Effects Of Changing Surface Heat Flux On Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Flow Over Flat Terrain

We examine the unsteady response of a neutral atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) of depth h and friction velocity u _* when a uniform surface heat flux is applied abruptly or decreased rapidly over a time scale t<inf>θ</inf> less than about h /(10u _*). Standard Monin–Obukhov (MO) relationships are used for the perturbed eddy viscosity profile in terms of the changes to the heat flux and mean shear. Analytical solutions for changes in temperature, mean wind and shear stress profile are obtained for the surface layer, when there are small changes in h /|L_MO| over the time scale t_MO~|L _MO|/(10u_*) (where L _MO and t _MO are the length and time scales, respectively). They show that a maximum in the wind speed profile occurs at the top of the thermal boundary layer for weak surface cooling, i.e. a wind jet, whereas there is a flattening of the profile and no marked maximum for weak surface heating. The modelled profiles are approximately the same as those obtained from the U.K. Met Office Unified Model when operating as a mesoscale model at 12-km horizontal resolution. The theoretical model is modified when strong surface heating is suddenly applied, resulting in a large change in h /|L _MO| (>>1), over the time scale t _MO. The eddy structure is predicted to change significantly and the addition of convective turbulence increases the shear turbulence at the ground. A low-level wind jet can form, with convective turbulence adding to the mean momentum of the flow. This was verified by our laboratory experiment and direct numerical simulations. Additionally, it is shown that the effects of Coriolis acceleration diminish (rather than as suggested in the literature, amplify) the formation of the wind jets in the situations considered here. Hence, only when the surface heat flux changes over time scales greater than 1/f (where f is the Coriolis parameter) does the ABL adjust monotonically between its equilibrium states. These results are also applicable to the ABL passing over spatially varying surface heat fluxes.     

大气边界层湍流多尺度分形特征的研究

运用离散正交小波变换将湍流信号分解为不同尺度，计算其分数维。考察其分数维的变化得出：随着分解层次得增加，提取湍流信号得低频部分趋于简单光滑，分数维不断减小，高频部分呈现复杂，分数维趋于定值，平均为1．70左右。说明大气边界层湍流信号在某些尺度上，存在明显的自相似性特征。     

Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Dynamics with Constant Bowen Ratio

Motivated by the observation that the diurnal evolution of sensible and latent heat fluxes tends to maintain a constant Bowen ratio, we derive approximate solutions of the ordinary differential equations of a simplified atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) model. Neglecting the early morning transition, the potential temperature and specific humidity of the mixed layer are found to be linearly related to the ABL height. Similar behaviour is followed by the inversion strengths of temperature and humidity at the top of the ABL. The potential temperature of the mixed layer depends on the entrainment parameter and the free-atmosphere temperature lapse rate, while the specific humidity also depends on the free-atmosphere humidity lapse rate and the Bowen ratio. The temporal dynamics appear only implicitly in the evolution of the height of the boundary layer, which in turn depends on the time-integrated surface sensible heat flux. Studying the limiting behaviour of the Bowen ratio for very low and very large values of net available energy, we also show how the tendency to maintain constant Bowen ratio during midday hours stems from its relative insensitivity to the atmospheric conditions for large values of net available energy. The analytical expression for the diurnal evolution of the ABL obtained with constant Bowen ratio is simple and provides a benchmark for the results of more complex models.     

Characteristics Of Chaotic Attractors In Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Turbulence

In this paper, the attractors of turbulent flows in phase space are reconstructed by the time delay technique using observed data of atmospheric boundary-layer turbulence, which include high resolution temperature, humidity andthree-dimensional wind speed measurements in Gansu province and Beijing, China. The correlation dimensions and largest Lyapunov exponents have been computed. The results indicate that all the largest Lyapunov exponents in different conditions of time, site and atmospheric stability are greater than zero. This means that the atmospheric boundary-layer turbulence system is really chaotic and has appropriate low-dimensional strange attractors whose dimension numbers range from 3 to 7 and vary with different variables (dynamical variables or non-dynamical variables) and atmospheric stability. Turbulent kinetic energy is first applied to reconstruct the attractor of turbulence, and is found to be feasible.     

