Multiscaling properties of concentration fluctuations in dispersing plumes revealed using an orthonormal wavelet decomposition

The dynamical characteristics of concentration fluctuations in a dispersing plume over the energetic and inertial-convective range of scales of turbulent motion are studied using a multiscale analysis technique that is based on an orthonormal wavelet representation. It is shown that the Haar wavelet concentration spectrum is similar to the Fourier concentration spectrum in that both spectra exhibit an extensive inertial-convective subrange spanning about two decades in frequency, with a scaling exponent of -5/3. Analysis of the statistical properties (e.g., fluctuation intensity, skewness, and kurtosis) of the concentration wavelet coefficients (i.e., the concentration discrete detailed signal) suggests that the small scales are always more intermittent than the large scales. The degree of intermittency increases monotonically with decreasing scale within the inertial-convective subrange, reaching a plateau at the very small scales associated with the beginning of the near-dissipation subrange. The probability density function (pdf) of the concentration discrete detailed signal displays stretched exponential tails with an intermittency exponent (tail slope) q that increases as ^a, where is the scale or dilation and a is a power-law exponent that is dependent on downwind distance, plume height, and stratification strength with typical values in the range from about 0.25 to 0.35. It is shown that the concentration variance cascade process requires a phase coherency of eddies between different scales at the small-scale end of the inertial-convective subrange.The variation of the concentration wavelet statistics with height above the ground is investigated. The increased mean shear near the ground smooths the fine-scale plume structure for scales within the inertial-convective subrange, producing a weaker spatiotemporal intermittency in the concentration field compared to that measured higher up in the plume. The pdf of the concentration detailed signal at a fixed scale possesses less elongated tails with decreasing height z. The intermittency exponent q is found to decrease roughly linearly with increasing z.Finally, the results of the wavelet decomposition are combined to provide a conceptual model of the turbulent transport, stirring, and mixing regimes in a dispersing plume. The implications of the results for contaminant texture in a plume are discussed.