scholarly journals Nocturnal Low-Level-Jet-Dominated Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observed by a Doppler Lidar over Oklahoma City during JU2003

2007 ◽  
Vol 46 (12) ◽  
pp. 2098-2109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yansen Wang ◽  
Cheryl L. Klipp ◽  
Dennis M. Garvey ◽  
David A. Ligon ◽  
Chatt C. Williamson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Oklahoma City ◽  
Suburban Area ◽  
Turbulence Kinetic Energy ◽  
Doppler Lidar ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Low Level Jet

Abstract Boundary layer wind data observed by a Doppler lidar and sonic anemometers during the mornings of three intensive observational periods (IOP2, IOP3, and IOP7) of the Joint Urban 2003 (JU2003) field experiment are analyzed to extract the mean and turbulent characteristics of airflow over Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A strong nocturnal low-level jet (LLJ) dominated the flow in the boundary layer over the measurement domain from midnight to the morning hours. Lidar scans through the LLJ taken after sunrise indicate that the LLJ elevation shows a gradual increase of 25–100 m over the urban area relative to that over the upstream suburban area. The mean wind speed beneath the jet over the urban area is about 10%–15% slower than that over the suburban area. Sonic anemometer observations combined with Doppler lidar observations in the urban and suburban areas are also analyzed to investigate the boundary layer turbulence production in the LLJ-dominated atmospheric boundary layer. The turbulence kinetic energy was higher over the urban domain mainly because of the shear production of building surfaces and building wakes. Direct transport of turbulent momentum flux from the LLJ to the urban street level was very small because of the relatively high elevation of the jet. However, since the LLJ dominated the mean wind in the boundary layer, the turbulence kinetic energy in the urban domain is correlated directly with the LLJ maximum speed and inversely with its height. The results indicate that the jet Richardson number is a reasonably good indicator for turbulent kinetic energy over the urban domain in the LLJ-dominated atmospheric boundary layer.

scholarly journals Turbulence Adjustment and Scaling in an Offshore Convective Internal Boundary Layer: A CASPER Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 1661-1681
Author(s):  
Qingfang Jiang ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
Shouping Wang ◽  
Saša Gaberšek
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Surface Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Internal Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulence Kinetic Energy ◽  
Internal Boundary ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
The Mean

Abstract The characteristics of a convective internal boundary layer (CIBL) documented offshore during the East Coast phase of the Coupled Air–Sea Processes and Electromagnetic Ducting Research (CASPER-EAST) field campaign has been examined using field observations, a coupled mesoscale model (i.e., Navy’s COAMPS) simulation, and a couple of surface-layer-resolving large-eddy simulations (LESs). The Lagrangian modeling approach has been adopted with the LES domain being advected from a cool and rough land surface to a warmer and smoother sea surface by the mean offshore winds in the CIBL. The surface fluxes from the LES control run are in reasonable agreement with field observations, and the general CIBL characteristics are consistent with previous studies. According to the LESs, in the nearshore adjustment zone (i.e., fetch < 8 km), the low-level winds and surface friction velocity increase rapidly, and the mean wind profile and vertical velocity skewness in the surface layer deviate substantially from the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) scaling. Farther offshore, the nondimensional vertical wind shear and scalar gradients and higher-order moments are consistent with the MOST scaling. An elevated turbulent layer is present immediately below the CIBL top, associated with the vertical wind shear across the CIBL top inversion. Episodic shear instability events occur with a time scale between 10 and 30 min, leading to the formation of elevated maxima in turbulence kinetic energy and momentum fluxes. During these events, the turbulence kinetic energy production exceeds the dissipation, suggesting that the CIBL remains in nonequilibrium.

scholarly journals Improved Length Scales for Turbulence Kinetic Energy–Based Planetary Boundary Layer Scheme for the Convective Atmospheric Boundary Layer

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (7) ◽  
pp. 2605-2626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bowen Zhou ◽  
Yuhuan Li ◽  
Kefeng Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Planetary Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Mixing ◽  
Turbulence Kinetic Energy ◽  
Convective Boundary ◽  
Stability Range ◽  
Length Scales ◽  
Pbl Scheme

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.

scholarly journals Evaluation of turbulence measurement techniques from a single Doppler lidar

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 3021-3039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Bonin ◽  
Aditya Choukulkar ◽  
W. Alan Brewer ◽  
Scott P. Sandberg ◽  
Ann M. Weickmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Planetary Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulence Intensity ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Sonic Anemometer ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Turbulence Kinetic Energy ◽  
Doppler Lidar ◽  
Turbulence Measurement

