Wind-Flow Dynamics Over a Vineyard

Wind-flow dynamics has been extensively studied over horizontally uniform canopies, but agricultural plantations structured in rows such as vineyards have received less attention. Here, the wind flow over a vineyard is studied in neutral stratification from both large-eddy simulation (LES) and in situ measurements. The impact of row structure on the wind dynamics is investigated over a range of wind directions from cross-row to down-row, and a typical range of row aspect ratio (row separation/height ratio). It is shown that the mean flow over a vineyard is similar to that observed in uniform canopies, especially for wind directions from cross-row to diagonal. For down-row winds, the mean flow exhibits noticeable spatial variability across each elementary row-gap pattern, as the wind is channeled in the inter-row. This spatial variability increases with the aspect ratio. With down-row winds the turbulent structures are also more intermittent and generate larger turbulent kinetic energy and momentum flux. The displacement height and roughness length of the vineyard vary with the aspect ratio in a way similar to their variation with canopy density in uniform canopies. Both parameters take smaller values in down-row wind flow, for which the canopy appears more open. The analysis of velocity spectra and autocorrelation functions shows that vineyard canopies share similar features to uniform canopies in terms of turbulent coherent structures, with only minor changes with wind direction.     

Footprints and Fetches for Fluxes over Forest Canopies with Varying Structure and Density

A stochastic trajectory model was used to estimate scalar fluxfootprints in neutral stabilityfor canopies of varying leaf area distributions andleaf area indices. An analytical second-order closure model wasused to predict mean wind speed, second moments and the dissipationrate of turbulent kinetic energy within a forest canopy.The influence of source vertical profile on the flux footprint wasexamined. The fetch is longer for surface sourcesthan for sources at higher levels in the canopy. In order tomeasure all the flux components, and thus the total flux, with adesired accuracy, sources were located at the forest floor in thefootprint function estimation. The footprint functions werecalculated for five observation levels above the canopy top. Itwas found that at low observation heights both canopy density andcanopy structure affect the fetch. The higher abovethe canopy top the flux is measured, the more pronounced is the effectof the canopy structure. The forest fetch for flux measurements isstrongly dependent on the required accuracy: The 90% flux fetchis greater by a factor of two or more compared to the 75% fetch. Theupwind distance contributing 75% of flux is as large as 45 timesthe difference between canopy height and the observation heightabove the canopy top, being even larger for low observationlevels.     

Turbulence in Sparse, Organized Vegetative Canopies: A Large-Eddy Simulation Study

A large-eddy simulation study was performed to characterize turbulence in sparse, row-oriented canopies. This was accomplished by simulating a set of heterogeneous row-oriented canopies with varying row vegetation density and spacing. To determine the effects of heterogeneity, results were compared to horizontally homogeneous canopies with an equivalent ‘effective’ leaf area index. By using a proper effective leaf area index, plane-averaged mean velocities and bulk scaling parameters contained only small errors when heterogeneity was ignored. However, many cases had significantly larger second- and third-order velocity moments in the presence of heterogeneity. Some heterogeneous canopies also contained dispersive fluxes in the lower canopy that were over 20 % as large as the turbulent flux. Impacts of heterogeneity were most pronounced in the cases of large row leaf area density and widely spaced rows. Despite the substantial amount of open space in the sparse canopies, vertical velocity skewness and quadrant-hole analysis indicated that the flow behaved predominantly as a canopy layer even though integral length scales at the canopy top no longer followed mixing-layer scaling. This was supported by the fact that similar composite-averaged coherent structures could be readily identified in both the heterogeneous and homogeneous canopies. Heterogeneity had an effect on coherent structures, in that structure detection events were most likely to occur just upwind of the vegetation rows. In simulations with large row spacing, these structures also penetrated deeper into the canopy when compared to the equivalent homogeneous canopy.     

A Dynamic Urban Canopy Parameterization for Mesoscale Models Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes Microscale Simulations

Urban canopy parameterizations (UCPs) are necessary in mesoscale modelling to take into account the effects of buildings on wind and turbulent structures. This study is focused on the dynamical part of UCPs. The main objective is twofold: first, computing important UCP input parameters (turbulent length scales and the sectional drag coefficient) by means of Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations of turbulent flow; and second, comparing UCP variables with spatially-averaged properties obtained from RANS simulations for the same configurations. The results show the importance of using a suitable parameterization of the drag force for different packing densities. An urban canopy parameterization that is a compromise between simplicity and accuracy is proposed. This scheme accounts for the variation of drag coefficients with packing densities, and has a parameterization of turbulent length scales. The technique adopted ensures that, at least for the simple configurations studied, the urban canopy parameterization gives values of spatially-averaged variables similar to those computed from a more complex simulation, such as RANS that resolves explicitly the flow around buildings.     

