scholarly journals Wind Shear and Buoyancy Reversal at the Top of Stratocumulus

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 1040-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Pedro Mellado ◽  
Bjorn Stevens ◽  
Heiko Schmidt

Abstract A numerical experiment is designed to study the interaction at the stratocumulus top between a mean vertical shear and the buoyancy reversal due to evaporative cooling, without radiative cooling. Direct numerical simulation is used to eliminate the uncertainty introduced by turbulence models. It is found that the enhancement by shear-induced mixing of the turbulence caused by buoyancy reversal can render buoyancy reversal comparable to other forcing mechanisms. However, it is also found that (i) the velocity jump across the capping inversion Δu needs to be relatively large and values of about 1 m s−1 that are typically associated with the convective motions inside the boundary layer are generally too small and (ii) there is no indication of cloud-top entrainment instability. To obtain these results, parameterizations of the mean entrainment velocity and the relevant time scales are derived from the study of the cloud-top vertical structure. Two overlapping layers can be identified: a background shear layer with a thickness (⅓)(Δu)2/Δb, where Δb is the buoyancy increment across the capping inversion and a turbulence layer dominated by free convection inside the cloud and by shear production inside the relatively thin overlap region. As turbulence intensifies, the turbulence layer encroaches into the background shear layer and defines thereby the entrainment velocity. Particularized to the first research flight of the Second Dynamics and Chemistry of the Marine Stratocumulus (DYCOMS II) field campaign, the analysis predicts an entrainment velocity of about 3 mm s−1 after 5–10 min—a velocity comparable to the measurements and thus indicative of the relevance of mean shear in that case.

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yildirim Suzen ◽  
Klaus Hoffmann ◽  
James Forsythe

2021 ◽  
Vol 931 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Li ◽  
J. Komperda ◽  
A. Peyvan ◽  
Z. Ghiasi ◽  
F. Mashayek

The present paper uses the detailed flow data produced by direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a three-dimensional, spatially developing plane free shear layer to assess several commonly used turbulence models in compressible flows. The free shear layer is generated by two parallel streams separated by a splitter plate, with a naturally developing inflow condition. The DNS is conducted using a high-order discontinuous spectral element method (DSEM) for various convective Mach numbers. The DNS results are employed to provide insights into turbulence modelling. The analyses show that with the knowledge of the Reynolds velocity fluctuations and averages, the considered strong Reynolds analogy models can accurately predict temperature fluctuations and Favre velocity averages, while the extended strong Reynolds analogy models can correctly estimate the Favre velocity fluctuations and the Favre shear stress. The pressure–dilatation correlation and dilatational dissipation models overestimate the corresponding DNS results, especially with high compressibility. The pressure–strain correlation models perform excellently for most pressure–strain correlation components, while the compressibility modification model gives poor predictions. The results of an a priori test for subgrid-scale (SGS) models are also reported. The scale similarity and gradient models, which are non-eddy viscosity models, can accurately reproduce SGS stresses in terms of structure and magnitude. The dynamic Smagorinsky model, an eddy viscosity model but based on the scale similarity concept, shows acceptable correlation coefficients between the DNS and modelled SGS stresses. Finally, the Smagorinsky model, a purely dissipative model, yields low correlation coefficients and unacceptable accumulated errors.


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 3245-3263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Schulz ◽  
Juan Pedro Mellado

Abstract Direct numerical simulations resolving meter and submeter scales in the cloud-top region of stratocumulus are used to investigate the interactions between a mean vertical wind shear and in-cloud turbulence driven by evaporative and radiative cooling. There are three major results. First, a critical velocity jump exists, above which shear significantly broadens the entrainment interfacial layer (EIL), enhances cloud-top cooling, and increases the mean entrainment velocity; shear effects are negligible when the velocity jump is below . Second, a depletion velocity jump exists, above which shear-enhanced mixing reduces cloud-top radiative cooling, thereby weakening the large convective motions; shear effects remain localized within the EIL when the velocity jump is below . The critical velocity jump and depletion velocity jump are provided as a function of in-cloud and free-tropospheric conditions, and one finds and for typical subtropical conditions. Third, the individual contributions to the mean entrainment velocity from mixing, radiative cooling, and evaporative cooling strongly depend on the choice of the reference height where the entrainment velocity is calculated. This result implies that the individual contributions to the mean entrainment velocity should be estimated at a comparable height while deriving entrainment-rate parameterizations. A strong shear alters substantially the magnitude and the height where these individual contributions reach their maxima, which further demonstrates the importance of shear on the dynamics of stratocumulus clouds.


