Studies of the Marine Inversion Over the San Francisco Bay Area … A Summary of the Work of Albert Miller, 1961–1978

Abstract

During his tenure in the Meteorology Department at San Jose State University (1961–1978), Professor Albert Miller conducted extensive field investigations of the marine inversion over the San Francisco Bay Area. Measurements were made with instrumented light aircraft, radar-tracked tetroons and slow-rise balloons carrying modified radiosondes. Later, Mount Sutro Tower in San Francisco was utilized for microscale studies of the inversion. Miller's field work culminated with an extensive measurement program over the coastal waters of central California. Results of his work included 1) a detailed description of the spatial and temporal variations of the structure of the marine inversion over the Bay Area, 2) the documentation of the characteristics of gravity waves and turbulence near the base of the inversion, 3) a variety of evidence that strongly supports significant cross-inversion mass flux, and 4) a hypothesis that explains the latter as the result of small-amplitude gravity waves in a tilted, strongly sheared inversion layer.