The influence of nonstationarity on the turbulent flux–gradient relationship for stable stratification

Extensive eddy-correlation datasets are analyzed to examine the influence of nonstationarity of the mean flow on the flux–gradient relationship near the surface. This nonstationarity is due to wavelike motions, meandering of the wind vector, and numerous unidentified small-scale mesoscale motions. While the data do not reveal an obvious critical gradient Richardson number, the maximum downward heat flux increases approximately linearly with increasing friction velocity for significant stability. The largest of our datasets is chosen to more closely examine the influence of stability, nonstationarity, distortion of the mean wind profile and self-correlation on the flux-gradient relationship. Stability is expressed in terms of z/L, the gradient Richardson number or the bulk Richardson number over the tower layer. The efficiency of the momentum transport systematically increases with increasing nonstationarity and attendant distortion of the mean wind profile. Enhancement of the turbulent momentum flux associated with nonstationarity is examined in terms of the nondimensional shear, Prandtl number and the eddy diffusivity.     

Turbulent transport processes of momentum and sensible heat in the surface layer over a paddy field

A sonic anemometer-thermometer was used to measure turbulent fluxes of momentum and sensible heat and related turbulence statistics just above plant canopies in unstable conditions. The stability dependence of transport processes is presented, using observational data in a wide range of instability. The analysis of joint probability distributions of w – u, w – T, w – wu, and w – wT confirmed that just above plant canopies, downdrafts were remarkably efficient for vertical transport of momentum and scalar quantities in near neutral conditions. Furthermore, it was shown that updrafts became more efficient than downdrafts for vertical transport, especially of scalar quantities, in very unstable conditions.     

黑河下游绿洲近地层湍流输送特征研究

分析2003年9月5-27日在黑河下游额济纳绿洲取得的近地面层湍流观测资料,讨论无量纲湍流方差与稳定度参数Z/L的关系.无量纲风速分量σu/u*、σv/u*和σw/u*在不稳定层结与稳定度Z/L满足1/3次方时,符合Monin-Obkuhov相似理论.在近中性时,σu/u*、σw/u*值比平坦下垫面的略小些,σv/u*值比平坦下垫面的略大.无量纲温度脉动方差和湿度脉动方差在对流状态下与Z/L满足-1/3次方,在稳定和不稳定层结下,随|Z/L|减小而增大.地面热量以感热输送为主,感热通量峰值约为250 W/m2,潜热通量的峰值为170 W/m2;夜间潜热通量较小,感热通量则出现负值.动量通量日间平均在0.2-0.3 N/m2,峰值为0.31 N/m2.黑河下游绿洲柽柳林动力学粗糙度比HEIFE戈壁及其他绿洲下垫面的大,中性时z0m=0.47551 m.中性状态下动量整体输送系数CD=22.2×10-3,不稳定层结时平均值CD=10.3×10-3,稳定层结时平均值CD=7.2 × 10-3.热量整体输送系数CH,中性状态下CH=3.2 × 10-3,不稳定层结时平均值为CH=3.3×10-3,稳定层结时平均值为CH=2.7×10-3.     

An Inverse Method for Determining Source Characteristics for Emergency Response Applications

Turbulence above and within canopies has characteristics distinct from that over rough surfaces. The vertical transport of momentum and scalars is dominated by coherent structures whose origin is now thought to be the result of the unstable inflexion in the profile of the mean wind speed established by the application of canopy drag. This distinctive property leads to the failure of the standard Monin–Obukhov flux–profile relationships over homogeneous canopies, relationships that are assumed in many surface exchange schemes within numerical weather prediction and general circulation models. A modification of the flux–profile relationships is presented that incorporates the effects of the canopy turbulence. The subsequent impacts on the evolution of the surface energy balance and boundary-layer state are investigated within a simple numerical model for the evolution of the boundary layer and canopy state. By comparing cases with and without the modification it is shown that canopy-generated turbulence can lead, not only to the alteration of the flux–profile relationships above the canopy, but also to a different evolution of the surface energy balance and differences in near-surface conditions that would be significant in numerical weather prediction. More fundamentally, the modifications to the flux–profile relationships imply that parameters such as the roughness length and displacement height for canopies should not be considered as invariant properties, but rather as properties that depend on the flow and hence vary systematically with the diabatic stability of the boundary layer.     

