The surface boundary layer of a hurricane

R. K. Smith

doi:10.3402/tellusa.v20i3.10026

The surface boundary layer of a hurricane

Tellus

Volume 20 (1968): Issue 3

By: R. K. Smith

Open Access

|Jan 1968

Abstract

A simple model is developed to investigate some of the features of the surface boundary layer of a hurricane. The flow above the friction layer is represented by a steady cylindrical vortex in which there is gradient flow, specified by suitably choosing the radial pressure profile. It is assumed that the flow in the main vortex is approximately geostrophic at large distances from the centre and the Ekman solution is taken as appropriate for the boundary layer flow at these distances. A momentum integral method is used to follow the boundary layer development to the centre regions of the vortex.

Radial profiles of boundary layer thickness and induced vertical veolocity are obtained when a constant eddy viscosity, K_M, is taken as characteristic of the turbulence in the friction layer. Two surface boundary conditions are examined; the no-slip condition and the condition that the surface stress be in the direction of the surface wind. The former of these is found to be the more satisfactory and gives qualitative agreement with observations. The effects of radial and vertical variations of K_M are discussed in relation to the surface condition but an inadequate knowledge of the turbulent structure prevents a more realistic formulation of the layer at this stage.

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