Diurnal Dynamics of the Kinetic Energy in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Retrieved from Minisodar Measurements

Author(s):  
A. I. Potekaev ◽  
L. G. Shamanaeva ◽  
V. V. Kulagina
Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 421
Author(s):  
Alexander Potekaev ◽  
Liudmila Shamanaeva ◽  
Valentina Kulagina

Spatiotemporal dynamics of the atmospheric kinetic energy and its components caused by the ordered and turbulent motions of air masses are estimated from minisodar measurements of three velocity vector components and their variances within the lowest 5–200 m layer of the atmosphere, with a particular emphasis on the turbulent kinetic energy. The layered structure of the total atmospheric kinetic energy has been established. From the diurnal hourly dynamics of the altitude profiles of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) retrieved from minisodar data, four layers are established by the character of the altitude TKE dependence, namely, the near-ground layer, the surface layer, the layer with a linear TKE increase, and the transitive layer above. In the first layer, the most significant changes of the TKE were observed in the evening hours. In the second layer, no significant changes in the TKE values were observed. A linear increase in the TKE values with altitude was observed in the third layer. In the fourth layer, the TKE slightly increased with altitude and exhibited variations during the entire observation period. The altitudes of the upper boundaries of these layers depended on the time of day. The MKE values were much less than the corresponding TKE values, they did not exceed 50 m2/s2. From two to four MKE layers were distinguished based on the character of its altitude dependence. The two-layer structures were observed in the evening and at night (under conditions of the stable atmospheric boundary layer). In the morning and daytime, the four-layer MKE structures with intermediate layers of linear increase and subsequent decrease in the MKE values were observed. Our estimates demonstrated that the TKE contribution to the total atmospheric kinetic energy considerably (by a factor of 2.5–3) exceeded the corresponding MKE contribution.


Author(s):  
Yansen Wang ◽  
Michael J. Benson

Abstract In this article we describe the details of an ABLE-LBM (Atmospheric Boundary Layer Environment-Lattice Boltzmann Model) validation study for urban building array turbulent flow simulations. The ABLE-LBM large-eddy simulation results were compared with a set of 3D magnetic resonance image (MRI) velocimetry data. The ABLE-LBM simulations used the same building layout and Reynolds numbers operated in the laboratory water channel. The building set-up was an evenly spaced orthogonal array of cubic buildings (height = H) with a central tall building (height = 3H) in the second row. Two building orientations, angled with 0°and 45° wind directions, were simulated with ABLE-LBM. The model produced horizontal and vertical fields of time-averaged velocity fields and compared well with the experimental results. The model also produced urban canyon flows and vortices at front and lee sides and over building tops that were similar in strength and location to the laboratory studies. The turbulent kinetic energy associated with these two wind directions were also presented in this simulation study. It is shown that the building array arrangement, especially the tall building, has a great effect on turbulent wind fields. There is a Karman vortex street on the lee side of the tall building. High turbulent intensity areas are associated with the vortex shedding motions at building edges. In addition, the wind direction is a very important factor for turbulent wind and kinetic energy distribution. This validation study indicated that ABLE-LBM is a viable simulation model for turbulent atmospheric boundary layer flows in the urban building array. The computational speed of ABLE-LBM using the GPU has shown that real-time LES simulation is realizable for a computational domain with several millions grid points.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 1713-1726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan M. Wilson ◽  
Subhas K. Venayagamoorthy

Abstract In this study, shear-based parameterizations of turbulent mixing in the stable atmospheric boundary layer (SABL) are proposed. A relevant length-scale estimate for the mixing length of the turbulent momentum field is constructed from the turbulent kinetic energy and the mean shear rate S as . Using observational data from two field campaigns—the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) experiment and the 1999 Cooperative Atmosphere–Surface Exchange Study (CASES-99)— is shown to have a strong correlation with . The relationship between and corresponds to the ratio of the magnitude of the tangential components of the turbulent momentum flux tensor to , known as stress intensity ratio, . The field data clearly show that is linked to stability. The stress intensity ratio also depends on the flow energetics that can be assessed using a shear-production Reynolds number, , where P is shear production of turbulent kinetic energy and is the kinematic viscosity. This analysis shows that high mixing rates can indeed persist at strong stability. On this basis, shear-based parameterizations are proposed for the eddy diffusivity for momentum, , and eddy diffusivity for heat, , showing remarkable agreement with the exact quantities. Furthermore, a broader assessment of the proposed parameterizations is given through an a priori evaluation of large-eddy simulation (LES) data from the first GEWEX Atmospheric Boundary Layer Study (GABLS). The shear-based parameterizations outperform many existing models in predicting turbulent mixing in the SABL. The results of this study provide a framework for improved representation of the SABL in operational models.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Théo Brivoal ◽  
Guillaume Samson ◽  
Hervé Giordani ◽  
Romain Bourdallé-Badie ◽  
Florian Lemarié ◽  
...  

