Energy Dissipation Rates of Turbulence with an Airborne Microwave Refractometer

Abstract

Estimates of turbulence energy dissipation rates have been obtained in the free atmosphere of the planetary boundary layer. These are derived in terms of the variance of radio refractive index fluctuations {Lln2 }, the Brunt-Vaisala frequency N, the mean vertical gradient of generalised potential refractive index M, and the turbulence structure parameter C~, using an airborne microwave refractometer. The energy dissipation rates thus derived are comparable with the results from other experiments. The inferred energy dissipation rates (on a near real-time basis) from the airborne microwave refractometer. are useful for detection and warning of wind shears in the atmosphere.