NEW APPROACH TO UNDERSTAND MARINE BOUNDARY LAYER CHARACTERISTICS DURING DIFFERENT MONSOON REGIMES OVER PALAU IN PACIFIC OCEAN

A new algorithm is proposed to determine the marine boundary layer (MBL) height using a wind profiler radar and a ceilometer. For this, four year observational data from wind profiler radar and laser ceilometer installed at Palau islands in Tropical Western Pacific Ocean is utilized. We observed the diurnal and seasonal variation in the marine boundary layer height using this new algorithm. The results show a fairly good agreement with the normal peak detection method. We utilized ‘new algorithm’ for understanding of MBL variations during westerly/easterly monsoon periods. It is noticed that multiple forcing mechanisms are primarily responsible for the shallow marine boundary-layer heights observed during westerly monsoon period.