Theory And Measurements For Turbulence Spectra And Variances In The Atmospheric Neutral Surface Layer

Predictions from a new theory for high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layers during near-neutral conditions are shown to agree well with measurements of atmospheric surface-layer variances and spectra. The theory suggests surface-layer turbulence is determined by detached eddies that largely originate in the shearing motion immediately above the surface layer; as they descend into this layer, they are strongly distorted by the local shear and impinge onto the surface. Because the origin of these eddies is non-local, they are similar to those described in previous studies as `inactive' turbulence. However, they are, in fact, dynamically highly active, supplying the major mechanism for the momentum transport, including upward bursting on the time scale of the larger eddies. The vertical velocity results show that the variance and the low frequency parts of spectra increase with height in the surface layer, while in the self similar (k₁ ^-1) range the streamwise low frequency components are approximately constant with height. These large-scale longitudinal eddies extend to a length _s, which is equal to the boundary-layer height near the surface andincreases linearly to a maximum of about three times the boundary-layer height at roughly 15 m and decreases in the upper parts of the surface layer. This lower part of the surface layer, the eddy surface layer, is the region in which the eddies impinging from layers above are strongly distorted. This new result for the atmospheric boundary layer has practical application for calculating fluctuating wind loads on structures and lateral dispersion of pollution from local sources.     

A Study of Correlations of Scalar Quantities in the Atmospheric Surface Layer

Standard deviations for vertical velocity and scalar quantities, such as temperature, T, and specific humidity, q, were analyzed on the basis of Monin-Obukhov (M-O) similarity theory in the atmospheric surface layer. The correlation coefficient between scalar quantities T and q, R_Tq, was derived from the similarity functions and can be expressed as the ratio of B_T/B_q (B_T≤ B_q), where parameter B is the value of the normalized standard deviation of any scalar quantity at neutral conditions.     

Turbulence Structure of the Unstable Atmospheric Surface Layer and Transition to the Outer Layer

We present a new model of the structure of turbulence in the unstable atmospheric surface layer, and of the structural transition between this and the outer layer. The archetypal element of wall-bounded shear turbulence is the Theodorsen ejection amplifier (TEA) structure, in which an initial ejection of air from near the ground into an ideal laminar and logarithmic flow induces vortical motion about a hairpin-shaped core, which then creates a second ejection that is similar to, but larger than, the first. A series of TEA structures form a TEA cascade. In real turbulent flows TEA structures occur in distorted forms as TEA-like (TEAL) structures. Distortion terminates many TEAL cascades and only the best-formed TEAL structures initiate new cycles. In an extended log layer the resulting shear turbulence is a complex, self-organizing, dissipative system exhibiting self-similar behaviour under inner scaling. Spectral results show that this structure is insensitive to instability. This is contrary to the fundamental hypothesis of Monin--Obukhov similarity theory. All TEAL cascades terminate at the top of the surface layer where they encounter, and are severely distorted by, powerful eddies of similar size from the outer layer. These eddies are products of the breakdown of the large eddies produced by buoyancy in the outer layer. When the outer layer is much deeper than the surface layer the interacting eddies are from the inertial subrange of the outer Richardson cascade. The scale height of the surface layer, z _s, is then found by matching the powers delivered to the creation of emerging TEAL structures to the power passing down the Richardson cascade in the outer layer. It is z _s = u _* ³ /k_s, where u _* is friction velocity, k is the von Kármán constant and _s is the rate of dissipation of turbulence kinetic energy in the outer layer immediately above the surface layer. This height is comparable to the Obukhov length in the fully convective boundary layer. Aircraft and tower observations confirm a strong qualitative change in the structure of the turbulence at about that height. The tallest eddies within the surface layer have height z _s, so z _s is a new basis parameter for similarity models of the surface layer.     

Scaling of Wall-Normal Turbulence Intensity and Vertical Eddy Structures in the Atmospheric Surface Layer

Adequate high-quality data on three-dimensional velocities in the atmospheric surface layer (height \(\delta \)) were acquired in the field at the Qingtu Lake Observation Array. The measurement range occupies nearly the entire logarithmic layer from approximately \(0.006\delta \)–\(0.2\delta \). The turbulence intensity and eddy structures of the velocity fluctuations in the logarithmic region were primarily analyzed, and their variations in the z (wall-normal) direction were revealed. The primary finding was that the turbulent intensity of wall-normal velocity fluctuations exhibits a sharp upswing in the logarithmic region, which differs from classic scaling law and laboratory results. The upswing of the wall-normal turbulence intensity in the logarithmic region is deemed to be linear based on an ensemble of 20 sets of data. In addition, the wall-normal extent of the correlated structures and wall-normal spectra were compared to low Reynolds number results in the laboratory.     

