SODAR OBSERVATIONS OF THE STABLE LOWER ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY-LAYER AT BARROW, ALASKA

Events in the stably stratified lower atmospheric boundary layer within the first several hundreds of meters at Barrow, Alaska were recorded from 27 March to 5 April 1990 using an acoustic sounder (sodar), a tethered balloon, radiosondes, and an instrumented meteorological tower. These events include ground-based and low-level inversion layers, gravity waves, breaking waves, and multiple-layer structures. Even though these events are commonly found in a stable boundary layer, it is perhaps surprising to find them in such a slowly changing environment and over a terrain that is essentially devoid of immediate orographic influence.