Articles | Volume 4, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-391-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-391-2016
Research article
 | 
19 May 2016
Research article |  | 19 May 2016

Predicting the roughness length of turbulent flows over landscapes with multi-scale microtopography

Jon D. Pelletier and Jason P. Field

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Interactive discussion

Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
AR by Jon Pelletier on behalf of the Authors (16 Feb 2016)  Author's response 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (21 Feb 2016) by Eric Lajeunesse
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (13 Mar 2016)
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (01 Apr 2016)
ED: Publish as is (01 Apr 2016) by Eric Lajeunesse
ED: Publish as is (14 Apr 2016) by Niels Hovius (Editor)
AR by Jon Pelletier on behalf of the Authors (02 May 2016)  Manuscript 
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Short summary
The law of the wall is one of the fundamental equations at the boundary of atmospheric sciences and aeolian geomorphology. In this paper, we quantify the relationship between the key parameter of the law of the wall, i.e., the roughness length, and measures of microtopography. We propose a method for predicting the roughness length that works for landscapes with microtopography over a wide range of spatial scales. The method is tested against approximately 60 000 measurements of roughness length.