The role of surface heterogeneity in modelling the stable boundary layer.

High-resolution numerical simulations are performed for three nights for each of two areas of the United Kingdom. Area-averaging techniques are then used to calculate effective stability functions for turbulence parametrizations in models using typical mesoscale and global spatial resolutions. Comparisons are made with parametrizations commonly used in numerical weather prediction models. The present results do not suggest that significant enhancement of the stability functions above 50 m is justified. Closer to the surface, more significant enhancement is observed in some regions. It is shown that the amount of enhancement is related to the variability of the orography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]