Author(s):  
Liju Su ◽  
Ramesh K. Agarwal

Supersonic steam ejectors are widely used in many industrial applications, for example for refrigeration and desalination. The experimental evaluation of the flow field inside the ejector is relatively difficult and costly due to the occurrence of shock after the velocity of the steam reaches over the sonic level in the ejector. In this paper, numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the detailed flow field inside a supersonic steam (water vapor being the working fluid) ejector. The commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) flow solver ANSYS-Fluent and the mesh generation software ANSYS-ICEM are used to predict the steam performance during the mixing inside the ejector by employing two turbulence models, the k-ω SST and the k-ε realizable models. The computed results are validated against the experimental data. The effects of operating conditions on the efficiency of the ejector such as the primary fluid pressure and condenser pressure are studied to obtain a better understanding of the mixing process and entrainment. Velocity contours, pressure plots and shock region analyses provide a good understanding for optimization of the ejector performance, in particular how to increase the entrainment ratio.


1971 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. S. Janowitz

We consider the two-dimensional flow produced by the slow horizontal motion of a vertical plate of height 2b through a vertically stratified (ρ = ρ0(1 - βz)) non-diffusive viscous fluid. Our results are valid when U2 [Lt ] Ub/ν [Lt ] 1, where U is the speed of the plate and ν the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. Upstream of the body we find a blocking column of length 10−2b4/(Uν/βg. This column is composed of cells of closed streamlines. The convergence of these cells near the tips of the plate leads to alternate jets. The plate itself is embedded in a vertical shear layer of thickness (Uν/βg)1/3. In the upstream portion of this layer the vertical velocities are of order U and in the downstream portion of order Ub/(Uν/βg)1/3 ([Gt ] U). The flow is uniform and undisturbed downstream of this layer.


Author(s):  
Kenneth Pryor ◽  
Tyler Wawrzyniak ◽  
Da-Lin Zhang

The 24 September 2001 College Park, Maryland, tornado was a long track and strong tornado that passed within a close range of two Doppler radars. It was the third in a series of three tornadoes associated with a supercell storm that developed in Stafford County, Virginia, and initiated 3 - 4 km southwest of College Park and dissipated near Columbia, Howard County. The supercell tracked approximately 120 km and lasted for about 126 minutes. This study presents a synoptic and mesoscale overview of favorable conditions and forcing mechanisms that resulted in the severe convective outbreak associated with the College Park tornado. Results show many critical elements of the tornadic event, including a negative-tilted upper-level trough over the Ohio Valley, a jet stream with moderate vertical shear, a warm, moist tongue of the air associated with strong southerly flow over south-central Maryland and Virginia, and significantly increased convective available potential energy during the late afternoon hours. Satellite imagery reveals banded convective morphology with high cloud tops associated with the supercell that produced the College Park tornado. Operational WSR-88D data exhibits a high reflectivity “debris ball” or tornadic debris signature (TDS) within the hook echo, the evolution of the parent storm from a supercell structure to a bow echo, and a tornado cyclone signature (TCS). Many of the mesoscale environmental features could be captured by contemporary numerical model analyses. This study concludes with a discussion of the effectiveness of the coordinated use of satellite and radar observations in the operational environment of nowcasting severe convection.


