The vertical structure of the observed stable boundary layer often deviates substantially from textbook profiles. Even over flat homogeneous surfaces, the turbulence may not be completely related to the surface conditions and instead generated by elevated sources of turbulence such as low-level jets and transient modes. In stable conditions, even modest surface heterogeneity can alter the vertical structure of the stable bound...

Nocturnal spatial variation of temperature, wind, and turbulence over microtopography is generally poorly understood. Low amplitude microtopography covers much of the Earth’s surface and, with very stable conditions, can produce significant spatial variations of temperature and turbulence. We examine such variations over gentle terrain that include two shallow gullies that feed into a small valley. The gullies are covered by a...

Nocturnal variations of temperature and wind are examined at three contrasting sites. After the early evening period of rapid cooling, the magnitude of the variations of temperature on a time scale of 10 min to an hour often become larger than the corresponding temperature change due to the nocturnal trend. These shorter-term temperature variations are forced by wave-like motions and more complex modes. Observations from a net...