Data from a recent detailed surface layer experiment are critically examined in terms of the turbulent kinetic energy budget and the other second order moment budgets formed by the three velocity components and temperature. In moderately unstable and slightly stable conditions nondimensional terms of all the moment budgets studied agree reasonably well with results reported from the Kansas study (after application of a flow distortion correction). In the near-neutral range, where the present experiment contains a large amount of data, results deviate significantly from previous studies in general and, in particular, for ideal, zero-pressure gradient turbulent boundary layers. Several moments, such as u2W, v2w and W2 are not, as expected, constant in the surface layer, but vary logarithmically with height, making instead their non dimensional vertical gradients constant. Some moments scale with the roughness length and others with a length scale containing the large-scale pressure gradient or, wit... Abstract Data from a recent detailed surface layer experiment are critically examined in terms of the turbulent kinetic energy budget and the other second order moment budgets formed by the three velocity components and temperature. In moderately unstable and slightly stable conditions nondimensional terms of all the moment budgets studied agree reasonably well with results reported from the Kansas study (after application of a flow distortion correction). In the near-neutral range, where the present experiment contains a large amount of data, results deviate significantly from previous studies in general and, in particular, for ideal, zero-pressure gradient turbulent boundary layers. Several moments, such as u2W, v2w and W2 are not, as expected, constant in the surface layer, but vary logarithmically with height, making instead their non dimensional vertical gradients constant. Some moments scale with the roughness length and others with a length scale containing the large-scale pressure gradient or, wit...