Abstract. Measurements of turbulence are essential to understand and quantify the transport and dispersal of heat, moisture, momentum, and trace gases within the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Through the years, various techniques to measure turbulence using Doppler lidar observations have been proposed. However, the accuracy of these measurements has rarely been validated against trusted in situ instrumentation. Herein, data from the eXperimental Planetary boundary layer Instrumentation Assessment (XPIA) are used to verify Doppler lidar turbulence profiles through comparison with sonic anemometer measurements. For 17 days at the end of the experiment, a single scanning Doppler lidar continuously cycled through different turbulence measurement strategies: velocity–azimuth display (VAD), six-beam scans, and range–height indicators (RHIs) with a vertical stare.Measurements of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), turbulence intensity, and stress velocity from these techniques are compared with sonic anemometer measurements at six heights on a 300 m tower. The six-beam technique is found to generally measure turbulence kinetic energy and turbulence intensity the most accurately at all heights (r2  ≈  0.78), showing little bias in its observations (slope of  ≈  0. 95). Turbulence measurements from the velocity–azimuth display method tended to be biased low near the surface, as large eddies were not captured by the scan. None of the methods evaluated were able to consistently accurately measure the shear velocity (r2 =  0.15–0.17). Each of the scanning strategies assessed had its own strengths and limitations that need to be considered when selecting the method used in future experiments.

scholarly journals Horizontal-Velocity and Variance Measurements in the Stable Boundary Layer Using Doppler Lidar: Sensitivity to Averaging Procedures

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1307-1327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yelena L. Pichugina ◽  
Sara C. Tucker ◽  
Robert M. Banta ◽  
W. Alan Brewer ◽  
Neil D. Kelley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Stable Boundary Layer ◽  
Sonic Anemometer ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Doppler Lidar ◽  
High Wind ◽  
Stable Boundary ◽  
Mean Wind Speed ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Low Level Jet

Abstract Quantitative data on turbulence variables aloft—above the region of the atmosphere conveniently measured from towers—have been an important but difficult measurement need for advancing understanding and modeling of the stable boundary layer (SBL). Vertical profiles of streamwise velocity variances obtained from NOAA’s high-resolution Doppler lidar (HRDL), which have been shown to be approximately equal to turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) for stable conditions, are a measure of the turbulence in the SBL. In the present study, the mean horizontal wind component U and variance σ2u were computed from HRDL measurements of the line-of-sight (LOS) velocity using a method described by Banta et al., which uses an elevation (vertical slice) scanning technique. The method was tested on datasets obtained during the Lamar Low-Level Jet Project (LLLJP) carried out in early September 2003, near the town of Lamar in southeastern Colorado. This paper compares U with mean wind speed obtained from sodar and sonic anemometer measurements. The results for the mean U and mean wind speed measured by sodar and in situ instruments for all nights of LLLJP show high correlation (0.71–0.97), independent of sampling strategies and averaging procedures, and correlation coefficients consistently >0.9 for four high-wind nights, when the low-level jet speeds exceeded 15 m s−1 at some time during the night. Comparison of estimates of variance, on the other hand, proved sensitive to both the spatial and temporal averaging parameters. Several series of averaging tests are described, to find the best correlation between TKE calculated from sonic anemometer data at several tower levels and lidar measurements of horizontal-velocity variance σ2u. Because of the nonstationarity of the SBL data, the best results were obtained when the velocity data were first averaged over intervals of 1 min, and then further averaged over 3–15 consecutive 1-min intervals, with best results for the 10- and 15-min averaging periods. For these cases, correlation coefficients exceeded 0.9. As a part of the analysis, Eulerian integral time scales (τ) were estimated for the four high-wind nights. Time series of τ through each night indicated erratic behavior consistent with the nonstationarity. Histograms of τ showed a mode at 4–5 s, but frequent occurrences of larger τ values, mostly between 10 and 100 s.

Full-coverage film cooling. Part 2. Prediction of the recovery-region hydrodynamics

1980 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Yavuzkurt ◽  
R. J. Moffat ◽  
W. M. Kays
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Turbulence Kinetic Energy ◽  
Turbulent Shear ◽  
Mixing Length ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Full Coverage ◽  
The Mean

Hydrodynamic data are reported in the companion paper (Yavuzkurt, Moffat & Kays 1980) for a full-coverage film-cooling situation, both for the blown and the recovery regions. Values of the mean velocity, the turbulent shear stress, and the turbulence kinetic energy were measured at various locations, both within the blown region and in the recovery region. The present paper is concerned with an analysis of the recovery region only. Examination of the data suggested that the recovery-region hydrodynamics could be modelled by considering that a new boundary layer began to grow immediately after the cessation of blowing. Distributions of the Prandtl mixing length were calculated from the data using the measured values of mean velocity and turbulent shear stresses. The mixing-length distributions were consistent with the notion of a dual boundary-layer structure in the recovery region. The measured distributions of mixing length were described by using a piecewise continuous but heuristic fit, consistent with the concept of two quasi-independent layers suggested by the general appearance of the data. This distribution of mixing length, together with a set of otherwise normal constants for a two-dimensional boundary layer, successfully predicted all of the observed features of the flow. The program used in these predictions contains a one-equation model of turbulence, using turbulence kinetic energy with an algebraic mixing length. The program is a two-dimensional, finite-difference program capable of predicting the mean velocity and turbulence kinetic energy profiles based upon initial values, boundary conditions, and a closure condition.

