Similarity of atmospheric Reynolds shear stress and heat flux fluctuations over a rough surface

Horizontal u and vertical w velocity fluctuations have been measured together with temperature fluctuations in the atmospheric surface layer, at a small height above a wheat crop canopy. Marginal probability density functions are presented for both individual fluctuations u, w, and for the instantaneous Reynolds stress uw, and heat fluxes w and u. Probability density functions of the velocity fluctuations deviate less significantly from the Gaussian form than the probability density of temperature. There appears to be closer similarity between statistics of the instantaneous heat fluxes than between the momentum flux and either of the heat fluxes investigated. The mean momentum flux receives equal contributions from the events referred to as ejections and sweeps in laboratory boundary layers. Sweeps provide the largest contribution to the heat fluxes.     

Occurrence of roll circulations in a shallow boundary layer

Meteorological measurements taken at the Näsudden wind turbine site during slightly unstable conditions have been analyzed. The height of the convective boundary layer (CBL) was rather low, varying between 60 and 300 m. Turbulence statistics near the ground followed Monin-Obukhov similarity, whereas the remaining part of the boundary layer can be regarded as a near neutral upper layer. In 55% of the runs, horizontal roll vortices were found. Those were the most unstable runs, with -z _i/L > 5. Spectra and co-spectra are used to identify the structures. Three roll indicators were identified: (i) a low frequency peak in the spectrum of the lateral component at low level; (ii) a corresponding increase in the vertical component at mid-CBL; (iii) a positive covariance {ovvw} together with positive wind shear in the lateral direction (V/z) in the CBL. By applying these indicators, it is possible to show that horizontal roll circulations are likely to be a common phenomenon over the Baltic during late summer and early winter.     

Stable boundary layers: Observations,models and variability part I: Modelling and measurements

Selected field measurements of evening stable boundary layers are presented in detail comparable with published Large Eddy Simulation results. Such models appear to match idealized theories more closely than do some boundary-layer observations. Any attempt to compare detailed observations with idealized models therefore highlights the variability of the real boundary layer.Here direct turbulence measurements across the stable boundary layer from a heterogeneous and an ideal site are contrasted. Recommendations are made for the information needed to distinguish heterogeneous and ideal cases.The companion paper (Part II) discusses further the issues of data, analysis in the presence of variability, and the effects of averaging over heterogeneous terrain.Part of UK Meteorological Office Atmospheric Process Research Division.     

Some observations of turbulence and turbulent transport within and above plant canopies

Observations have been made of the structure of turbulence and turbulent exchange within plant canopy layers. A new three-dimensional anemometer was used to measure the eddy fluxes of heat and momentum, and the related cospectra, within and above a corn crop and above a red pine forest. Measured values of momentum and heat fluxes, at each height within the corn canopy, were relatively constant proportions of the flux above the canopy, for the period of a day's observation. Extensive regions obeying a –5/3 power relation were found. Isotropy was found above the forest at high frequencies while above and within the corn crop, the ratios of the lateral and vertical spectral densities to the longitudinal component were less than the expected value in the – 5/3 region. In all situations, the vertical velocity spectra were more peaked than a universal curve, particularly a vertical velocity spectrum from above the forest. It is suggested that the additional variance results from the mixing caused by the individual roughness elements. As expected, the spectra could not be normalized using the height above the soil surface to calculate a non-dimensional frequency, but scaling heights were estimated by matching the frequencies of the peak of each curve with that of the universal curve. Cospectra of uw and wT within the corn canopy were of similar shape and frequency regime, and were basically similar in shape to cospectra above the crop. All of the cospectra were more sharply peaked than universal cospectral curves.     

Changing thermal topography of the Baltimore-Washington corridor: 1950–1979

A study of the temperature field for the Baltimore-Washington region reveals that since 1950 there has been the development of an urban heat corridor. Trend surface analysis shows that there has been an inversion of the thermal topography in the region as a saddle of rising temperatures has emerged, replacing a trough of lowered temperatures through three decades. Steady population growth throughout the area is seen to be the most important contributor. The strengthening of the heat corridor is best expressed in the summer months and weakest during the winter months. As population continues to grow in this region, the thermal topography is sure to be modified even further.It is recommended that further study be devoted to temperature and precipitation changes in regions experiencing urban growth.     