Numerical Simulation of the Airflow Across Trees in a Windbreak

The flow across a three-dimensional (3-D) windbreak comprising individual cypress trees is studied to establish the significance and extent of the 3-D flow patterns. The cypress tree is modelled as a solid cylindrical stem and a conic porous canopy. Cases with a single row of trees or two rows of trees with different distances between the rows are considered; in the case of a single row, several densities of the canopy are used. The steady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) approximation is solved using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package and a high-resolution mesh. Three-dimensional flow is found in the vicinity of the windbreak up to a leeward distance of 1–2 tree-heights, depending on the density of the canopy, and is manifest as significant lateral variations and reduced vertical flow. At larger leeward distances, a two-dimensional (2-D) flow is established with characteristics similar to existing 2-D studies; the flow leeward of the last row is insensitive to the distance between the rows. Homogeneous 2-D windbreak models are found to be inaccurate in the vicinity of the windbreak. This is exactly the region that needs to be sheltered in many cases, since the inner vegetation is anyway protected by the outer vegetation.     

Large-Eddy Simulation for the Mechanism of Pollutant Removal from a Two-Dimensional Street Canyon

Large-eddy simulation (LES) is conducted to investigate the mechanism of pollutant removal from a two-dimensional street canyon with a building-height to street-width (aspect) ratio of 1. A pollutant is released as a ground-level line source at the centre of the canyon floor. The mean velocities, turbulent fluctuations, and mean pollutant concentration estimated by LES are in good agreement with those obtained by wind-tunnel experiments. Pollutant removal from the canyon is mainly determined by turbulent motions, except in the adjacent area to the windward wall. The turbulent motions are composed of small vortices and small-scale coherent structures of low-momentum fluid generated close to the plane of the roof. Although both small vortices and small-scale coherent structures affect pollutant removal, the pollutant is largely emitted from the canyon by ejection of low-momentum fluid when the small-scale coherent structures appear just above the canyon where the pollutant is retained. Large-scale coherent structures also develop above the canyon, but they do not always affect pollutant removal.     

Characteristics of air flow above and within soybean canopies

Air flow was observed above and within canopies of a number of kinds of soybeans. The Clark cultivar and two isolines of the Harosoy cultivar were studied in 1979 and 1980, respectively. Wind speed above the canopy was measured with cup anemometers. Heated thermistor anemometers were used to measure air flow within the canopy. Above-canopy air flow was characterized in terms of the zero-plane displacement (d), roughness parameter (z _o) and drag coefficient (C _d). d and z _o were dependent on canopy height but were independent of friction velocity in the range 0.55 to 0.75 m s^?1 · C _d for the various canopies ranged from 0.027 to 0.035. Greater C _d values were measured over an erectophile canopy than over a planophile canopy. C _d was not measurably affected by differences in leaf pubescence. Within-canopy wind profiles were measured at two locations: within and between rows. The wind profile was characterized by a region of great wind shear in the upper canopy and by a region of relatively weak wind shear in the middle canopy. Considerable spatial variability in wind speed was evident, however. This result has significant implications for canopy flow modeling efforts aimed at evaluating transport in the canopy. In the lower canopy, wind speed within a row increased with depth whereas wind speed between two rows decreased with depth. The wind speeds at the two locations tended to converge to a common value at a height near 0.10 m. The attenuation of within-canopy air flow was stronger in canopies with greater foliage density. Canopy flow attenuation seemed to decrease with increasing wind speed, suggesting that high winds distorted the shape of the canopy in such a manner that the penetration of wind into the canopy increased.     