The Characteristics of Turbulence Structure and Transfer over the Middle Area of the Tibetan Plateau

In this paper, turbulent data obtained from the Damxung site during the Secondary Tibetan Plateau Science Experiment (TIPEX) in 1998 are used to study the characteristics of the turbulent spectra, turbulence transport, and the dissipation rates of turbulent kinetic energy, temperature variance, and humidity variance in the middle area of the Tibetan Plateau. The turbulent spectra of wind velocity, potential temperature, and humidity satisfy the-2/3 power law in the high frequency range. Horizontal transportation of heat and water vapor is negligible compared with vertical transportation under strong unstable conditions, and as the stability parameter z/L increases (where z is the observational height, and L is the Monin Obukhov length), horizontal transportation becomes dominant under near-neutral, neutral, and stable conditions. The non-dimensional temperature and humidity variances are 20% less than the temperature and humidity gradient variances. These deficits appear to increase as the absolute stability parameter increases. Moreover, the effects of turbulence transportation and pressure variance exist throughout the entire stability region.     

Influence of Source/Sink Distributions on Flux–Gradient Relationships in the Roughness Sublayer Over an Open Forest Canopy Under Unstable Conditions

The flux–gradient relationships in the unstable roughness sublayer (RSL) over an open canopy of black spruce forest were examined using long-term observations from an instrumented tower. The observed gradients normalised with the surface fluxes and height above the zero-plane displacement showed differences from a universal function established in the surface layer. The magnitude of differences was not constant throughout the year even at the same observation height. Also the magnitude of the differences was different for each scalar, and scalar similarity in the context of the flux–gradient relationship did not always hold. The variation of the differences was explained by the relative contribution of overstorey vegetation to the total flux from the entire ecosystem. This suggests that a mismatch of the vertical source/sink distributions between scalars leads to a different strength of the near-field dispersion effect for each scalar, and this resulted in inequality of eddy diffusivity among scalars in the RSL. An empirical method that predicts the magnitude of differences is proposed. With this method, it is possible to estimate the eddy diffusivity of scalars provided that the relative contribution of overstorey vegetation to the total flux from the ecosystem is known. Also this method can be used to estimate the eddy diffusivity for scalars whose primary sources are at ground level, such as methane and nitrous oxide.     

Energy- and Flux-Budget Turbulence Closure Model for Stably Stratified Flows. Part II: The Role of Internal Gravity Waves

We advance our prior energy- and flux-budget (EFB) turbulence closure model for stably stratified atmospheric flow and extend it to account for an additional vertical flux of momentum and additional productions of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), turbulent potential energy (TPE) and turbulent flux of potential temperature due to large-scale internal gravity waves (IGW). For the stationary, homogeneous regime, the first version of the EFB model disregarding large-scale IGW yielded universal dependencies of the flux Richardson number, turbulent Prandtl number, energy ratios, and normalised vertical fluxes of momentum and heat on the gradient Richardson number, Ri. Due to the large-scale IGW, these dependencies lose their universality. The maximal value of the flux Richardson number (universal constant ≈0.2–0.25 in the no-IGW regime) becomes strongly variable. In the vertically homogeneous stratification, it increases with increasing wave energy and can even exceed 1. For heterogeneous stratification, when internal gravity waves propagate towards stronger stratification, the maximal flux Richardson number decreases with increasing wave energy, reaches zero and then becomes negative. In other words, the vertical flux of potential temperature becomes counter-gradient. Internal gravity waves also reduce the anisotropy of turbulence: in contrast to the mean wind shear, which generates only horizontal TKE, internal gravity waves generate both horizontal and vertical TKE. Internal gravity waves also increase the share of TPE in the turbulent total energy (TTE = TKE + TPE). A well-known effect of internal gravity waves is their direct contribution to the vertical transport of momentum. Depending on the direction (downward or upward), internal gravity waves either strengthen or weaken the total vertical flux of momentum. Predictions from the proposed model are consistent with available data from atmospheric and laboratory experiments, direct numerical simulations and large-eddy simulations.     

Coherent Structures and the Dissimilarity of Turbulent Transport of Momentum and Scalars in the Unstable Atmospheric Surface Layer

Atmospheric stability effects on the dissimilarity between the turbulent transport of momentum and scalars (water vapour and temperature) are investigated in the neutral and unstable atmospheric surface layers over a lake and a vineyard. A decorrelation of the momentum and scalar fluxes is observed with increasing instability. Moreover, different measures of transport efficiency (correlation coefficients, efficiencies based on quadrant analysis and bulk transfer coefficients) indicate that, under close to neutral conditions, momentum and scalars are transported similarly whereas, as the instability of the atmosphere increases, scalars are transported increasingly more efficiently than momentum. This dissimilarity between the turbulent transport of momentum and scalars under unstable conditions concurs with, and is likely caused by, a change in the topology of turbulent coherent structures. Previous laboratory and field studies report that under neutral conditions hairpin vortices and hairpin packets are present and dominate the vertical fluxes, while under free-convection conditions thermal plumes are expected. Our results (cross-stream vorticity variation, quadrant analysis and time series analysis) are in very good agreement with this picture and confirm a change in the structure of the coherent turbulent motions under increasing instability, although the exact structure of these motions and how they are modified by stability requires further investigation based on three-dimensional flow data.     