The Effect of Chessboard Variability of the Surface Fluxes on the Aggregated Turbulence Fields in a Convective Atmospheric Surface Layer

To what degree the variability of surface features can be identified in the turbulent signals observed in the atmospheric boundary layer is still an unresolved problem. This was investigated by conducting an analytical experiment for a one-dimensional 'chessboard'-type surface-flux distribution on the basis of local free convection scaling. The results showed that, due to their nonlinear dependency on the surface fluxes, the dimensionless gradients of the mean quantities and the dimensionless standard deviations are altered by the surface-flux variability. Furthermore, passive scalars, such as humidity, are considerably more sensitive to surface variability than the main active scalar, temperature. However, the response of the gradients of the mean quantities is fairly negligible in the range of variability studied herein as compared to that of the standard deviations, which were found to be more sensitive to the surface-flux variability. In addition, the phase difference between the active and the passive scalar flux distribution strongly affects the passive scalar turbulence. This dissimilarity between passive and active scalars, or between passive scalars when their source distributions are different, brings into question the use of variance methods for the measurement of a scalar flux, such as evaporation, over variable surfaces. The classical Bowen ratio method, which depends on the validity of the Reynolds analogy for the vertical gradients of the mean quantities, was shown to be relatively more robust. However, under conditions of strong surface variability, it can also be expected to fail.     

Intermittency of Turbulence in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer: Scaling Exponents and Stratification Influence

We show the relationship between the intermittency of turbulence and the type of stratification for different atmospheric situations during the SABLES98 field campaign. With this objective, we first demonstrate the scaling behaviour of the velocity structure functions corresponding to these situations; next, we analyze the curvature of the scaling exponents of the velocity structure functions versus the order of these functions (ζ _p vs. p), where ζ _p are the exponents of the power relation for the velocity structure function with respect to the scale. It can be proved that this curve must be concave, under the assumption that the incompressible approximation does not break down at high Reynolds numbers. The physical significance of this kind of curvature is that the energy dissipation rate increases as the scale of the turbulent eddies diminishes (intermittency in the usual sense). However, the constraints imposed by stability, preventing full development of the turbulence, allow the function ζ _p versus p to show any type of curvature. In this case, waves of high frequency trapped by the stability, or bursts of turbulence caused by the breaking up of internal waves, may produce a redistribution of energy throughout the scaling range. Due to this redistribution, the variation with the scale of the energy dissipation rate may be smaller (decreasing the intermittency) and, even in more stable situations, this rate may diminish (instead of increasing) as the scale diminishes (convex form of the curve ζ _p vs. p).     

Scaling Range Exponents From X-Wire Measurements In The Atmospheric Surface Layer

This paper focuses on the behaviour of moments, up to order 6, of longitudinal and vertical velocity increments, measured in the atmospheric surface layer, at a height of 1.7 m. The local derivatives of these moments with respect to the spatial separation between two points indicate that inertial range power-law exponents cannot be determined unambiguously. This is supported by the local slopes of moments of the locally averaged energy dissipation rate but contrasts with the extensive power-law ranges indicated by spectra of longitudinal and vertical velocity fluctuations. The third-order longitudinal velocity structure function provides stronger evidence of anisotropy in the inertial range than either the second-order velocity structure functions or the velocity spectra.     

Scaling Properties of Biologically Active Scalar Concentration Fluctuations in the Atmospheric Surface Layer over a Managed Peatland

The higher-order scalar concentration fluctuation properties are examined in the context of Monin–Obukhov similarity theory for a variety of greenhouse gases that have distinct and separate source/sink locations along an otherwise ideal micrometeorological field site. Air temperature and concentrations of water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane were measured at high frequency (10 Hz) above a flat and extensive peat-land soil in the San Joaquin–Sacramento Delta (California, USA) area, subjected to year-round grazing by beef cattle. Because of the heterogeneous distribution of the sources and sinks of CO₂ and especially CH₄ emitted by cattle, the scaling behaviour of the higher-order statistical properties diverged from predictions based on a balance between their production and dissipation rate terms, which can obtained for temperature and H₂O during stationary conditions. We identify and label these departures as ‘exogenous’ because they depend on heterogeneities and non-stationarities induced by boundary conditions on the flow. Spectral analysis revealed that the exogenous effects show their signatures in regions with frequencies lower than those associated with scalar vertical transport by turbulence, though the two regions may partially overlap in some cases. Cospectra of vertical fluxes appear less influenced by these exogenous effects because of the modulating role of the vertical velocity at low frequencies. Finally, under certain conditions, the presence of such exogenous factors in higher-order scalar fluctuation statistics may be ‘fingerprinted’ by a large storage term in the mean scalar budget.     

