Data used to initialize model

• The upstream speed and depth at Cape Mendocino.
• The pressure gradient forcing the region from Eta analysis.  Compare it to the summer climatological  pressure gradients from Mass and Bond, 1996.

Some contrasts between the model output and the observations (preliminary)

• The MABL has a steeper slope in the inital conditions than observed.   The MABL was about 900 m deep at 200 km offshore from Cape Mendocino, seen in contoured temperature/ moisture data from the airplane along an cross shore track as well as in MABL depth derived from the lidar.  The model's initial conditions show at 1300 m deep MABL at 200 km offshore.
  
  
• South of Cape Mendocino, the model output shows a largely supercritical MABL.  Meanwhile a time series of buoy winds show that winds were strong and steadily downcoast on 6/12 along the west coast.
  
  
• The steady state model winds show that speed continues to increase offshore, reaching 24 m/s by 800 km offshore.  A climatology of June wind stress from Nelson 1977 shows that one might expect winds to peak at about 200 km from Cape Mendocino and decrease as you continued offshore.  Also the contoured speed from the plane show that strong winds are close to the shore, with lighter winds offshore.

• The along-coast speed after model is spun up resembles winds from the buoys in that fast winds are found between Cape Mendocino and Point Arena.  (Of course the buoys are ~ 20 km apart).  On the other hand, the wind speed maxima are greater than observed.  
  
  
• The thinnest boundary layer depth observed on 6/12 was 200 m deep while the model takes the depth to zero.  A look at the  cloud images shows clouds clearing downstream from Cape Mendocino, indicating that the MABL is shallow there, which corresponds with the steady state model  depth.   However the predicted thin MABL downstream of Point Sur is not matched by clearing there.
  
  
• Your suggestion that we think about friction is good-- I will  calculate friction directly from our level runs flown over each other using the high resolution data.  Also, as seen in the buoy's air and SST temperatures the layer should be stable rather than neutural.