HUBEX试验区近地面层的湍流输送

1998年淮河流域能量和水循环试验(HUBEX)期间曾进行了1个月的近地面层湍流观测.分析不稳定条件下湍流的统计特性和谱特征,并与Monin-Obukhov相似理论进行了比较.结果表明,不稳定的时候各湍流量的统计特征与相似理论的预期相符.虽然不稳定条件下温度和湿度涨落的相关系数很高,谱的式样也相近,但湿度谱的峰值频率高于温度谱.协谱曲线的形状显示感热通量的谱峰较宽,表现出w和T在较宽范围的强相关性,而水汽通量谱在高频段下降很快,说明水汽的输送更多地出现在低频部分.从谱相关系数可见,在近中性的时候,各尺度湍流涡的热量输送效率普遍较低,随着不稳定性增强而显著提高.分析还发现,不论不稳定性的程度如何,小尺度湍流的水汽输送效率都较低.水汽通量谱的相关系数随稳定度的变化不如热通量的谱相关系数大,表明近中性时除小尺度湍流外其他湍流涡的水汽输送效率高于热量输送.     

Turbulent characteristics and bulk transfer coefficients over the desert in the HEIFE area

Observations of surface-layer turbulence and turbulent fluxes were made over a desert in northwestern China as a part of HEIFE (HEIhe river Field Experiment). These show that the normalized variations of the vertical wind component and of the air temperature obey Monin-Obukhov similarity well, especially in free convective conditions. However, the variations of specific humidity do not obey Monin-Obukhov similarity.Mean bulk transfer coefficients of sensible heat and momentum flux are obtained as functions of stability over a wide stability range from the observed data of turbulent fluxes and mast profiles. However, the bulk transfer coefficient for water vapor could not be obtained because of the large scatter of the data. In free convective conditions, the sensible heat flux was found to be approximately proportional to the 1.4 power of temperature difference between the surface and 20m. The bulk transfer coefficient of sensible heat is also obtained as a function of the bulk Richardson number for practical convenience.     

Momentum and Sensible Heat Exchange in an Ice-Free Arctic Fjord

Momentum and sensible heat exchange are studied in an Arctic fjord system in Spitsbergen, Svalbard (Norway), based on tower measurements taken in January–June 2008. Due to ice-free conditions, the surface layer was unstable for most of the time, occasionally very unstable. The shape of the fjord and the surrounding topography have a large influence on the wind field. Low frequency eddies are mainly responsible for occasionally large crosswind momentum transfer that, together with upward momentum transfer (occurring in 9% of the data), invalidate conventional stability and scaling parameters. When the flow is along the fjord with moderate or high wind speeds, the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory is applicable. However, the momentum and the sensible heat exchange in the fjord system differs from the exchange taking place over the open ocean, mainly due to topographic effects.     

Evaluation of turbulent fluxes over Maitri,Antarctica

Turbulent fluxes have been evaluated for clear sunny days over the Indian Antarctic station, Maitri, using the basic meteorological data recorded at four levels of a 28 m tower. The data are supplemented with radiation data. The surface layer over Maitri remains thermally stratified during the hours of minimum solar insolation, the so-called nighttime period. The surface winds during this period are generally very strong resulting in high momentum fluxes. In particular, for high winds (>12 m s^–1), the temperature gradient is found to be less positive than for moderate winds (4 to 7 m s^–1). Solar insolation provided the daytime heating necessary for the diurnal variation of atmospheric stability, and hence, for the turbulent fluxes. Thus, on clear days daytime conditions are marked by upward transport of heat with reduced momentum flux, while stable nighttime conditions are marked by a downward heat flux with increased momentum fluxes.     

