Measurement and Scale Analysis of Convective Transport over Heterogeneous Terrain

Meso-scale structures (MS) are supposed to be a major reason for the energy balance closure (EBC) problem of eddy-covariance measurments. This is assessed with Doppler lidar, tower and aircraft measurements. The lidar data provide evidence for MS in the surface layer, the airborne data show that MS contribute to the turbulent heat fluxes. The friction velocity and the gradients of temperature and moisture are promising variables for parameterizing the EBC.