The vertical temperature structure and scaling relations for heat of the near surface stable boundary layer

The vertical temperature structure and scaling relations for heat of the near surface stable boundary layer | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The vertical temperature structure and scaling relations for heat of the near surface stable boundary layer Karl Lapo, Lena Pfister, Samuele Mosso, Manuela Lehner, Ivana Stiperski This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5599974/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Boundary-Layer Meteorology → Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Describing the turbulent mixing of heat in the stable boundary layer (SBL) has been a long-standing difficulty for similarity theory. We investigated the connection between turbulent mixing of heat and the thermal structure of the near-surface SBL at three sites impacted by topography using Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) and the universal decoupling parameter, which describes the degree of vertical coupling for turbulent eddies. Three categories of thermal structures were found: logarithmic, sublayered, and quasi-logarithmic profiles. The logarithmic type is mostly associated with vertically-coupled turbulence but exists for a range of stability and vertical coupling values, the sublayered types are almost never well-coupled, and the quasi-logarithmic SBL type exhibits a mixed behavior between logarithmic and sublayered. Existing similarity scaling relations are a consequence of aggregating across these SBL types and degree of vertical coupling and, critically, none of the existing similarity scaling relations were physically consistent with the profile types or degree of vertical coupling. Several other frameworks of the SBL were found to be a similar result of aggregating across these SBL types. Similarly, methods for selecting data consistent with similarity theory were only partially successful distinguishing between sublayered, uncoupled and logarithmic, coupled cases. Finally, we show that the universal decoupling parameter may be a more appropriate choice for scaling the turbulent mixing of heat in the SBL than the non-dimensional temperature gradient as it better encodes the physics driving the turbulent mixing processes and has a more robust scaling relationship, without the problem of self-correlation. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Boundary-Layer Meteorology → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Feb, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 Feb, 2025 Reviews received at journal 05 Feb, 2025 Reviews received at journal 04 Jan, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Dec, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Dec, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Dec, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Dec, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 09 Dec, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 09 Dec, 2024 First submitted to journal 07 Dec, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5599974","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":411723715,"identity":"31efaaf4-11d5-4da8-b3f7-df18f8552104","order_by":0,"name":"Karl Lapo","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABDUlEQVRIie3RMUvDQBTA8fcIdLqQ9cpF/QotHa3mq1wopGvBJUOGk8BlCc4BB7/KwUGmaD9AQeri5OYiSMVnWnTxiGPB+xM4OPLj3XEAPt8RxgHQ0MoAAkXrHEZ8NEjgQPCLZD+EDRA4EEtbA2Rc3W8N5I9xpPD6dZWv0xuhJbwVcJY4iGDLiYHuinGDpWi6Tarj1mDdwrR2kFM6vd1pySZ0MBFqInypIFSAThI9g8GPnpTvoX7oCe4UJC4ieEZE9UTTFEMkMwFNSV1k3NAUaCXjFvV50y1mdBdp45YvavM74esMt1DIJKpKu1nllyd3t3r69FLMLyrlGPNd0H/7zP7B/lAw/IvP5/P9xz4Ba39SSmtney0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Universität Innsbruck","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Karl","middleName":"","lastName":"Lapo","suffix":""},{"id":411723716,"identity":"105218bd-26e0-4029-8830-f5c569a5b9ff","order_by":1,"name":"Lena Pfister","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universität Innsbruck","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lena","middleName":"","lastName":"Pfister","suffix":""},{"id":411723717,"identity":"da76839e-ee26-4e42-bc35-920ccac763e3","order_by":2,"name":"Samuele Mosso","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universität Innsbruck","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Samuele","middleName":"","lastName":"Mosso","suffix":""},{"id":411723718,"identity":"480a840d-324e-4636-9113-91c37f475117","order_by":3,"name":"Manuela Lehner","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universität Innsbruck","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Manuela","middleName":"","lastName":"Lehner","suffix":""},{"id":411723719,"identity":"85a13e67-0ea6-4cab-bad1-b1f102f7b2e8","order_by":4,"name":"Ivana Stiperski","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universität Innsbruck","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ivana","middleName":"","lastName":"Stiperski","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-12-07 16:53:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5599974/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5599974/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-025-00920-1","type":"published","date":"2025-07-16T16:05:40+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":87220507,"identity":"e0f174f6-f9c6-4d91-b862-d7fff1f10b69","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-21 16:12:36","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3076215,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"LapoBLMEstimatingStabilitylatextosubmit.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5599974/v1_covered_486b1977-10f4-4350-828c-9ad5a59e655a.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The vertical temperature structure and scaling relations for heat of the near surface stable boundary layer","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"boundary-layer-meteorology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"boun","sideBox":"Learn more about [Boundary-Layer Meteorology](http://link.springer.com/journal/10546)","snPcode":"10546","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10546/3","title":"Boundary-Layer Meteorology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5599974/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5599974/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Describing the turbulent mixing of heat in the stable boundary layer (SBL) has been a long-standing difficulty for similarity theory. 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