The current version of the Dutch Atmospheric Large-Eddy Simulation (DALES) is presented. DALES is a large-eddy simulation code designed for studies of the physics of the atmospheric boundary layer, including convective and stable boundary layers as well as cloudy boundary layers. In addition, DALES can be used for studies of more specific cases, such as flow over sloping or heterogeneous terrain, and dispersion of inert and chemically active species. This paper contains an extensive description of the physical and numerical formulation of the code, and gives an overview of its applications and accomplishments in recent years.

Due to the major role of the sun in heating the earth's surface, the atmospheric planetary boundary layer over land is inherently marked by a diurnal cycle. The afternoon transition, the period of the day that connects the daytime dry convective boundary layer to the night-time stable boundary layer, still has a number of unanswered scientific questions. This phase of the diurnal cycle is challenging from both modelling and observational perspectives: it is transitory, most of the forcings are small or null and the turbulence regime changes from fully convective, close to homogeneous and isotropic, toward a more heterogeneous and intermittent state. These issues motivated the BLLAST (Boundary-Layer Late Afternoon and Sunset Turbulence) field campaign that was conducted from 14 June to 8 July 2011 in southern France, in an area of complex and heterogeneous terrain. A wide range of instrumented platforms including full-size aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft systems, remote-sensing instruments, radiosoundings, tethered balloons, surface flux stations and various meteorological towers were deployed over different surface types. The boundary layer, from the earth's surface to the free troposphere, was probed during the entire day, with a focus and intense observation periods that were conducted from midday until sunset. The BLLAST field campaign also provided an opportunity to test innovative measurement systems, such as new miniaturized sensors, and a new technique for frequent radiosoundings of the low troposphere. Twelve fair weather days displaying various meteorological conditions were extensively documented during the field experiment. The boundary-layer growth varied from one day to another depending on many contributions including stability, advection, subsidence, the state of the previous day's residual layer, as well as local, meso- or synoptic scale conditions. Ground-based measurements combined with tethered-balloon and airborne observations captured the turbulence decay from the surface throughout the whole boundary layer and documented the evolution of the turbulence characteristic length scales during the transition period. Closely integrated with the field experiment, numerical studies are now underway with a complete hierarchy of models to support the data interpretation and improve the model representations.

Forests impact regional hydrology and climate directly by regulating water and heat fluxes. Indirect effects through cloud formation and precipitation can be important in facilitating continental-scale moisture recycling but are poorly understood at regional scales. In particular, the impact of temperate forest on clouds is largely unknown. Here we provide observational evidence for a strong increase in cloud cover over large forest regions in western Europe based on analysis of 10 years of 15 min resolution data from geostationary satellites. In addition, we show that widespread windthrow by cyclone Klaus in the Landes forest led to a significant decrease in local cloud cover in subsequent years. Strong cloud development along the downwind edges of larger forest areas are consistent with a forest-breeze mesoscale circulation. Our results highlight the need to include impacts on cloud formation when evaluating the water and climate services of temperate forests, in particular around densely populated areas.

The influence of dry‐air entrainment on surface heat fluxes and the convective boundary‐layer (CBL) properties is studied for vegetated land surfaces, using a mixed‐layer CBL model coupled to the Penman–Monteith equation under a wide range of conditions. In order to address the complex behaviour of the system, the feedback mechanisms involved were put into a mathematical framework. Simple expressions for the evaporative fraction and the Priestley–Taylor parameter were derived, based on the concept of equilibrium evaporation. Dry‐air entrainment enhances the surface evaporation under all conditions, but the sensitivity of the evaporation rate to the moisture content of the free troposphere falls as temperature rises. Due to the evaporation enhancement, shallower CBLs develop beneath dry atmospheres. In all cases, dry‐air entrainment reduces the relative humidity at the land surface and at the top of the CBL. However, because of dry‐air entrainment‐induced land–atmosphere feedback mechanisms, relative humidity at the top of the CBL responds nonlinearly to temperature rise; it decreases as temperature rises beneath a moist free troposphere, whereas it increases beneath a dry free troposphere. Finally, it was found that in certain conditions the evolution of the surface fluxes, relative humidity and CBL height can be as sensitive to the free tropospheric moisture conditions as to the land‐surface properties. Therefore, studies of the land surface and of convective clouds have to take into account the influence of dry‐air entrainment through land–atmosphere feedback mechanisms. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society