Atmospheric Turbulence Characteristics Over a Temperature-Inhomogeneous Land Surface. Part II: The Effect of Small-Scale Inhomogeneities of Surface Temperature on Some Characteristics of the Atmospheric Surface Layer

Turbulence characteristics, vertical profiles of wind velocity u(z) and air temperature T(z), and also spatial variations in steppe surface radiation temperature T_r(x) are measured simultaneously. A marked effect of T_r(x) characteristics on the turbulence characteristics and T(z) profiles is observed in the lower part of the atmospheric surface layer. We suggest that variability in T_r(x) noticeably influences the surface-layer temperature field and leads to scatter in the values of the universal functions obtained by different authors; effects of T_r(x) are not accounted for in similarity theory. The introduction of the value of temperature zero-plane displacement d_T in the calculation formulae (to determine temperature flux) noticeably improves the agreement between calculated and measured (by eddy-correlation method) results. The influence of footprint (or Source Area) on the obtained results leads to noticeable scatter in the data obtained from measurements of atmospheric turbulence.     

青藏高原东部土壤冻融过程中近地层湍流统计特征分析

利用玛曲黄河源区气候与环境综合观测研究站的湍流资料,分析了青藏高原东部玛曲地区土壤冻融过程中近地层湍流统计特征的差异.结果表明,冻融过程中不同阶段近地层湍流输送特征表现出一定的差异性;各个阶段不稳定层结下无量纲化的风速分量脉动方差与稳定度符合1/3次方律,近中件条件下无量纲化的风速分量脉动方差近似为常数,水平方向上的风...     

A Note on the Flux-Variance Similarity Relationships for Heat and Water Vapour in the Unstable Atmospheric Surface Layer

Atmospheric surface layer (ASL) experiments over the past 10 years demonstrate that the flux-variance similarity functions for water vapour are consistently larger in magnitude than their temperature counterpart. In addition, latent heat flux calculations using the flux-variance method do not compare as favorably to eddy- correlation measurements when compared to their sensible heat counterpart. These two findings, in concert with measured heat to water vapour transport efficiencies in excess of unity, are commonly used as evidence of dissimilarity between heat and water vapour transport in the unstable atmospheric surface layer. In this note, it is demonstrated that even if near equality in flux-profile similarity functions for heat and water vapour is satisfied, the flux-variance similarity functions for water vapour are larger in magnitude than temperature for a planar, homogeneous, unstably-stratified turbulent boundary-layer flow.     

Observations of Coherent Turbulence Structures in the Near-Neutral Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Turbulence structures of high Reynolds number flow in the near-neutral atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) are investigated based on observations at Shionomisaki and Shigaraki, Japan. A Doppler sodar measured the vertical profiles of winds in the ABL. Using the integral wavelet transform for the time series of surface wind data, the pattern of a descending high-speed structure with large vertical extent (from the surface to more than 200-m level) is depicted from the Doppler sodar data. Essentially this structure is a specific type of coherent structure that has been previously shown in experiments on turbulent boundary-layer flows. Large-scale high-speed structures in the ABL are extracted using a long time scale (240 s) for the wavelet transform. The non-dimensional interval of time between structures is evaluated as 3.0–6.2 in most cases. These structures make a large contribution to downward momentum transfer in the surface layer. Quadrant analyses of the turbulent motion measured by the sonic anemometer (20-m height) suggest that the sweep motion (high-speed downward motion) plays a substantial role in the downward momentum transfer. In general, the contribution of sweep motions to the momentum flux is nearly equal to that of ejection motions (low-speed upward motions). This contribution of sweep motions is related to the large-scale high-speed structures.     

Impact of Sea-Spray on the Atmospheric Surface Layer

The feedback effects of sea-spray on the heat and momentum fluxes under equilibrium conditions associated with winds of tropical cyclones are investigated using a one-dimensional coupled sea-spray and atmospheric surface-layer (ASL) model. This model is capable of simulating the microphysical aspects of the evaporation of saline water droplets of various sizes and their dynamic and thermal interaction with the turbulence mixing that is simulated by the Mellor–Yamada 1.5-order closure scheme. Sea-spray droplet generation is described by a state-of-the-art parametrization that predicts the size spectrum of sea-spray droplets for a given surface forcing. The results from a series of simulations indicate the way in which evaporating droplets of various sizes modify the turbulence mixing near the surface, which in turn affects further droplet evaporation. All these results are direct consequences of the effects of sea-spray on the balance of turbulent kinetic energy in the spray-filled surface layer. In particular, the overall impact of sea-spray droplets on the mean wind depends on the wind speed at the level of sea-spray generation. When the wind speed is below 40 m s⁻¹, the droplets are small in size and tend to evaporate substantially and thus cool the spray-filled layer, while for wind speeds above 50 m s⁻¹, the size of the droplets is so large that they do not have enough time to evaporate much before falling back into the sea. The sensible heat carried by the droplets is released to the ambient air, increasing the buoyancy of the surface layer and enhancing the turbulent mixing. The suspension of sea-spray droplets reduces the buoyancy and makes the surface layer more stable, decreasing the friction velocity and the downward turbulent mixing of momentum. The results from the numerical experiments also suggest that, in order not to violate the constant flux assumption critical to the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory, a displacement equal to the mean wave height should be included in the logarithmic profiles of the wind and thermal fields.     

