An attempt has been made here to study the sensitivity of the mean and the turbulence structure of the monsoon trough boundary layer to the choice of the constants in the dissipation equation for two stations Delhi and Calcutta, using one-dimensional atmospheric boundary layer model withe-ε turbulence closure. An analytical discussion of the problems associated with the constants of the dissipation equation is presented. It is shown here that the choice of the constants in the dissipation equation is quite crucial and the turbulence structure is very sensitive to these constants. The modification of the dissipation equation adopted by earlier studies, that is, approximating the Tke generation (due to shear and buoyancy production) in theε-equation by max (shear production, shear + buoyancy production), can be avoided by a suitable choice of the constants suggested here. The observed turbulence structure is better simulated with these constants. The turbulence structure simulation with the constants recommended by Aupoixet al (1989) (which are interactive in time) for the monsoon region is shown to be qualitatively similar to the simulation obtained with the constants suggested here, thus implying that no universal constants exist to regulate dissipation rate.

Simulations of the mean structure show little sensitivity to the type of the closure parameterization betweene-l ande-ε closures. However the turbulence structure simulation withe-ε. closure is far better compared to thee-l model simulations. The model simulations of temperature profiles compare quite well with the observations whenever the boundary layer is well mixed (neutral) or unstable. However the models are not able to simulate the nocturnal boundary layer (stable) temperature profiles. Moisture profiles are simulated reasonably better. With one-dimensional models, capturing observed wind variations is not up to the mark.

Using MONTBLEX-90 mean velocity data, roughness lengths and drag coefficients are estimated at Jodhpur and Kharagpur. At Jodhpur, since the surface is not uniform the roughness length is estimated separately in three different subsectors within the range of prevailing wind directions and averages to 1.23 cm in the sector between 200° and 230° which is relatively flat with no obstacles on the ground. At Kharagpur, where the terrain is more nearly homogeneous, the average value (for all prevailing wind directions) is 1.94 cm.

The drag coefficient C_D at Jodhpur shows variation both with the roughness subsector and with wind speed, the average over all directions increasing rapidly as themean wind speed Ū₁₀ at 10m height drops according to the power lawC_D = 0.05 Ū₁₀^t-1.09 in trie range 0.5 < Ū₁₀ < 7 m s⁻¹. At Kharagpur, the drag coefficient is smaller than at Jodhpur by nearly 50% for the same range of wind speeds (> 3 ms⁻¹).

Parameterization of sensible heat and momentum fluxes as inferred from an analysis of tower observations archived during MONTBLEX-90 at Jodhpur is proposed, both in terms of standard exchange coefficientsC_H andC_D respectively and also according to free convection scaling. Both coefficients increase rapidly at low winds (the latter more strongly) and with increasing instability. All the sensible heat flux data at Jodhpur (wind speed at 10 m Ū₁₀ < 8 ms⁻¹) also obey free convection scaling, with the flux proportional to the ‘4/3’ power of an appropriate temperature difference such as that between 1 and 30 m. Furthermore, for Ū₁₀ < 4 ms⁻¹ the momentum flux displays a linear dependence on wind speed.