Results from one-year continuous operation of a large aperture scintillometer over a heterogeneous land surface

A large-aperture scintillometer (LAS) was operated continuously during a period of more than one year over a heterogeneous land surface in Central Europe at the transition between marine and continental climates. The LAS measurements of the refractive index structure parameter, C N-2, were used to estimate the sensible heat flux. This was possible for about 60 to 80% of the time under daytime conditions during the summer, with lower values obtained for the cold season (October to March). Using data from a three-week long field experiment, the LAS-based heat flux was compared with a weighed average of local heat flux measurements over the main land use classes (forest, agriculture, water) in the area, resulting in reasonable agreement. LAS-based heat fluxes were then used for comparison with the heat flux values of a numerical weather prediction model. An over-prediction of the model heat flux was found in summer but the modelled values were lower than the LAS derived data during the cold season.