the momentum transfer to the waves, the aerodynamic surface roughness decreases to very small values, which in turn decreases atmospheric mixing. The redevelopment of the boundary layer farther downstream is examined. Computation of fluxes from observations for stable cases is difficult due to a variety of errors including large random flux errors, possible instrumental loss of small-scale flux, difference between the surface flux and that at the observational level, and inadvertent capture of mesoscale motions in the computed turbulent fluctuations. Although the errors appear to be substantial, the aircraft momentum fluxes compare favorably with those from sonic anemometers on two buoys and a tower at the end of a 570-m pier, even with near collapse of the turbulence. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2001 American Geophysical Union. None eng geoscientificInformation