Simultaneous determinations of the sensible and latent heat transfer coefficients for tree leaves

The heat and mass transfer coefficients for exchange across the fluid dynamic boundary layer over tree leaves were simultaneously determined in a controlled environment chamber. The mass transfer coefficients were calculated from measured values of evaporation, air specific humidity and a value of leaf specific humidity at leaf temperature. The heat transfer coefficients were calculated from measured values of air temperature, leaf temperature and an estimate of the sensible heat flux density calculated as the measured net radiation at the leaf surfaces minus the latent heat flux density. The experiments described in this paper indicate that the equations based on laminar boundary-layer theory can give reasonable estimates of the transfer coefficients of real tree leaves for the velocities most commonly experienced in plant canopies, if they are adjusted by a constant multiplier greater than one. Calculations of local mass transfer coefficients based on temperature measurements at three locations at different distances from the leading edge of the leaves, indicate that the deviation from theory is probably the result of transition to turbulent boundary-layer flow at some distance from the leading edge.     

A Note On The Contribution Of Dispersive Fluxes To Momentum Transfer Within Canopies

Dispersive flux terms are formed when the time-averaged meanmomentum equation is spatially averaged within the canopy volume.These fluxes represent a contribution to momentum transfer arisingfrom spatial correlations of the time-averaged velocity componentswithin a horizontal plane embedded in the canopy sublayer (CSL).Their relative importance to CSL momentum transfer is commonlyneglected in model calculations and in nearly all fieldmeasurement interpretations. Recent wind-tunnel studies suggestthat these fluxes may be important in the lower layers of thecanopy; however, no one study considered their importance acrossall regions of the canopy and for a wide range of canopy roughnessdensities. Using detailed laser Doppler anemometry measurementsconducted in a model canopy composed of cylinders within a largeflume, we demonstrate that the dispersive fluxes are onlysignificant (i.e., >10%) for sparse canopies. These fluxes arein the same direction as the turbulent flux in the lower layers ofthe canopy but in the opposite direction near the canopy top. Fordense canopies, we show that the dispersive fluxes are <5% atall heights. These results appear to be insensitive to theReynolds number (at high Reynolds numbers).     

Aircraft Observations of Sea-Surface Turbulent Fluxes Near the California Coast

Aircraft turbulence data from the Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network project were analyzed and compared to the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) bulk parametrization of turbulent fluxes in an ocean area near the coast of California characterized by complex atmospheric flow. Turbulent fluxes measured at about 35 m above the sea surface using the eddy-correlation method were lower than bulk estimates under unstable and stable atmospheric stratification for all but light winds. Neutral turbulent transfer coefficients were used in this comparison because they remove the effects of mean atmospheric conditions and atmospheric stability. Spectral analysis suggested that kilometre-scale longitudinal rolls affect significantly turbulence measurements even near the sea surface, depending on sampling direction. Cross-wind sampling tended to capture all the available turbulent energy. Vertical soundings showed low boundary-layer depths and high flux divergence near the sea surface in the case of sensible heat flux but minimal flux divergence for the momentum flux. Cross-wind sampling and flux divergence were found to explain most of the observed discrepancies between the measured and bulk flux estimates. At low wind speeds the drag coefficient determined with eddy correlation and an inertial dissipation method after corrections were applied still showed high values compared to bulk estimates. This discrepancy correlated with the dominance of sea swell, which was a usually observed condition under low wind speeds. Under stable atmospheric conditions measured sensible heat fluxes, which usually have low values over the ocean, were possibly affected by measurement errors and deviated significantly from bulk estimates.     

鄱阳湖地区复杂地表条件下一次强降水过程的近地面边界层特征

使用鄱阳湖北部70 m气象塔湍流和梯度观测数据,分析了2011年6月6日夜间一次暴雨过程中近地面边界层特征.结果表明,此次过程是在高空低槽和西南急流的天气背景下,受鄱阳湖复杂地表影响产生的局地性强降水.强降水发生前受东南暖平流影响,近地面边界层中水汽累积,不稳定性增加;强降水过程中,近地层感热、潜热通量迅速增加,同时,近地面层湍流动量通量下传和水平输送增加,鄱阳湖的水汽输送加强降水强度.另外,强降水过程中,近地面湍流动能迅速增大并达到最大值,而平均动能的增大发生在强降水结束后,表明地表作用明显,近地面边界层的湍流场为暴雨提供动力条件.尺度分析表明,强降水前,中尺度动量通量占主要地位,降水过程中湍流动量通量显著加强.     