Abstract. A one-dimensional Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL1D) is coupled with the NEMO ocean model and implemented over the Iberian–Biscay–Ireland (IBI) area at 1/36° resolution to investigate the retroactions between the surface currents and the atmosphere, namely the Current FeedBack (CFB) in this region of low mesoscale activity. The ABL1D-NEMO coupled model is forced by a large-scale atmospheric reanalysis (ERA-Interim) and integrated over the period 2016–2017. The mechanisms of eddy kinetic energy damping and ocean upper-layers re-energization are realistically simulated, meaning that the CFB is properly represented by the model. In particular, the dynamical coupling coefficients between the curls of surface stress/wind and current are in agreement with the literature. The effects of CFB on the kinetic energy (KE) are then investigated through a KE budget. We show that the KE decrease induced by the CFB is significant down to 1500 m. Near the surface (0–300 m), most of the KE decrease can be explained by a reduction of the surface wind work by 4 %. At depth (300–2000 m), the CFB induce a reduction of the pressure work (i.e: the PE to KE conversion) associated with a reduction of KE which is significant down to 1500 m. We show that this reduction of KE at depth can be explained by CFB-induced Ekman pumping above eddies that weakens the mesoscale activity and this over the whole water column.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (7) ◽  
pp. 2605-2626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bowen Zhou ◽  
Yuhuan Li ◽  
Kefeng Zhu

AbstractBased on a priori analysis of large-eddy simulations (LESs) of the convective atmospheric boundary layer, improved turbulent mixing and dissipation length scales are proposed for a turbulence kinetic energy (TKE)-based planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme. The turbulent mixing length incorporates surface similarity and TKE constraints in the surface layer, and makes adjustments for lateral entrainment effects in the mixed layer. The dissipation length is constructed based on balanced TKE budgets accounting for shear, buoyancy, and turbulent mixing. A nongradient term is added to the TKE flux to correct for nonlocal turbulent mixing of TKE. The improved length scales are implemented into a PBL scheme, and are tested with idealized single-column convective boundary layer (CBL) cases. Results exhibit robust applicability across a broad CBL stability range, and are in good agreement with LES benchmark simulations. It is then implemented into a community atmospheric model and further evaluated with 3D real-case simulations. Results of the new scheme are of comparable quality to three other well-established PBL schemes. Comparisons between simulated and radiosonde-observed profiles show favorable performance of the new scheme on a clear day.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Tkachenko ◽  
Andrey Debolskiy ◽  
Evgeny Mortikov

<div>This study investigates the dynamics of the evening transition in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) diurnal cycle, specifically the decay of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) taking place there. Generally, the TKE decay is assumed to follow the power law E(t) ~ t<sup>-α,</sup> where E(t) and t are normalized TKE and normalized time, respectively, and the parameter α determines the decay rate. </div><div> <p>Two types of ABL numerical modeling are compared: three-dimensional large-eddy simulation (LES) models and one-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models. The evening transition is simulated through facilitating the formation of the convective boundary layer (CBL) by having a constant positive surface heat flux, and the subsequent decay of the CBL when the surface heat flux is decreased. </p> <p>Several features of this process have been studied in relative depth, in particular the TKE decay rate at different stages of the evening transition, the sensitivity of the results to the domain size, and the dynamics of the large- and small-scale turbulence during the transition period. LES experiments with different setups were performed, and the results were then compared to those obtained through RANS experiments based on the k-epsilon model (a two-equation model for TKE and dissipation rate, where model constants are chosen to allow for correct simulation of SBL main properties [1], as well as CBL growth rate [2]).</p> <p>This study was funded by Russian Foundation of Basic Research within the project N 20-05-00776 and the grant of the RF President within the MK-1867.2020.5 project.</p> <div>1. Mortikov E. V., Glazunov A. V., Debolskiy A. V., Lykosov V. N., Zilitinkevich S. S. Modeling of the Dissipation Rate of Turbulent Kinetic Energy // Doklady Earth Sciences. 2019. V. 489(2). P. 1440-1443 </div> <p>2. Burchard H. Applied Turbulence Modelling in Marine Waters. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 2002. P. 57-59</p> </div>


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