Coherent Turbulent Structures Across a Vegetation Discontinuity

The study of turbulent flow across a vegetation discontinuity is of significant interest as such landscape features are common, and as there is no available theory to describe this regime adequately. We have simulated the three-dimensional dynamics of the airflow across a discontinuity between a forest (with a leaf area index of 4) and a clearing surface using large-eddy simulation. The properties of the bulk flow, as well as the large-scale coherent turbulent structures across the forest-to-clearing transition and the clearing-to-forest transition, are systematically explored. The vertical transport of the bulk flow upstream of the leading edge gives rise to the enhanced gust zone around the canopy top, while the transport downstream of the trailing edge leads to the formation of a recirculation zone above the clearing surface. The large-scale coherent structures across the two transitions exhibit both similarities with and differences from those upstream of the corresponding transition. For example, the ejection motion is dominant over the sweep motion in most of the region 1?<?z/h < 2 (h is the canopy height) immediately downstream of the trailing edge, much as in the forested area upstream. Also, the streamwise vortex pair, which has previously been observed within the canopy sublayer and the atmospheric boundary layer, is consistently found across both transitions. However, the inflection observed both in the mean streamwise velocity, as well as in the vertical profiles of the coherent structures in the forested area, disappears gradually across the forest-to-clearing transition. The coherence of the turbulence, quantified by the percentage of the total turbulence kinetic energy that the coherent structures capture from the flow, decreases sharply immediately downstream of the trailing edge of the forest and increases downstream of the leading edge of the forest. The effects of the ratio of the forest/clearing lengths under a given streamwise periodicity on flow statistics and coherent turbulent structures are presented as well.     

Edge Flow and Canopy Structure: A Large-Eddy Simulation Study

Sharp heterogeneities in forest structure, such as edges, are often responsible for wind damage. In order to better understand the behaviour of turbulent flow through canopy edges, large-eddy simulations (LES) have been performed at very fine scale (2 m) within and above heterogeneous vegetation canopies. A modified version of the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS), previously validated in homogeneous conditions against field and wind-tunnel measurements, has been used for this purpose. Here it is validated in a simple forest-clearing-forest configuration. The model is shown to be able to reproduce accurately the main features observed in turbulent edge flow, especially the “enhanced gust zone” (EGZ) present around the canopy top at a few canopy heights downwind from the edge, and the turbulent region that develops further downstream. The EGZ is characterized by a peak in streamwise velocity skewness, which reflects the presence of intense intermittent wind gusts. A sensitivity study of the edge flow to the forest morphology shows that with increasing canopy density the flow adjusts faster and turbulent features such as the EGZ become more marked. When the canopy is characterized by a sparse trunk space the length of the adjustment region increases significantly due to the formation of a sub-canopy wind jet from the leading edge. It is shown that the position and magnitude of the EGZ are related to the mean upward motion formed around canopy top behind the leading edge, caused by the deceleration in the sub-canopy. Indeed, this mean upward motion advects low turbulence levels from the bottom of the canopy; this emphasises the passage of sudden strong wind gusts from the clearing, thereby increasing the skewness in streamwise velocity as compared with locations further downstream where ambient turbulence is stronger.     

On the flow structure and turbulence during sweep and ejection events in a wind-tunnel model canopy

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) data obtained in a wind-tunnel model of a canopy boundary layer is used to examine the characteristics of mean flow and turbulence. The vector spacing varies between 1.7 and 2.5 times the Kolmogorov scales. Conditional sampling based on quadrants, i.e. based on the signs of velocity fluctuations, reveals fundamental differences in flow structure, especially between sweep and ejection events, which dominate the flow. During sweeps, the downward flow generates a narrow, highly turbulent, shear layer containing multiple small-scale vortices just below canopy height. During ejections, the upward flow expands this shear layer and the associated small-scale flow structures to a broad region located above the canopy. Consequently, during sweeps the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), Reynolds stresses, as well as production and dissipation rates, have distinct narrow peaks just below canopy height, whereas during ejections these variables have broad maxima well above the canopy. Three methods to estimate the dissipation rate are compared, including spectral fits, measured subgrid-scale (SGS) energy fluxes at different scales, and direct measurements of slightly underresolved instantaneous velocity gradients. The SGS energy flux is 40–60% of the gradient-based (direct) estimates for filter sizes inside the inertial range, while decreasing with scale, as expected, within the dissipation range. The spectral fits are within 5–30% of the direct estimates. The spectral fits exceed the direct estimates near canopy height, but are lower well above and below canopy height. The dissipation rate below canopy height increases with velocity magnitude, i.e. it has the highest values during sweep and quadrant 1 events, and is significantly lower during ejection and quadrant 3 events. Well above the canopy, ejections are the most dissipative. Turbulent transport during sweep events acts as a source below the narrow shear layer within the canopy and as a sink above it. Transport during ejection events is a source only well above the canopy. The residual term in the TKE transport equation, representing mostly the effect of pressure–velocity correlations, is substantial only within the canopy, and is dominated by sweeps.     