Assessment of Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Processes Represented in the Numerical Model MM5 for a Clear Sky Day Using LASPEX Observations

Data collected during the Land Surface Processes Experiment (LASPEX) in a semi-arid region of the state of Gujarat in north-west India for a clear sky day (16 May 1997) are used to assess the performance of the atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) and land- surface parameterizations in the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU-NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5). The ABL turbulence parameterizations examined are the Blackadar scheme coupled to a simple soil slab model (SSM), and the Troen-Mahrt scheme coupled to SSM or to the more sophisticated Noah land-surface model (NSM). The comparison of several two-way nested high resolution (9-km) MM5 short term 24-h simulations indicate that, although the model is able to capture the trend in the observed data, the computed results deviate from observations. The NSM with a modest treatment of vegetation outperforms the SSM in capturing the observed daily variations in surface heat fluxes and aspects of ABL structure over the tropical land surface at local scales. Detailed analysis showed that, with the incorporation of observed local vegetation and soil characteristics, the NSM reproduced a realistic surface energy balance and near-surface temperature. It is further found that the coupling of the NSM with the Troen-Mahrt ABL scheme leads to excessive ABL mixing and a dry bias in the model simulations.     

Stable Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Experiment in Spain (SABLES 98): A Report

This paper describes the Stable AtmosphericBoundary Layer Experiment in Spain (SABLES 98),which took place over the northern Spanish plateaucomprising relatively flat grassland,in September 1998. The main objectives of the campaign were to study the properties of themid-latitude stable boundary layer (SBL).Instrumentation deployed on two meteorologicalmasts (of heights 10 m and 100 m)included five sonic anemometers, 15 thermocouples,five cup anemometers and three propeller anemometers,humidity sensors and radiometers.A Sensitron mini-sodar and a tetheredballoon were also operated continuously. Atriangular array of cup anemometers wasinstalled to allow the detection ofwave events. Two nocturnal periods analysedon 14–15 and 20–21 September are used toillustrate the wide-ranging characteristics of the SBL.     

Equilibrium Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Flow: Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation with Balanced Forces

Forcing relationships in steady, neutrally stratified atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) flow are thoroughly analyzed. The ABL flow can be viewed as balanced between a forcing and a drag term. The drag term results from turbulent stress divergence, and above the ABL, both the drag and the forcing terms vanish. In computational wind engineering applications, the ABL flow is simulated not by directly specifying a forcing term in the ABL but by specifying boundary conditions for the simulation domain. Usually, these include the inflow boundary and the top boundary conditions. This ‘boundary-driven’ ABL flow is dynamically different from its real counterpart, and this is the major reason that the simulated boundary-driven ABL flow does not maintain horizontal homogeneity. Here, first a dynamical approach is proposed to develop a neutrally stratified equilibrium ABL flow. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software (Fluent 6.3) with the standard \(k\) – \(\varepsilon \) turbulence model is employed, and by applying a driving force profile, steady equilibrium ABL flows are simulated by the model. Profiles of wind speed and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) derived using this approach are reasonable in comparison with the conventional logarithmic law and with observational data respectively. Secondly, the equilibrium ABL profiles apply as inflow conditions to simulate the boundary-driven ABL flow. Simulated properties between the inlet and the outlet sections across a fetch of 10 km are compared. Although profiles of wind speed, TKE, and its dissipation rate are consistently satisfactory under higher wind conditions, a deviation of TKE and its dissipation rate between the inlet and outlet are apparent (7–8 %) under lower wind-speed conditions (2 m s \(^{-1}\) at 10 m). Furthermore, the simulated surface stress systematically decreases in the downwind direction. A redistribution of the pressure field is also found in the simulation domain, which provides a different driving pattern from the realistic case in the ABL.     

大气边界层湍流温度序列的信息熵分析

利用大气边界层内近地面的大气湍流温度时间序列，运用功率谱分析、信息熵分析等方法，分析了大气边界层内近地面的大气湍流特点，并对稳定层和不稳定层的大气湍流进行了对比。结果表明，信息熵和功率谱指数是区别稳定层结和不稳定层结大气边界层湍流特征的指标，对造成两者之间的差别做出了对应的解释。     

