The Data Base for the May 1979 Marine Surface Layer Micrometeorological Experiment at San Nicolas Island, California.

Abstract : One hundred thirty-six hours of gradient (profile) and bulk aerodynamic measurements of momentum, moisture, and sensible heat flux, accompanied by determinations of stability, drag coefficient, roughness length, and sky radiation were made in the marine atmospheric surface layer over the Pacific Ocean from an upwind, low-profile promontory of San Nicolas Island, California. Over a 10-day period a wide variety of meteorological and oceanographic conditions were observed in which 30-minute average wind speeds ranged from 2 to 17 m/s, air-water temperature difference from -2.1 to +0.6 C, dew point-water temperature differences from -7.5 to -2.0 C, and Richardson number stabilities from -2.7 to +0.1. Subsequently, 10% of the data were acquired under stable atmospheric conditions and 15% at wind speeds in excess of 12 m/s. The micro-meteorological observations were accompanied by 80 hours of aerosol size distribution observations of particles ranging from 0.3 to 14 micrometers in radius, 171 hourly measurements of upwind wave period and height, 59 hourly measurements of atmospheric radon (222Rn), and typically twice daily high resolution radiosonde measurements for determining the height of the marine inversion. The data includes measurement error values for the various flux and stability related parameters.