Decoupling Between the Atmosphere and the Underlying Surface During Stable Stratification

Strong temperature gradients with stable stratification immediately above the surface are typical for radiation cooling, but near-surface temperature inversions (hereinafter referred to as inversions) have hardly been studied. Both phenomena are examined in more detail by means of measurements in the Caspian Sea and Antarctica and compared with measurements made by other authors. For this purpose, tests for decoupling are applied in the first case. In the second case, the inversions can be explained in the context of counter-gradient fluxes and turbulent Prandtl numbers greater than one.

Automated summary

This article examines temperature gradients and inversions by comparing and analyzing measurement data from the Caspian Sea and Antarctica. In the first case, decoupling tests are used to explain the phenomena, while in the second case, inversions can be explained by counter-gradient fluxes and turbulent Prandtl numbers greater than one.