Met 130 Boundary Layer Meteorology
Review for Final Exam
May 19, 2008
This exam will be focusing on the general concepts of what was covered over the course
of the semester. There will not be any derivations or calculations. The emphasis of the
final is to test your overall general knowledge of the atmospheric boundary layer.
Topics
Boundary layer characteristics
1. be able to describe the boundary layer
2. draw profiles of theta for certain times of the day
3. identify different layers of the boundary layer
4. define: SBL, CBL and RL
Turbulence
1. define turbulence
2. understand how we make turbulence measurements…i.e., understand the course final
project and the calculations of the terms(tke, heat flux, momentum flux, ustar, etc)
3. know what each term that was plotted in the project is.
4. understand how the terms vary in a time series over the course of the day.
5. TKE
6. be able to name the terms of the TKE budget equation
7. concept of surface roughness
Special Topics
1. know the components of the surface energy budget (the energy budget equation)
2. know why valleys cool and heat compared to the plains
3. evolution of temperature inversions in mountain valleys
4. understand the whiteman inversion breakup patterns
5. mountain winds: valley winds, slope winds
6. understand the time series of wind speed and direction in mountain valleys
7. know what the vertical profile of valley winds looks like