A two‐dimensional numerical study of horizontal roll vortices in the neutral atmospheric boundary layer

The dynamics of large‐scale, horizontal roll vortices in the neutral planetary boundary layer are investigated by means of a two‐dimensional numerical model. The rolls are assumed to be two‐dimensional and are calculated explicitly, while small‐scale turbulence is parametrized by a mixing‐length hypothesis. Although buoyancy effects are never negligible in the atmosphere, the assumptions of the turbulence modelling are supported by atmospheric observations of large eddies which are highly elongated in a direction close to that of the geostrophic wind, together with the observed partitioning of turbulence energy between the large eddies and a distinctly smaller scale. The results indicate a strong sensitivity to the roll orientation, and also the presence of a slow variation on the Coriolis timescale.