Numerical modelling of the turbulent flow developing within and over a 3-d building array,part ii: a mathematical foundation for a distributed drag force approach

In this paper, we lay the foundations of a systematic mathematical formulation for the governing equations for flow through an urban canopy (e.g., coarse-scaled building array) where the effects of the unresolved obstacles on the flow are represented through a distributed mean-momentum sink. This, in turn, implies additional corresponding terms in the transport equations for the turbulence quantities. More specifically, a modified k-- model is derived for the simulation of the mean wind speed and turbulence for a neutrally stratified flow through and over a building array, where groups of buildings in the array are aggregated and treated as a porous medium. This model is based on time averaging the spatially averaged Navier--Stokes equations, in which the effects of the obstacle--atmosphere interaction are included through the introduction of a volumetric momentum sink (representing drag on the unresolved buildings in the array).The k-- turbulence closure model requires two additional prognostic equations, namely one for the time-averaged resolved-scale kinetic energy of turbulence,, and another for the dissipation rate, , of . The transport equation for is derived directly from the transport equation for the spatially averaged velocity, and explicitly includes additional sources and sinks that arise from time averaging the product of the spatially averaged velocity fluctuations and the distributed drag force fluctuations. We show how these additional source/sink terms in the transport equation for can be obtained in a self-consistent manner from a parameterization of the sink term in the spatially averaged momentum equation. Towards this objective, the time-averaged product of the spatially averaged velocity fluctuations and the distributed drag force fluctuations can be approximated systematically using a Taylor series expansion. A high-order approximation is derived to represent this source/sink term in the transport equation for . The dissipation rate () equation is simply obtained as a dimensionally consistent analogue of the equation. The relationship between the proposed mathematical formulation of the equations for turbulent flow within an urban canopy (where the latter is treated as a porous medium) and an earlier heuristic two-band spectral decomposition for parameterizing turbulence in a plant canopy is explored in detail.     

An observational aircraft-based study of sea-breeze frontogenesis

In the summer of 1988/89 flights were carried out in the Coorong coastal area of South Australia to investigate sea-breeze fronts. The flights yielded data sets of the structure of the fronts in the cross-frontal direction with a spatial resolution of approximately 3 m. The study is focused on the budgets of sensible and latent heat in the vicinity of the front and on frontogenesis/frontolysis processes which are closely related to budget considerations.The frontogenesis relationships and the budgets were established on a 2 km length scale by low-pass filtering of the space series. As the wind components were measured with high accuracy, all processes which determine frontogenesis could be evaluated and are displayed in x,z-cross-sections: these are the confluence, shear and diabatic effects, all of which play a role in q/x-, q/z-, /x- as well as /z-frontogenesis. A detailed analysis is given for two different states of frontal development. The presented results shed much light on the governing physical processes in the frontal region with strong emphasis on the effects of confluence-generated updrafts, on shear instabilities causing bulges and clefts in the frontal surface as well as producing the elevated frontal head, and on processes related to differential heating and moistening.     

A radiation and energy balance study of mature forest and clear-cut sites

Components of the radiation and energy balances were measured over a clear-cut area and a mature, mixed forest during the summer of 1981 at the Petawawa National Forestry Institute, Chalk River, Ontario. The work concentrated on the clear-cut site which supported a canopy layer composed primarily of bracken fern and logging remnants.Forty days of radiation data were collected at the clear-cut site. After the first four weeks of measurements (the green season), most of the ferns quickly died, and their foliage changed appearance from a green to brownish colour (the brown season). The daily mean reflection coefficient of solar radiation determined over the green season was 0.20 and decreased to 0.13 for the brown season. The corresponding value for the forest was 0.13, based on a limited amount of data. The clear-cut site received 11% and 21% less net radiation than the forest on a 24-hr and daylight-hours basis, respectively, as a consequence of the higher reflection coefficient and larger daytime longwave radiation emission.A reversing temperature difference measurement system (RTDMS), incorporating ten-junction thermopiles was employed at each site in order to determine Bowen ratios () via differential psychrometry. Both systems performed well, especially the RTDMS over the forest which was capable of resolving very small differences of temperature, typically less than 0.2 °C over a height of 3 m. The mean hourly Bowen ratio, calculated from values from 0800 to 1600 hr, varied from 0.2 to 1.0 for the forest and from 0.4 to 0.8 for the clear-cut site in the green season.A significant canopy heat storage component of the energy balance, Q _S , was found at the clear-cut site. In the early morning, a portion of the available energy was used to heat the biomass materials and air within the canopy layer. The stored heat within the canopy was released later in the day, increasing the available energy total.The daily mean value of the Priestley-Taylor coefficient (Priestley and Taylor, 1972) for the green season at the clear-cut site was 1.14, and individual values tended to increase during wet surface conditions and decrease when the surface dried. The daylight mean value during dry canopy conditions at the forest was 1.05, and much higher values occurred when the canopy was wet. The enhancement of for the wet forest was a result of the evaporation of intercepted rain (which is not limited by stomatal resistance) and the concomitant transfer of sensible heat to the forest.     