Evolution of Cold-Air-Pooling Processes in Complex Terrain

Elucidating cold-air-pooling processes forms part of the longstanding problem of parametrizing the effects of complex terrain in larger-scale numerical models. The Weather Research and Forecasting model has been set-up and run at high resolution over an idealized alpine-valley domain with a width of order 10 km, to investigate the four-dimensional variation of key cold-air-pooling forcing mechanisms, under decoupled stable conditions. Results of the simulation indicated that the total average valley-atmosphere cooling is driven by a complex balance/interplay between radiation and dynamical effects. Three fairly distinct regimes in the evolution of cold-air-pooling processes have been identified. Starting about 1 h before sunset, there is an initial 30-min period when the downslope flows are initiated and the total average valley-atmosphere instantaneous cooling is dominated by radiative heat loss. A period of instability follows, when there is a competition between radiation and dynamical effects, lasting some 90 min. Finally, there is a gradual reduction of the contribution of radiative cooling from 75 to 37 %. The maximum cold-air-pool intensity corresponds to the time of minimum radiative cooling, within the period of instability. Although, once the flow is established, the valley atmosphere cools at broadly similar rates by radiation and dynamical effects, overall, radiation effects dominate the total average valley-atmosphere cooling. Some of the intricacies of the valley mixing have been revealed. There are places where the dynamics dominate the cooling and radiation effects are minor. Characteristics of internal gravity waves propagating away from the slopes are discussed.     

复杂地形区域之大气环境容量

复杂地形区域之风场及污染物的输送,受地形影响往往是非均匀的,这类地区大气环境容量的估算也有别于平坦地形区域。本文以粤东山区之梅州市工业居民混合区为例,介绍了复杂地形条件下大气环境容量的计算方法。主要包括:1.确定地形影响下近地面之主要流型.2.合理给出模式调整前容量的初估值,以尽量减少模式调整的工作量.3.建立非均匀风场条件下的环境容量调整模式.4.通过模式调整得出大气环境容量的准确值。     

复杂地形边界层风场的三维局地尺度数值模拟

设计了一个基于有限元方法的中γ尺度复杂地形条件下的三维非静力边界层风场数值模式,利用该模式对河南省登封市阳城工业区周围的实际三维地形进行了数值模拟,并将模拟结果与河南省气象科学研究所的实测资料进行了对比。结果表明,模式对峡谷地形的加速作用、山体的抬升与绕流均有较好的模拟,但是对背风坡涡旋的模拟不太理想。与实测资料的对比显示,在一定的条件下,模式可以得到较好的模拟结果。     

Approximate Analytical Solution to Diurnal Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Growth Under Well-Watered Conditions

Simplified numerical models of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) are useful both for understanding the underlying dynamics and potentially providing parsimonious modelling approaches for inclusion in larger models. Herein the governing equations of a simplified slab model of the uniformly mixed, purely convective, diurnal ABL are shown to allow immediate solutions for the potential temperature and specific humidity as functions of the ABL height and net radiation when expressed in integral form. By employing a linearized saturation vapour relation, the height of the mixed layer is shown to obey a non-linear ordinary differential equation with quadratic dependence on ABL height. A perturbation solution provides general analytical approximations, of which the leading term is shown to represent the contribution under equilibrium evaporation. These solutions allow the diurnal evolution of the height, potential temperature, and specific humidity (i.e., also vapour pressure deficit) of the mixed layer to be expressed analytically for arbitrary radiative forcing functions.     

A Prediction System for Local Wind Variations in Mountainous Terrain

A three-level model system for the prediction of local flows in mountainous terrain is described. The system is based upon an operational weather prediction model with a horizontal grid spacing of about 10 km. The large-scale flow is transformed to a more detailed terrain, first by a mesoscale model with grid spacing of about 1 km, and then by a local-scale model with a grid spacing of about 0.2 km. The weather prediction model is hydrostatic, while the two other models are non-hydrostatic. As a case study the model system has been applied to estimate wind and turbulence over Várnes airport, Norway, where data on turbulent flight conditions were provided near the runway. The actual case was chosen due to previous experiences, which indicate that south-easterly winds may cause severe turbulence in a region close to the airport. Local terrain induced turbulence seems to be the main reason for these effects. The predicted local flow in the actual region is characterized by narrow secondary vortices along the flow, and large turbulent intensity associated with these vortices. A similar pattern is indicated by the sparse observations, although there seems to be a difference in mean wind direction between data and predictions. Due to fairly coarse data for sea surface temperature, errors could be induced in the turbulence damping via the Richardson number. An adjustment for this data problem improved the predictions.     

