A study on the effects of subgrid-scale representation of land use on the boundary layer evolution using a 1-D model

Abstract A soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer scheme based on a one-dimensional boundary layer model has been developed to study the sensitivity of boundary layer growth on the surface temperature fields and land-use types. Full interaction between the surface and atmosphere is achieved by representing the surface and turbulent mixing processes by using a Land Air Parameterization Scheme (LAPS) and the Blackadar's local closure PBL scheme. Sensitivity tests are performed by simulating planetary boundary layer structures over different underlying surfaces, soil textures and soil moisture contents using the meteorological data for July 17, 1999 in Philadelphia, PA. Also, a simpler surface parameterization used in the MM5 model results in a significantly higher surface temperature as well as the PBL depth over the urban area than those obtained by the LAPS parameterization in which a new method, including a combination of aggregated fluxes and parameters in calculating the surface temperature, is applied.