An observation of waves and turbulence in the earth's boundary layer

An account is given of an observation of a wave-like phenomenon obtained during a study of nocturnal inversions. Associated bursts of turbulent activity are also described.     

Flux–Profile Relationships Over a Fetch Limited Beech Forest

The influence of an internal boundary layer and a roughness sublayer on flux–profile relationships for momentum and sensible heat have been investigated for a closed beech forest canopy with limited fetch conditions. The influence was quantified by derivation of local scaling functions for sensible heat flux and momentum (_h and _m) and analysed as a function of atmospheric stability and fetch. For heat, the influences of the roughness sublayer and the internal boundary layer were in agreement with previous studies. For momentum, the strong vertical gradient of the flow just above the canopy top for some wind sectors led to an increase in _m, a feature that has not previously been observed. For a fetch of 500 m over the beech forest during neutral atmospheric conditions, there is no height range at the site where profiles can be expected to be logarithmic with respect to the local surface. The different influence of the roughness sublayer on _h and _m is reflected in the aerodynamic resistance for the site. The aerodynamic resistance for sensible heat is considerably smaller than the corresponding value for momentum.     

Regular and seasonal behaviour of atmospheric radio noise field strength (ARNFS) over low latitude station calcutta

Summary The electromagnetic radiation of cloud discharge known as atmospheric radio noise field strength (ARNFS) shows a gradual fall from a frequency of 9 kHz to 81 kHz as studied over a period of two years at Calcutta, very close to Bay of Bengal. The main characteristic features of ARNFS at Calcutta are that-(i) ARNFS shows that midday median value is smaller than midnight median value in all months, (ii) level of daily minimum is higher in February and monsoon compared to other seasons, (iii) sunrise effect and sunset effect are well correlated with local sunrise and sunset times, (iv) the magnitude of sunrise fade and sunrise fade rate are maximum in April and lowest during winter period, (v) the magnitude of sunset fade is higher in premonsoon and postmonsoon while it is lowest in monsoon, (vi) number of occurrence of both sunrise effect and sunset effect is remark-ably smaller in monsoon. The positions of the sun and of atmospheric sources are jointly the causes of seasonal and diurnal variations. The missing of sunrise effect and sunset effect are due to local cloud activity and variation of electron density during geomagnetic storms.With 7 Figures     

On Trajectory Curvature as a Selection Criterion for Valid Lagrangian Stochastic Dispersion Models

Recently Wilson and Flesch (Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 84, 411-426, 1997) suggested that the average increment d z to the orientation = arctan(w/u) of the Lagrangian velocity-fluctuation vector can be used to distinguish the better Lagrangian stochastic models within the well-mixed class. Here it is demonstrated that the specification of d z constitutes neither a sufficient or universally applicable criterion to distinguish the better Lagrangian stochastic models within the well-mixed class. The hypothesis made by Wilson and Flesch that Lagrangian stochastic models with /P_E irrotational are zero-spin models, having d z=0, is proven     

Scavenging Efficiency of ‘Aerosol Carbon’ and Sulfate in Supercooled Clouds at Mt. Sonnblick (3106 m a.s.l., Austria)

Cloud water and interstitial aerosol samples collected at Mt. Sonnblick (SBO) were analyzed for sulfate and aerosol carbon to calculate in-cloud scavenging efficiencies. Scavenging efficiencies for sulfate (_SO) ranged from 0.52 to 0.99 with an average of 0.80. Aerosol carbon was scavenged less efficiently with an average value (_AC) of 0.45 and minimum and maximum values of 0.14 and 0.81, respectively. Both _SO and _AC showed a marked, but slightly different, dependence on the liquid water content (LWC) of the cloud. At low LWC, _SO increased with rising LWC until it reached a relatively constant value of 0.83 above an LWC of 0.3 g/m³. In the case of aerosol carbon, we obtained a more gradual increase of _AC up to an LWC of 0.5 g/m³. At higher LWCs, _{_} remained relatively constant at 0.60. As the differences between _SO and _A varied across the LWC range observed at SBO, we assume that part of the aerosol carbon was incorporated into the cloud droplets independently from sulfate. This hypothesis is supported by size classified aerosol measurements. The differences in the size distributions of sulfate and total carbon point to a partially external mixture. Thus, the different chemical nature and the differences in the size and mixing state of the aerosol particles are the most likely candidates for the differences in the scavenging behavior.     