On the Structure and Adjustment of Inversion-Capped Neutral Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Flows: Large-Eddy Simulation Study

A range of large-eddy simulations, with differing free atmosphere stratification and zero or slightly positive surface heat flux, is investigated to improve understanding of the neutral and near-neutral, inversion-capped, horizontally homogeneous, barotropic atmospheric boundary layer with emphasis on the upper region. We find that an adjustment time of at least 16 h is needed for the simulated flow to reach a quasi-steady state. The boundary layer continues to grow, but at a slow rate that changes little after 8 h of simulation time. A common feature of the neutral simulations is the development of a super-geostrophic jet near the top of the boundary layer. The analytical wind-shear models included do not account for such a jet, and the best agreement with simulated wind shear is seen in cases with weak stratification above the boundary layer. Increasing the surface heat flux decreases the magnitude and vertical extent of the jet and leads to better agreement between analytical and simulated wind-speed profiles. Over a range of different inversion strengths and surface heat fluxes, we also find good agreement between the performed simulations and models of the equilibrium boundary-layer height, and of the budget of turbulent kinetic energy integrated across the boundary layer.     

Some Aspects of Atmospheric Dispersion in the Stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layer over Homogeneous Terrain

The ability to simulate atmospheric dispersion with models developed for applied use under stable atmospheric stability conditions is discussed. The paper is based on model simulations of three experimental data sets reported in the literature. The Hanford data set covered weakly stable conditions, the Prairie Grass experiments covered both weakly stable and very stable atmospheric conditions, and the Lillestrøm experiment was carried out during very stable conditions. Simulations of these experiments reported in the literature for eight different models are discussed. Applied models based on the Gaussian plume model concept with the spread parameters described in terms of the Pasquill stability classification or Monin–Obukhov similarity relationships are used. Other model types are Lagrangian particle models which also are parameterized in terms of Monin–Obukhov similarity relationships. The applied models describe adequately the dispersion process in a weakly stable atmosphere, but fail during very stable atmospheric conditions. This suggests that Monin–Obukhov similarity theory is an adequate tool for the parameterization of the input parameters to atmospheric dispersion models during weakly stable conditions, but that more detailed parameterisations including other physical processes than those covered by the Monin–Obukhov theory should be developed for the very stable atmosphere.     

Scalar-Flux Similarity in the Layer Near the Surface Over Mountainous Terrain

The scaled standard deviations of temperature and humidity are investigated in complex terrain. The study area is a steep Alpine valley, with six measurement sites of different slope, orientation and roughness (i-Box experimental site, Inn Valley, Austria). Examined here are several assumptions forming the basis of Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST), including constant turbulence fluxes with height and the degree of self-correlation between the involved turbulence variables. Since the basic assumptions for the applicability of the MOST approach—horizontally homogeneous and flat conditions—are violated, the analysis is performed based on a local similarity hypothesis. The scaled standard deviations as a function of local stability are compared with previous studies from horizontally homogeneous and flat terrain, horizontally inhomogeneous and flat terrain, weakly inhomogeneous and flat terrain, as well as complex terrain. As a reference, similarity relations for unstable and stable conditions are evaluated using turbulence data from the weakly inhomogeneous and flat terrain of the Cabauw experimental site in the Netherlands, and assessed with the same post-processing method as the i-Box data. Significant differences from the reference curve and also among the i-Box sites are noted, especially for data derived from the i-Box sites with steep slopes. These differences concern the slope and the magnitude of the best-fit curves, illustrating the site dependence of any similarity theory.     

A Sensitivity Analysis of the Nocturnal Boundary-Layer Properties to Atmospheric Emissivity Formulations

A one-dimensional model for the mean potential temperature within the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) was used to assess the sensitivity of three NBL properties (height, thermal stratification strength, and near-surface cooling) to three widely used atmospheric emissivity formulations. The calculations revealed that the NBL height is robust to the choice of the emissivity function, though this is not the case for NBL Richardson number and near-surface cooling rate. Rather than endorse one formulation, our analysis highlights the importance of atmospheric emissivity in modelling the radiative properties of the NBL especially for clear-sky conditions.