Airborne measurements of turbulent trace gas fluxes and analysis of eddy structure in the convective boundary layer over complex terrain

The detailed structure of thermals, which largely carry out vertical transports in the boundary layer, are examined with a conditional sampling technique. Updrafts mostly contain warm, moist and NOx loaded air, while the ozone transport by thermals alternates with the background ozone gradient. Evidence for handover processes of trace gases to the free atmosphere can be found in the case of existing gradients across the boundary-layer top. An analysis of the size of eddies suggests the possibility of some influence of the heterogeneous terrain in mountainous area on the length scales of eddies.