The impact of climate change on the river rhine: A scenario study

This paper concerns the impact of human-induced global climate change on the River Rhine discharge. For this purpose a model for climate assessment, named ESCAPE, is coupled to a water balance model, named RHINEFLOW. From climate scenarios, changes in regional annual water availability and seasonal discharge in the River Rhine Basin are estimated. The climate scenarios are based on greenhouse gases emissions scenarios. An assessment is made for best guess seasonal discharge changes and for changes in frequencies of low and high discharges in the downstream reaches of the river. In addition, a quantitative estimation of the uncertainties associated with this guess is arrived at.The results show that the extent and range of uncertainty is large with respect to the best guess changes. The uncertainty range is 2–3 times larger for the Business-as-Usual than for the Accelerated Policies scenarios. This large range stems from the doubtful precipitation simulations from the present General Circulation Models. This scenario study showed the precipitation scenarios to be the key-elements within the present range of reliable climate change scenarios.For the River Rhine best guess changes for annual water availability are small according to both scenarios. The river changes from a present combined snow-melt-rain fed river to an almost entirely rain fed river. The difference between present-day large average discharge in winter and the small average discharge in autumn should increase for all scenarios. This trend is largest in the Alpine part of the basin. Here, winter discharges should increase even for scenarios forecasting annual precipitation decreases. Summer discharge should decrease. Best guess scenarios should lead to increased frequencies of both low and high flow events in the downstream (Dutch) part of the river. The results indicate changes could be larger than presently assumed in worst case scenarios used by the Dutch water management authorities.     

Turbulent characteristics over a rough natural surface part I: Turbulent structures

A comprehensive experiment for turbulence and profiles has been carried out over a very rough natural mallee bushland. In Part I, the large inherent structures of the turbulence are presented. Short-period space-time correlations of wind and temperature indicate that periodic fluctuations pervade the lower surface layer above the canopy. These are associated with the appearance of large turbulent structures. Prominent peaks in the spectra are identified with the arrival of these structures, which show that they have a relatively large length scale over rough surfaces. These findings suggest a different mechanism for the enhancement of turbulent diffusivity over rough surfaces from that by the simple generation of turbulence by plant wakes.Analysis via conditional sampling of the turbulent components has revealed that bursts make almost the same contributions as gusts (at the measurement height of 8.4 m above ground) for either momentum or temperature under neutral conditions; for unstable conditions and high hole size H (see Equation (3)), gusts dominate for momentum while bursts dominate for heat transfer. This implies that the mechanisms for momentum and heat transfer are different.     

A first-order closure scheme to describe counter-gradient momentum transport in plant canopies

The gradient diffusion parameterization of the Reynolds stress is modified by adding a bulk momentum transport term. Comparisons to available data indicate that this term accounts for the gusts or downsweeps of higher momentum fluid into the canopy and ejections of lower momentum fluid out of the canopy. This term results in realistic mean wind speed profiles.     

La conversion du rayonnement sphérique en rayonnement global

Résumé Une étude théorique permet d'estimer les sommes journalières soit du rayonnement global tombant sur un récepteur plan et horizontal, soit du rayonnement sphérique ou circumglobal tombant sur une sphère. Ces deux sommes dépendent fortement des conditions atmosphèriques: atmosphère pure, brume, humidité et nébulosité, ainsi que de la latitude géographique, de la déclinaison du soleil et de l'albédo du sol. On montre qu'il est quand-même possible de trouver une relation du deuxième ou troisième degré entre les deux types de mesures où les coefficients ne dépendent que de la différence – entre latitude et déclinaison et de l'albédo du sol. Cette relation est valable dans les basses latitudes <30° avec une faible dispersion des valeurs journalières; dans les latitudes plus élevées sa validité semble limitée au semestre estival.