Quantifying Turbulence Heterogeneity in a Vineyard Using Eddy-Covariance and Scintillometer Measurements

Boundary-Layer Meteorology - Scintillometry is a non-invasive measurement technique for acquiring spatially-averaged surface heat and moisture fluxes in areas where setting up arrays of instruments...     

大气层结对青藏高原近地层湍流特征的影响

本文利用1986年夏季青藏高原试验（TIPMEX-86）期间获取的资料,计算分析了该年6月和7月拉萨和那曲近地层摩擦速度u*、特征温度θ*、Monin-Obukhov长度L及理查逊数Ri在不同大气层结及不同高度的分布特征。分析结果表明：不同大气层结下,湍流运动形式是不同的,湍流热力场的变化远远大于湍流动力场。就空间变化而言,θ*随高度变化较大,而u*的变化较小。对大气层结而言,在稳定条件下,u*、θ*随高度变化较大;在不稳定条件下,θ*、u*随高度变化较小。在不稳定层结相近的状况下,高原开阔草地上的各种湍流参数,接近或大于北京城郊非均匀地形的数值,而在很稳定的层结下,则高原的参数值小于北京。     

我国草原下垫面低层大气湍流结构

利用超声风速仪资料分析了科尔沁草原下垫面低层大气的湍流谱结构，无量纲化湍流速度分量及温度脉动的标准偏差，和湍流通量与稳定度参数的关系。结果表明，草原下垫面低层大气湍流速度谱，在较宽的稳定度范围内， 符合Kolmogorov 相似理论，在惯性副区接近局地各向同性，无量纲化湍流速度分量及温度脉动的标准偏差服从A(1-Bζ)1/3和A(-ζ)-1/3规律， 湍流热通量与稳定度参数ζ存在较好的相关性。     

Comparing Estimates of Turbulence Based on Near-Surface Measurements in the Nocturnal Stable Boundary Layer

Tethered Lifting System (TLS) estimates of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (e){(\varepsilon)} are reasonably well correlated with concurrent measurements of vertical velocity variance (s_w²){(\sigma_{w}^{2})} obtained from sonic anemometers located on a nearby 60-m tower during the CASES-99 field experiment. Additional results in the first 100 m of the nocturnal stable boundary layer confirm our earlier claim that the presence of weak but persistent background turbulence exists even during the most stable atmospheric conditions, where e{\varepsilon} can exhibit values as low as 10⁻⁷ m² s⁻³. We also present a set of empirical equations that incorporates TLS measurements of temperature, horizontal wind speed, and e{\varepsilon} to provide a proxy measurement for s_w²{\sigma_{w}^{2}} at altitudes higher than tower heights.     

Time Scales in the Unstable Atmospheric Surface Layer

Calculation of eddy covariances in the atmospheric surface layer (ASL) requires separating the instantaneous signal into mean and fluctuating components. Since the ASL is not statistically stationary, an inherent ambiguity exists in defining the mean quantities. The present study compares four methods of calculating physically relevant time scales in the unstable ASL that may be used to remove the unsteady mean components of instantaneous time signals, in order to yield local turbulent fluxes that appear to be statistically stationary. The four mean-removal time scales are: (t _c ) based on the location of the maximum in the ogive of the heat flux cospectra, () the location of the zero crossing in the multiresolution decomposition of the heat flux, (t ^*) the ratio of the mixed-layer depth over the convective velocity, and () the convergence time of the vertical velocity and temperature variances. The four time scales are evaluated using high quality, three-dimensional sonic anemometry data acquired at the Surface Layer Turbulence and Environmental Science Test (SLTEST) facility located on the salt flats of Utah’s western desert. Results indicate that and , with t _c achieving values about 2–3 times greater than t ^*. The sensitivity of the eddy covariances to the mean-removal time scale (given a fixed 4-h averaging period during midday) is also demonstrated.