Boundary layer structure observed by Shipborne Doppler Sodar in the Suez Canal zone

Observations of the boundary layer with a monostatic Sodar and other instrumentation were carried out in the Suez canal zone in January and March 1979, from the Italian m.v. Salernum on its way to and from a GARP assignment. The Sodar was operated almost continuously throughout the passages. In addition to the intensity records, an off-line Doppler analysis involving the use of the fast Fourier transform of the digitized Sodar echoes has provided the vertical component w of the velocity. In general, because of efficient filtering and of the good quality of the data, a vertical profile of w has been determined for each transmitted pulse. During a prolonged stay in the Bitter lakes vertical profiles of temperature and humidity were also obtained by deploying a tethered balloon. Large temporal and spatial temperature contrasts exist in the canal zone due to the presence of the desert and of large and small bodies of water. The ensuring phenomenology during the time of observation was quite varied. (author)