Effect of Incoming Turbulent Structure on Pollutant Removal from Two-Dimensional Street Canyon

Large-eddy simulations are conducted to investigate the effects of the incoming turbulent structure of the flow on pollutant removal from an ideal canyon. The target canyon is a two-dimensional street canyon with an aspect ratio of 1.0 (building height to street width). Three turbulent flows upwind of the street canyon are generated by using different block configurations, and a tracer gas is released as a ground-level line source at the centre of the canyon floor. Mean velocity profiles for the three flows are similar, except near the roof. However, the root-mean-square values of the velocity fluctuations and the Reynolds shear stress increase with the friction velocity of the incoming turbulent flow. The spatially-averaged concentration within the canyon decreases with increasing friction velocity. Coherent structures of low-momentum fluid, generated above the upwind block configurations, contribute to pollutant removal, and the amount of pollutant removal is directly related to the size of the coherent structure.     

The flow in a turbulent boundary layer upstream of a change in surface roughness

Modification of a turbulent flow upstream of a change in surface roughness has been studied by means of a stream function-vorticity model.A flow reduction is found upstream of a step change in surface roughness when a fluid flows from a smooth onto a rough surface. Above that layer and above the region of flow reduction downstream of a smooth-rough transition, a flow acceleration is observed. Similar flow modification can be seen at a rough-smooth transition with the exception that flow reduction and flow acceleration are reversed. Within a fetch of –500 < x/z ₀< + 500 (z ₀ is the maximum roughness length, the roughness transition is located at x/z ₀ = 0), flow reduction (flow acceleration) upstream of a roughness transition is one order of magnitude smaller than the flow reduction (flow acceleration) downstream of a smooth-rough (rough-smooth) transition. The flow acceleration (flow reduction) above that layer is two orders of magnitude.The internal boundary layer (IBL) for horizontal mean velocity extends to roughly 300z ₀ upstream of a roughness transition, whereas the IBL for turbulent shear stress as well as the distortion of flow equilibrium extend almost twice as far. For the friction velocity, an undershooting (overshooting) with respect to upstream equilibrium is predicted which precedes overshooting (undershooting) over new equilibrium just behind a roughness transition.The flow modification over a finite fetch of modified roughness is weaker than over a corresponding fetch downstream of a single step change in roughness and the flow stays closer to upstream equilibrium. Even in front of the first roughness change of a finite fetch of modified roughness, a distortion of flow equilibrium due to the second, downwind roughness change can be observed.     

Large-Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Organized Structures within and above Explicitly Resolved Cube Arrays

Large-eddy simulations have been performed for fully developed turbulent flow within and above explicitly resolved simple cube arrays. The results from our model, hereafter LES-CITY, are shown to agree with laboratory experiments. We investigated the systematic influence of cube density on turbulent flow characteristics by performing numerical experiments for cube areal densities from 0 to 44%. The following results were obtained: (1) The dispersive momentum flux was quite large within the canopy layer due to a mean stream re-circulation, whereas it was smaller above the canopy. The spatial variation of temporally averaged momentum in the roughness sub-layer was 20% or less of the total kinematic surface drag. (2) The temporally and spatially-averaged flow structure confirmed the existence of conventionally described canyon flow regimes; isolated, interfacial, and wake. However, the intermittency of the canyon flow for all cube densities was quite large and the stream patterns were never persistent. (3) Turbulent organized structures (TOS) similar to those observed in turbulent surface-layer flows were simulated, which are characterized by longitudinally-elongated low speed streaks and the corresponding shorter streamwise vortices. The streaks in sparse and dense canopy flows were likely to be aligned to the street line and to the roof lines, respectively. Such heterogeneity of TOS partially accounts for the large spatial variation of momentum flux. (4) In contrast to the mixing layer analogy of vegetation flows, the TOS and the resulting turbulent statistics of urban flow above the canopy resembled those in surface layers. The recirculation within the canopy significantly influenced the turbulent statistical properties.     