Turbulent Mechanical Energy Budget in Stably Stratified Baroclinic Flows over Sloping Terrain

Analysis of second-moment budget equations in a slope-oriented coordinate frame exhibits the pathways of exchange between the potential energy of mean flow and the total turbulent mechanical energy. It is shown that this process is controlled by the inclination of the potential temperature gradient. Hence, this parameter should be considered in studies of turbulence in slope flows as well as the slope inclination. The concept of turbulent potential energy is generalized to include baroclinicity, and is used to explain the role of along-slope turbulent heat flux in energy conversions. A generalization of static stability criteria for baroclinic conditions is also proposed. In addition, the presence of feedback between the turbulent heat flux and the temperature variance in stably-stratified flows is identified, which implies the existence of oscillatory modes characterized by the Brunt–Väisäla frequency.     

Estimating the Random Error in Eddy-Covariance Based Fluxes and Other Turbulence Statistics: The Filtering Method

A spatially local decomposition of turbulent fluxes based on properties of spatial filters is used to develop a new method of estimating random error in turbulent moments of any order. The proposed error estimation method does not require an estimate of the integral time scale, which can be highly sensitive to the method used to calculate it. The error estimation method is validated using synthetic flux data with a known ensemble mean and intercompared with existing methods using data from the Advection Horizontal Array Turbulence Study (AHATS). Typical errors for a 27.3-min block of data collected at a height of 8 m are found to be approximately 10% for the heat flux and 7–15% for variances. The error in the momentum flux increases rapidly with increasing atmospheric instability, reaching values of 40% or greater for unstable conditions. A new method based on filtering is also proposed to estimate integral time scales of turbulent quantities.     

Study Of `Soft' Night-Time Surface-Layer Decoupling Over Forest Canopies In A Land-Surface Model

The cause of a night-time land-surface model cold bias over forest canopies at threedifferent sites is studied in connection with various formulations of turbulent transferand the phenomenon of decoupling between the surface and the boundary layer. Themodel is the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS), a leading internationally knownmodel that has been tested over a variety of instrumented sites. The bias was first attributed to a deficient turbulent transfer and a few formulations were compared. One formulation is the classical log-linear profile with a sharp cut-off of the fluxes at a critical Richardsonnumber around 0.2, while in the other ones the flux decreases less rapidly with increasingstatic stability. While the surface-layer formulations have an impact on the modelled canopy temperature, other causes were found for the negative bias. The CLASS model neglected the heat capacity of the air trapped inside the canopy and its inclusion multiplied theeffective heat capacity of the canopy, by a factor ranging from 2.3 to 3.4 for the canopies studied, and reduced the error. A correction was also made to the air specific humidity at canopy level and the topsoil thermal conductivity was changed from that of organic matter to that of mineral soil. With these modifications, and using the incoming longwave radiative flux instead of the net longwave flux, the bias almost completely disappeared. Using ascheme with more heat transfer at large static stability, obtained by assuming that thefluxes decrease in magnitude with height in the surface layer, reduced the original biaswhile using the log-linear formulation amplified the cold bias. The impact of the turbulent transfer formulations is much reduced when they are applied to model runs in which the other above modifications have been made.The phenomenon of decoupling is presented and its understanding is complementedwith the new notions of `hard' versus `soft' decoupling and complete versus incompletedecoupling, depending on the impact decoupling has on the model and on the effectiveness of the model in achieving the decoupling. The geostrophic wind speed is a determiningfactor in separating cases of hard decoupling (rare) from the soft cases (frequent) while the completeness of the decoupling primarily depends on the form of the turbulent transfer curve as a function of static stability.     

Energy balance and turbulent flux partitioning in a corn–soybean rotation in the Midwestern US

Quantifying the energy balance above plant canopies is critical for better understanding of water balance and changes in regional weather patterns. This study examined temporal variations of energy balance terms for contrasting canopies [corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.)]. We monitored energy balance for 4 years using eddy-covariance systems, net radiometers, and soil heat flux plates in adjacent production fields near Ames, Iowa. On an annual basis, soybean exhibited 20% and 30% lower sensible heat flux (H) and Bowen ratio than corn, respectively. As canopies developed, a gradual shift in turbulent fluxes occurred with decreasing H and increasing latent heat flux (LE), but with a more pronounced effect for corn. Conversely, during mid-growing season and as both canopies progressively senesced, H in general increased and LE decreased; however, soybean exhibited slightly greater LE and much lower H than corn. These temporal variations in magnitude and partitioning of turbulent fluxes translated into a pronounced energy imbalance for soybean (0.80) and an enhanced closure for corn (0.98) in August and September. These discrepancies could be directly associated with differences in momentum transport as shown by friction velocities of 0.34 and 0.28 m s^?1 for corn and soybean, respectively. These results support influential roles of plant canopy on intensity and mode of surface energy exchange processes.