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Summary The daily totals of radiation falling on a horizontal receiver as well as on a spherical one are calculated by theoretical approach. Both types of values change very much with atmospherical conditions, such as pure atmosphere, haze and humidity of the atmosphere and cloudiness and furthermore with the geographical latitude, the declination of sun and finally with the albedo of the ground. It is demonstrated that it is nevertheless possible to establish a relation of second or third order between both these types of values. The coefficients are function only of –, the difference between latitude and declination and of the albedo . This relation is valid in low latitudes <30° for daily totals; in higher latitudes its validity is limited to days of the summer period.

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Zusammenfassung Auf theoretischem Wege werden die Tagessummen sowohl der auf einen horizontalen Empfänger fallenden Globalstrahlung von Sonne und Himmel als auch der auf eine Kugel fallenden Zirkumglobalstrahlung ermittelt. Beide Werte hängen sehr stark von den atmosphärischen Verhältnissen, wie Reinheit der Atmosphäre, Dunst, Feuchtigkeit und Bewölkung, sowie von der geographischen Breite, der Deklination der Sonne und der Albedo der Bodenoberfläche ab. Es wird nun gezeigt, daß es trotzdem möglich ist, eine Beziehung zweiten oder dritten Grades zwischen den beiden Arten von Tagessummen herzuleiten, in der die Koeffizienten nur von der Differenz – zwischen geographischer Breite und Deklination der Sonne einerseits und der Albedo andererseits abhängen. Diese Beziehung gilt in niederen Breiten <30° für alle Einzelwerte, in höheren Breiten nur im Sommerhalbjahr.

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Avec 8 Figures     

The influence of anisotropy on stress estimation by the indirect dissipation method

A comparison of observations by different authors reveals that systematic differences exist between momentum fluxes measured directly, and momentum fluxes determined indirectly by the dissipation method. This discrepancy is attributed to systematic errors due to the indirect determination of energy dissipation from the presumed inertial subrange spectrum of the horizontal wind component. The discrepancy increases with increasing degree of anisotropy, indicated by the ratio (vertical wind spectrum): (horizontal wind spectrum) deviating from % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4baFfea0dXde9vqpa0lb9% cq0dXdb9IqFHe9FjuP0-iq0dXdbba9pe0lb9hs0dXda91qaq-xfr-x% fj-hmeGabaqaciGacaGaaeqabaWaaeaaeaaakeaadaWcaaqaaiaais% daaeaacaaIZaaaaaaa!33E6!\[\frac{4}{3}\]The results support a value of 0.48 for Kolmogoroff's constant.     

Properties of spatial temperature derivatives in the atmospheric surface layer

A pair of parallel cold wires separated in either the vertical or lateral direction was used to obtain the three components _x, _y, _z of the temperature derivative in the streamwise, lateral and vertical directions, respectively. The average absolute skewness values of _x and _z are nonzero and approximately equal, while the skewness of _y is approximately zero. These results appear to be consistent with the presence of a large, three-dimensional organised structure in the surface layer. There is an apparent low-frequency contamination in the spectral density of _y and _z due mainly to small errors in estimating the sensitivity of the cold wires. The temperature derivatives were high-pass filtered, the filter being set to remove possible contributions from the large structure and to minimise low-frequency sensitivity contamination. The filtered rms ratios \~_x/\~_y and \~_x/\~_z were in the range 0.7 to 0.9, a result in qualitative agreement with that obtained in the laboratory boundary layer by Sreenivasan et al. (1977). The skewness of filtered _x or _z is negligible, consistent with local isotropy of small-scale temperature fluctuations and in support of the high wavenumber spectral isotropy discussed in Antonia and Chambers (1978).     

AN E – ε – ℓ TURBULENCE CLOSURE SCHEME FOR PLANETARY BOUNDARY-LAYER MODELS: THE NEUTRALLY STRATIFIED CASE

The standard E – model generates aplanetary boundary layerthat appears to be much too deep. The cause of theproblem is traced to the equation for the dissipationrate () of turbulent kinetic energy (E), specifically theparameterization of dissipation production anddestruction. In the context of atmosphericboundary-layer modelling, we argue that a part of thedissipation production should be modelled as the inputto the spectral cascade from the energy-containingpart of the spectrum, with a characteristic length , while the equilibrium imbalancebetween local production and destruction ofdissipation is modelled as proportional toE2/E, as in the standard model. Wepropose an E – – turbulence closurescheme, in which both the mixing length, m, and are prescribed. The importance ofthe equation is diminished, though itstill determines the dissipation rate in the Eequation.