Turbulence Structure Within and Above a Canopy of Bluff Elements

Measurements of turbulence structure in a wind-tunnel model canopy of bluff elements show many of the features associated with vegetation canopies and roughness sublayers but also display features more characteristic of the inertial sublayer (ISL). Points of similarity include the existence of an inflexion point in the space-time averaged streamwise velocity at the canopy top, the variation with height of turbulent second moments and the departure of the turbulent kinetic energy budget from local equilibrium in and just above the canopy. Quadrant analysis shows characteristic dominance of sweep over ejection events within the canopy although sweeps are more frequent than usually seen in vegetation canopies. Points of difference are a u′, w′ correlation coefficient that is closer to the ISL value than to most canopy data, and a turbulent Prandtl number midway between canopy and ISL values. Within the canopy there is distinct spatial partitioning into two flow regimes, the wake and non-wake regions. Both time-mean and conditional statistics take different values in these different regions of the canopy flow. We explain many of these features by appealing to a modified version of the mixing-layer hypothesis that links the dominant turbulent eddies to the instability of the inflexion point at canopy top. However, it is evident that these eddies are perturbed by the quasi-coherent wakes of the bluff canopy elements. Based upon an equation for the instantaneous velocity perturbation, we propose a criterion for deciding when the eddies linked to the inflexion point will dominate flow structure and when that structure will be replaced by an array of superimposed element wakes. In particular, we show that the resemblance of some features of the flow to the ISL does not mean that ISL dynamics operate within bluff-body canopies in any sense.     

Characteristics of canopy turbulence over a deciduous forest on complex terrain

Canopy turbulence plays an important role in mass and energy exchanges at the canopy-atmosphere interface. Despite extensive studies on canopy turbulence over a flat terrain, less attention has been given to canopy turbulence in a complex terrain. The purpose of this study is to scrutinize characteristics of canopy turbulence in roughness sublayer over a hilly forest terrain. We investigated basic turbulence statistics, conditionally sampled statistics, and turbulence spectrum in terms of different atmospheric stabilities, wind direction and vertical structures of momentum fluxes. Similarly to canopy turbulence over a homogeneous terrain, turbulence statistics showed coherent structure. Both quadrant and spectrum analysis corroborated the role of intermittent and energetic eddies with length scale of the order of canopy height, regardless of wind direction except for shift of peak in vertical wind spectrum to relatively high frequency in the down-valley wind. However, the magnitude of the momentum correlation coefficient in a neutral condition was smaller than typical value over a flat terrain. Further scrutiny manifested that, in the up-valley flow, temperature skewness was larger and the contribution of ejection to both momentum and heat fluxes was larger compared to the downvalley flow, indicating that thermal instability and weaker wind shear in up-valley flow asymmetrically affect turbulent transport within the canopy.     

Turbulent Structures in a Pine Forest with a Deep and Sparse Trunk Space: Stand and Edge Regions

Forested landscapes often exhibit large spatial variability in vertical and horizontal foliage distributions. This variability may affect canopy-atmosphere exchanges through its action on the development of turbulent structures. Here we investigate in neutral stratification the turbulent structures encountered in a maritime pine forest characterized by a high, dense foliated layer associated with a deep and sparse trunk space. Both stand and edge regions are considered. In situ measurements and the results of large-eddy simulations are used and analyzed together. In stand conditions, far from the edge, canopy-top structures appear strongly damped by the dense crown layer. Turbulent wind fluctuations within the trunk space, where the momentum flux vanishes, are closely related to these canopy-top structures through pressure diffusion. Consequently, autocorrelation and spectral analyses are not quite appropriate to characterize the vertical scale of coherent structures in this type of canopy, as pressure diffusion enhances the actual scale of structures. At frequencies higher than those associated with canopy-top structures, wind fluctuations related to wake structures developing behind tree stems are observed within the trunk space. They manifest themselves in wind velocity spectra as secondary peaks in the inertial subrange region, confirming the hypothesis of spectral short-cuts in vegetation canopies. In the edge region specific turbulent structures develop just below the crown layer, in addition to canopy-top structures. They are generated by the wind shear induced by the sub-canopy wind jet that forms at the edge. These structures provide a momentum exchange mechanism similar to that observed at the canopy top but in the opposite direction and with a lower magnitude. They may develop as in plane mixing-layer flows, with some perturbations induced by canopy-top structures. Wake structures are also observed within the trunk space in the edge region.     

A wind tunnel study of air flow in waving wheat: Single-point velocity statistics

We analyse single-point velocity statistics obtained in a wind tunnel within and above a model of a waving wheat crop, consisting of nylon stalks 47 mm high and 0.25 mm wide in a square array with frontal area index 0.47. The variability of turbulence measurements in the wind tunnel is illustrated by using a set of 71 vertical traverses made in different locations, all in the horizontally-homogeneous (above-canopy) part of the boundary layer. Ensemble-averaged profiles of the statistical moments up to the fourth order and profiles of Eulerian length scales are presented and discussed. They are consistent with other similar experiments and reveal the existence of large-scale turbulent coherent structures in the flow. The drag coefficient in this canopy as well as in other reported experiments is shown to exhibit a characteristic height-dependency, for which we propose an interpretation. The velocity spectra are analysed in detail; within and just above the canopy, a scaling based on fixed length and velocity scales (canopy height and mean horizontal wind speed at canopy top) is proposed. Examination of the turbulent kinetic energy and shear stress budgets confirms the role of turbulent transport in the region around the canopy top, and indicates that pressure transport may be significant in both cases. The results obtained here show that near the top of the canopy, the turbulence properties are more reminiscent of a plane mixing layer than a wall boundary layer.     

