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.     

Bedding Angle Identification from BIF Marker Shales via Modified Dynamic Time Warping

Mathematical Geosciences - When modelling a stratified orebody, accurately representing the dip and dip direction is important for accurate resource estimation. In the banded iron formation-hosted...     

Boundary Identification and Surface Updates Using MWD

Mathematical Geosciences - In the banded iron formation-hosted iron ore deposits in the Hamersley Range of Western Australia, the stratigraphic boundaries are generally modelled using data from...     

Forest and Airport Wind Speeds

Abstract

A simple equation is developed for determining the ratio of wind speed above a rough vegetative canopy, such as a forest, to the wind speed over a relatively smooth surface, such as an airport, when both sites are subject to the same geostrophic wind. The usual assumptions for simplifying flow in the planetary boundary layer are followed and appropriate canopy parameters are introduced.

Values for the ratio of forest to airport wind speeds range from 0.4 to 0.7, with a typical value of 0.5.     

An empirical method for demonstrating the influence of heat flux on the shape of temperature spectra

An empirical method is presented which demonstrates the influence of heat flux on the shape of the temperature spectrum within the frequency interval associated with the majority of temperature-variance production. The method is tested on temperature spectra obtained over corn (Zea mays [L.]) and red pine (Pinus resinosa [Ait.]) surfaces with reasonably good results.