Friction layer

From Glossary of Meteorology



friction layer

An alternative, somewhat inappropriate, name for the atmospheric boundary layer.

In the real atmosphere, turbulent drag, rather than molecular friction, is responsible for reducing wind speeds in the boundary layer. Another inappropriate name for the friction layer is the Ekman layer, where turbulence is modeled similar to molecular friction except that an eddy viscosity is used in place of a molecular viscosity.


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