Large-Eddy Simulation of Coherent Flow Structures within a Cubical Canopy

Instantaneous flow structures “within” a cubical canopy are investigated via large-eddy simulation. The main topics of interest are, (1) large-scale coherent flow structures within a cubical canopy, (2) how the structures are coupled with the turbulent organized structures (TOS) above them, and (3) the classification and quantification of representative instantaneous flow patterns within a street canyon in relation to the coherent structures. We use a large numerical domain (2,560 m × 2,560 m × 1,710 m) with a fine spatial resolution (2.5 m), thereby simulating a complete daytime atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), as well as explicitly resolving a regular array of cubes (40 m in height) at the surface. A typical urban ABL is numerically modelled. In this situation, the constant heat supply from roof and floor surfaces sustains a convective mixed layer as a whole, but strong wind shear near the canopy top maintains the surface layer nearly neutral. The results reveal large coherent structures in both the velocity and temperature fields “within” the canopy layer. These structures are much larger than the cubes, and their shapes and locations are shown to be closely related to the TOS above them. We classify the instantaneous flow patterns in a cavity, specifically focusing on two characteristic flow patterns: flushing and cavity-eddy events. Flushing indicates a strong upward motion, while a cavity eddy is characterized by a dominant vortical motion within a single cavity. Flushing is clearly correlated with the TOS above, occurring frequently beneath low-momentum streaks. The instantaneous momentum and heat transport within and above a cavity due to flushing and cavity-eddy events are also quantified.     

Seasonal and diurnal variations of coherent structures over a deciduous forest

Coherent structures in turbulent flow above a midlatitude deciduous forest are identified using a wavelet analysis technique. Coupling between motions above the canopy (z/h=1.5, whereh is canopy height) and within the canopy (z/h=0.6) are studied using composite velocity and temperature fields constructed from 85 hours of data. Data are classified into winter and summer cases, for both convective and stable conditions. Vertical velocity fluctuations are in phase at both observation levels. Horizontal motions associated with the structures within the canopy lead those above the canopy, and linear analysis indicates that the horizontal motions deep in the canopy should lead the vertical motions by 90°. On average, coherent structures are responsible for only about 40% of overall turbulent heat and momentum fluxes, much less than previously reported. However, our large data set reveals that this flux fraction comes from a wide distribution that includes much higher fractions in its upper extremes. The separation distanceL _s between adjacent coherent structures, 6–10h, is comparable to that obtained in previous observations over short canopies and in the laboratory. Changes in separation between the summer and winter (leafless) conditions are consistent withL _s being determined by a local horizontal wind shear scale.     

A Flume Experiment on the Adjustment of the Mean and Turbulent Statistics to a Transition from Short to Tall Sparse Canopies

Water-flume experiments are conducted to study the structure of turbulent flow within and above a sparse model canopy consisting of two rigid canopies of different heights. This difference in height specifies a two-dimensional step change from a rough to a rougher surface, as opposed to a smooth-to-rough transition. Despite the fact that the flow is in transition from a rough to a rougher surface, the thickness of the internal boundary layer scales as x ^4/5, consistent with smooth-to-rough boundary layer adjustment studies, where x is the downstream distance from the step change. However, the analogy with smooth-to-rough transitions no longer holds when the flow inside the canopy and near the canopy top is considered. Results show that the step change in surface roughness significantly increases turbulence intensities and shear stress. In particular, there is an adjustment of the mean horizontal velocity and shear stress as the flow passes over the rougher canopy, so that their vertical profiles adjust to give maximum values at the top of this canopy. We also observe that the magnitude and shape of the inflection in the mean horizontal velocity profile is significantly affected by the transition. The horizontal and vertical turbulence spectra compare well with Kolmogorov’s theory, although a small deviation at high frequencies is observed in the horizontal spectrum within the canopy. Here, for relatively low leaf area index, shear is found to be a more effective mechanism for momentum transfer through the canopy structure than vortex shedding.