scholarly journals Long-lived high-frequency gravity waves in the atmospheric boundary layer: observations and simulations

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (24) ◽  
pp. 15431-15446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingjiao Jia ◽  
Jinlong Yuan ◽  
Chong Wang ◽  
Haiyun Xia ◽  
Yunbin Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Horizontal Wind ◽  
Doppler Lidar ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Coherent Doppler Lidar ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics Cfd ◽  
Phase Progression ◽  
Low Level Jet

Abstract. A long-lived gravity wave (GW) in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is analysed during a field experiment in Anqing, China (30∘37′ N, 116∘58′ E). Persistent GWs with periods ranging from 10 to 30 min over 10 h in the ABL within a 2 km height are detected by a coherent Doppler lidar from 4 to 5 September 2018. The amplitudes of the vertical wind due to these GWs are approximately 0.15–0.2 m s−1. The lifetimes of these GWs are longer than 20 wave cycles. There is no apparent phase progression with altitude. The vertical and zonal perturbations in the GWs are 90∘ out of phase, with vertical perturbations generally leading to zonal ones. Based on experiments and simplified two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulations, a reasonable generation mechanism of this persistent wave is proposed. A westerly low-level jet of ∼5 m s−1 exists at an altitude of 1–2 km in the ABL. The wind shear around the low-level jet leads to wave generation under the condition of light horizontal wind. Furthermore, a combination of thermal and Doppler ducts occurs in the ABL. Thus, the ducted wave motions are trapped in the ABL and have long lifetimes.

scholarly journals Multiscale Shear Forcing of Turbulence in the Nocturnal Boundary Layer: A Statistical Analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vyacheslav Boyko ◽  
Nikki Vercauteren
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Nocturnal Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulence Kinetic Energy ◽  
Eddy Correlation ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Intermittent Turbulence ◽  
Velocity Signal ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Vertical Gradients

AbstractThe lower nocturnal boundary layer is governed by intermittent turbulence which is thought to be triggered by sporadic activity of so-called sub-mesoscale motions in a complex way. We analyze intermittent turbulence based on an assumed relation between the vertical gradients of the sub-mean scales and turbulence kinetic energy. We analyze high-resolution nocturnal eddy-correlation data from 30-m tower collected during the Fluxes over Snow Surfaces II field program. The non-turbulent velocity signal is decomposed using a discrete wavelet transform into three ranges of scales interpreted as the mean, jet and sub-mesoscales. The vertical gradients of the sub-mean scales are estimated using finite differences. The turbulence kinetic energy is modelled as a discrete-time autoregressive process with exogenous variables, where the latter ones are the vertical gradients of the sub-mean scales. The parameters of the discrete model evolve in time depending on the locally-dominant turbulence-production scales. The three regimes with averaged model parameters are estimated using a subspace-clustering algorithm which illustrates a weak bimodal distribution in the energy phase space of turbulence and sub-mesoscale motions for the very stable boundary layer. One mode indicates turbulence modulated by sub-mesoscale motions. Furthermore, intermittent turbulence appears if the sub-mesoscale intensity exceeds $$10 \%$$ 10 % of the mean kinetic energy in strong stratification.

Prediction of Turbulent Flow Over a Flat Plate With a Step Change From a Smooth to a Rough Surface Using a Near-Wall RANS Model

2019 ◽  
Vol 142 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghan Chu ◽  
Donald J. Bergstrom
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Turbulent Flow ◽  
Flat Plate ◽  
Rough Surface ◽  
Step Change ◽  
Turbulence Kinetic Energy ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
The Mean

Abstract The present paper reports a numerical study of fully developed turbulent flow over a flat plate with a step change from a smooth to a rough surface. The Reynolds number based on momentum thickness for the smooth flow was Reθ=5950. The focus of the study was to investigate the capability of the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations to predict the internal boundary layer (IBL) created by the flow configuration. The numerical solution used a two-layer k−ε model to implement the effects of surface roughness on the turbulence and mean flow fields via the use of a hydrodynamic roughness length y0. The prediction for the mean velocity field revealed a development zone immediately downstream of the step in which the mean velocity profile included a lower region affected by the surface roughness below and an upper region with the characteristics of the smooth-wall boundary layer above. In this zone, both the turbulence kinetic energy and Reynolds shear stress profiles were characterized by a significant reduction in magnitude in the outer region of the flow that is unaffected by the rough surface. The turbulence kinetic energy profile was used to estimate the thickness of the IBL, and the resulting growth rate closely matched the experimental results. As such, the IBL is a promising test case for assessing the ability of RANS models to predict the discrete roughness configurations often encountered in industrial and environmental applications.

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