The aircraft profiles are from the Coastal Waves 96 project, flown along the California coast . On the lower left are the wind vectors within the inversion layer. Here the Richardson number divides stratification due to the density jump across the inversion by shear mixing over the inversion layer. The shear is defined as the greatest difference between the wind components in the direction of the fastest winds.
Winds can reverse direction or veer strongly within the inversion layer.
The data on this page is unpublished. If it is used please cite the author Kathleen Edwards, the Center for Coastal Studies, and the Coastal Waves group at Scripps Insitution of Oceanography.