Mathematics ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 272
Author(s):  
Chenyu Wu ◽  
Haoran Li ◽  
Yufei Zhang ◽  
Haixin Chen

The accuracy of an airfoil stall prediction heavily depends on the computation of the separated shear layer. Capturing the strong non-equilibrium turbulence in the shear layer is crucial for the accuracy of a stall prediction. In this paper, different Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes turbulence models are adopted and compared for airfoil stall prediction. The results show that the separated shear layer fixed k−v2¯−ω (abbreviated as SPF k−v2¯−ω) turbulence model captures the non-equilibrium turbulence in the separated shear layer well and gives satisfactory predictions of both thin-airfoil stall and trailing-edge stall. At small Reynolds numbers (Re~105), the relative error between the predicted CL,max of NACA64A010 by the SPF k−v2¯−ω model and the experimental data is less than 3.5%. At high Reynolds numbers (Re~106), the CL,max of NACA64A010 and NACA64A006 predicted by the SPF k−v2¯−ω model also has an error of less than 5.5% relative to the experimental data. The stall of the NACA0012 airfoil, which features trailing-edge stall, is also computed by the SPF k−v2¯−ω model. The SPF k−v2¯−ω model is also applied to a NACA0012 airfoil, which features trailing-edge stall and an error of CL relative to the experiment at CL>1.0 is smaller than 3.5%. The SPF k−v2¯−ω model shows higher accuracy than other turbulence models.


Author(s):  
Kenneth Pryor ◽  
Tyler Wawrzyniak ◽  
Da-Lin Zhang

The 24 September 2001 College Park, Maryland, tornado was a long-track and strong tornado that passed within a close range of two Doppler radars. It was the third in a series of three tornadoes associated with a supercell storm that developed in Stafford County, Virginia, and initiated 3 - 4 km southwest of College Park and dissipated near Columbia, Howard County. The supercell tracked approximately 120 km and lasted for about 126 minutes. This study presents a synoptic and mesoscale overview of favorable conditions and forcing mechanisms that resulted in the severe convective outbreak associated with the College Park tornado. Results show many critical elements of the tornadic event, including a negative-tilted upper-level trough over the Ohio Valley, a jet stream with moderate vertical shear, a low-level warm, moist tongue of the air associated with strong southerly flow over south-central Maryland and Virginia, and significantly increased convective available potential energy (CAPE) during the late afternoon hours. A possible role of the urban heat island effects from Washington, DC in increasing CAPE for the development of the supercell is discussed. Satellite imagery reveals banded convective morphology with high cloud tops associated with the supercell that produced the College Park tornado. Operational WSR-88D data exhibits a high reflectivity “debris ball” or tornadic debris signature (TDS) within the hook echo, the evolution of the parent storm from a supercell structure to a bow echo, and a tornado cyclone signature (TCS). Many of the mesoscale features could be captured by contemporary numerical model analyses. This study concludes with a discussion of the effectiveness of the coordinated use of satellite and radar observations in the operational environment of nowcasting severe convection.


Author(s):  
D. Scott Holloway ◽  
James H. Leylek

This paper documents the computational investigation of the unsteady rollup and breakdown of a turbulent separated shear layer. This complex phenomenon plays a key role in many applications, such as separated flow at the leading edge of an airfoil at off-design conditions; flow through the tip clearance of a rotor in a gas turbine; flow over the front of an automobile or aircraft carrier; and flow through turbulated passages that are used to cool turbine blades. Computationally, this problem poses a significant challenge in the use of traditional RANS-based turbulence models for the prediction of unsteady flows. To demonstrate this point, a series of 2-D and 3-D unsteady simulations have been performed using a variety of well-known turbulence models, including the “realizable” k-ε model, a differential Reynolds stress model, and a new model developed by the present authors that contains physics that account for the effects of local unsteadiness on turbulence. All simulations are fully converged and grid independent in the unsteady framework. A proven computational methodology is used that takes care of several important aspects, including high-quality meshes (2.5 million finite volumes for 3-D simulations) and a discretization scheme that will minimize the effects of numerical diffusion. To isolate the shear layer breakdown phenomenon, the well-studied flow over a blunt leading edge (Reynolds number based on plate half-thickness of 26,000) is used for validation. Surprisingly, none of the traditional eddy-viscosity or Reynolds stress models are able to predict an unsteady behavior even with modifications in the near-wall treatment, repeated adaption of the mesh, or by adding small random perturbations to the flow field. The newly developed unsteady-based turbulence model is shown to predict some important features of the shear layer rollup and breakdown.


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