The Urban Boundary-layer Field Campaign in Marseille (ubl/clu-escompte): Set-up and First Results

Authors

Patrice G. Mestayer, École Centrale de Nantes, Nantes, France
P. Durand, Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques
P. Augustin, Université du Littoral
S. Bastin, Service d’Aéronomie, IPSL
J. M. Bonnefond, Unité de Bioclimatologie
B. Bénech, Laboratoire d’Aérologie
B. Campistron, Laboratoire d’Aérologie
A. Coppalle, Université-INSA de Rouen
H. Delbarre, Université du Littoral
B. Dousset, Laboratoire Géomer, CNRS
P. Drobinski, Service d’Aéronomie, IPSL
A. Druilhet, Laboratoire d’Aérologie
E. Fréjafon, INERIS, Verneuil en Halatte
C. S. B. Grimmond, King's College London, London, UK
Dominique Groleau, Institut de Recherche en Sciences et Techniques de la Ville, Nantes, France
M Irvine, Unité de Bioclimatologie
C. Kergomard, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille
S. Kermadi, Université du Maine
J. P. Lagouarde, Unité de Bioclimatologie
A. Lemonsu, Environment Canada
F. Lohou, Laboratoire d’Aérologie
N. Long, École Centrale de Nantes, Nantes, France
V. Masson, Météo France
C. Moppert, Laboratoire d’Aérologie
J. Noilhan, Météo France
B. Offerle, Indiana University - Bloomington
T. R. Oke, University of British Columbia
G. Pigeon, Météo France
V. Puygrenier, Laboratoire d’Aérologie
S. M. Roberts, University of British Columbia
J. M. Rosant, École Centrale de Nantes, Nantes, France
F. Said, Laboratoire d’Aérologie
J. Salmond, University of British Columbia
M. Talbaut, Université-INSA de Rouen
James A. Voogt, The University of Western Ontario

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2005

Volume

114

Issue

2

Journal

Boundary-Layer Meteorology

First Page

315

Last Page

365

URL with Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10546-004-9241-4

Abstract

The UBL/CLU (urban boundary layer/couche limite urbaine) observation and modelling campaign is a side-project of the regional photochemistry campaign ESCOMPTE. UBL/CLU focuses on the dynamics and thermodynamics of the urban boundary layer of Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast of France. The objective of UBL/CLU is to document the four-dimensional structure of the urban boundary layer and its relation to the heat and moisture exchanges between the urban canopy and the atmosphere during periods of low wind conditions, from June 4 to July 16, 2001. The project took advantage of the comprehensive observational set-up of the ESCOMPTE campaign over the Berre–Marseille area, especially the ground-based remote sensing, airborne measurements, and the intensive documentation of the regional meteorology. Additional instrumentation was installed as part of UBL/CLU. Analysis objectives focus on (i) validation of several energy balance computational schemes such as LUMPS, TEB and SM2-U, (ii) ground truth and urban canopy signatures suitable for the estimation of urban albedos and aerodynamic surface temperatures from satellite data, (iii) high resolution mapping of urban land cover, land-use and aerodynamic parameters used in UBL models, and (iv) testing the ability of high resolution atmospheric models to simulate the structure of the UBL during land and sea breezes, and the related transport and diffusion of pollutants over different districts of the city. This paper presents initial results from such analyses and details of the overall experimental set-up.