Effects of shear in the convective boundary layer: analysis of the turbulent kinetic energy budget

Effects of convective and mechanical turbulence at the entrainment zone are studied through the use of systematic Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) experiments. Five LES experiments with different shear characteristics in the quasi-steady barotropic boundary layer were conducted by increasing the value of the constant geostrophic wind by 5 m s-1 until the geostrophic wind was equal to 20 m s-1. The main result of this sensitivity analysis is that the convective boundary layer deepens with increasing wind speed due to the enhancement of the entrainment heat flux by the presence of shear.