Аннотация:Data obtained from long-term systematic measurements of thermal stratification in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over the Moscow metropolis and simulation data obtained using a high-resolution mesoscale model have been compared. Model results demonstrate there to be a more stable stratification (when compared to observational data) at night in winter. Under conditions of unstable stratification, even in winter, models dampen inhomogeneities that take place too rapidly, which leads to an underestimation of the spectrum of mesoscale fluctuations, average gradients, and their dynamics in the lower part of the ABL in the models. A simple algorithm for estimating errors in numerical forecasts is proposed and it is shown that errors in near-surface temperature forecasts are mainly associated with the simulation of processes occurring in the ABL. It is also shown that microwave radiometers operating within a band of 60 GHz may be a simple and reliable tool for estimating the accuracy of boundary-layer parameterizations in numerical weather-forecast models.