Spatial and temporal characteristics of horizontal rolls and cells in the atmospheric boundary layer based on radar and in situ observations

This paper is the second of a series devoted to the observation and analysis of coherent structures in the cloudy Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) such as horizontal rolls or thermal cells. In the first paper, the TRAC (Turbulence Radar Aircraft Cells) experiment which is the observational support of this investigation based on coupled radar-aircraft measurements, was presented along with an overview of the main results of this campaign held in June 1993 in France. Here the analysis is focused on the spatial characteristics (length-scale, orientation...) of the coherent structures, their temporal evolution and vertical distribution deduced from the radar reflectivity fields acquired in clear air at several levels for five different ABLs. For that, an original and efficient image processing method able to extract the major mode of the organisation was developed. These characteristics are examined in relation lo the dynamic and thermodynamic state of the ABL using mean and turbulent information as observed by the in-situ aircraft. These experimental results are the basis of a future Large Eddy Simulation modeling of an organised ABL which is in progress and will be the concern of the third paper in the series.