Browsing by Author "Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, Jordi"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Evaporation driven by Atmospheric Boundary Layer Processes over a Shallow Salt-Water Lagoon in the Altiplano
    (2024) Hartogensis, Oscar; Aguirre Correa, Francisca; Suárez Poch, Francisco Ignacio; Lobos Roco, Felipe Andrés; Ronda, Reinder; Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, Jordi
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Evaporation Driven by Atmospheric Boundary Layer Processes over a Shallow Saltwater Lagoon in the Altiplano
    Aguirre Correa, Francisca; Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, Jordi; Ronda, Reinder; Lobos Roco, Felipe; Suárez, Francisco; Hartogensis, Oscar
    Observations over a saltwater lagoon in the Altiplano show that evaporation E is triggered at noon, concurrent to the transition of a shallow, stable atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) into a deep mixed layer. We investigate the coupling between the ABL and E drivers using a land–atmosphere conceptual model, observations, and a regional model. Additionally, we analyze the ABL interaction with the aerodynamic and radiative components of evaporation using the Penman equation adapted to saltwater. Our results demonstrate that nonlocal processes are dominant in driving E. In the morning, the ABL is controlled by the local advection of warm air (∼5 K h−1), which results in a shallow (<350 m), stable ABL, with virtually no mixing and no E (<50 W m−2). The warm-air advection ultimately connects the ABL with the residual layer above, increasing the ABL height h by ∼1 km. At midday, a thermally driven regional flow arrives to the lagoon, which first advects a deeper ABL from the surrounding desert (∼1500 m h−1) that leads to an extra ∼700-m h increase. The regional flow also causes an increase in wind (∼12 m s−1) and an ABL collapse due to the entrance of cold air (∼−2 K h−1) with a shallower ABL (∼−350 m h−1). The turbulence produced by the wind decreases the aerodynamic resistance and mixes the water body releasing the energy previously stored in the lake. The ABL feedback on E through vapor pressure enables high evaporation values (∼450 W m−2 at 1430 LT). These results contribute to the understanding of E of water bodies in semiarid conditions and emphasize the importance of understanding ABL processes when describing evaporation drivers.