scholarly journals Decoupling of a Douglas fir canopy: a look into the subcanopy with continuous vertical temperature profiles

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (24) ◽  
pp. 6423-6439
Author(s):  
Bart Schilperoort ◽  
Miriam Coenders-Gerrits ◽  
César Jiménez Rodríguez ◽  
Christiaan van der Tol ◽  
Bas van de Wiel ◽  
...  

Abstract. Complex ecosystems such as forests make accurately measuring atmospheric energy and matter fluxes difficult. One of the issues that can arise is that parts of the canopy and overlying atmosphere can be turbulently decoupled from each other, meaning that the vertical exchange of energy and matter is reduced or hampered. This complicates flux measurements performed above the canopy. Wind above the canopy will induce vertical exchange. However, stable thermal stratification, when lower parts of the canopy are colder, will hamper vertical exchange. To study the effect of thermal stratification on decoupling, we analyze high-resolution (0.3 m) vertical temperature profiles measured in a Douglas fir stand in the Netherlands using distributed temperature sensing (DTS). The forest has an open understory (0–20 m) and a dense overstory (20–34 m). The understory was often colder than the atmosphere above (80 % of the time during the night, >99 % during the day). Based on the aerodynamic Richardson number the canopy was regularly decoupled from the atmosphere (50 % of the time at night). In particular, decoupling could occur when both u*<0.4 m s−1 and the canopy was able to cool down through radiative cooling. With these conditions the understory could become strongly stably stratified at night. At higher values of the friction velocity the canopy was always well mixed. While the understory was nearly always stably stratified, convection just above the forest floor was common. However, this convection was limited in its vertical extent, not rising higher than 5 m at night and 15 m during the day. This points towards the understory layer acting as a kind of mechanical “blocking layer” between the forest floor and overstory. With the DTS temperature profiles we were able to study decoupling and stratification of the canopy in more detail and study processes which otherwise might be missed. These types of measurements can aid in describing the canopy–atmosphere interaction at forest sites and help detect and understand the general drivers of decoupling in forests.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Schilperoort ◽  
Miriam Coenders-Gerrits ◽  
César Jiménez Rodríguez ◽  
Christiaan van der Tol ◽  
Bas van de Wiel ◽  
...  

Abstract. Complex ecosystems such as forests make accurately measuring atmospheric energy and matter fluxes difficult. One of the issues that can arise is that parts of the canopy and overlying atmosphere can be turbulently decoupled from each other, meaning that the vertical exchange of energy and matter is reduced or hampered. This complicates flux measurements performed above the canopy. Wind above the canopy will induce vertical exchange. However, stable thermal stratification, when lower parts of the canopy are colder, will hamper vertical exchange. To study the effect of thermal stratification on decoupling, we analyze high resolution (0.3 m) vertical temperature profiles measured in a Douglas fir stand in the Netherlands using Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS). The forest has an open understory (0–20 m) and a dense overstory (20–34 m). The understory was often colder than the atmosphere above (80 % of the time during the night, > 99 % during the day), and was regularly decoupled from the atmosphere (50 % of the time at night). The relationship between the temperature gradients and the friction velocity (u*) showed a clear threshold between coupling regimes. In particular, decoupling occurred when u* 


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Schüppler ◽  
Roman Zorn ◽  
Hagen Steger ◽  
Philipp Blum

&lt;p&gt;The measurement of the undisturbed ground temperature (UGT) serves to design low-temperature geothermal systems, in particular borehole heat exchangers (BHEs), and to monitor shallow aquifers. Wireless and miniaturized probes such as the Geosniff (GS) measurement sphere, which are characterized by an autarkic energy supply and equipped with pressure and temperature sensors, are increasingly being used for the measurement of highly resolved vertical temperature profiles. The measurement probe sinks along the course of the BHE with a selectable measurement frequency to the bottom of the BHE and is useable for initial measurements as well as long term groundwater monitoring. To ensure quality assurance and further improvement of this emerging technology, the analysis of measurement errors and uncertainties of wireless temperature measurements (WTMs) is indispensable. Thus, we provide an empirical laboratory analysis of random, systematic, and dynamic measurement errors, which lead to the measurement uncertainty of WTMs using the GS as a representative device. We subsequently transfer the analysed uncertainty to measured vertical temperature profiles of the undisturbed ground at a BHE site in Karlsruhe, Germany. The precision and accuracy of 0.011 K and -0.11 K, respectively, ensure a high reliability of the GS measurements. The largest measurement uncertainty is obtained within the first five meters of descent resulting from the thermal time constant &amp;#964; of 4 s. The measured temperature profiles are qualitatively compared with common Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) using fiber optic cables and punctual Pt-100 sensors. Wireless probes are also suitable to correct temperature profiles recorded with fiber optics with systematic errors of up to -0.93 K. Various boundary conditions such as the inclination of the BHE pipes or changes of the viscosity and density of the BHE fluid effect the descent rate of the GS of up to 40 %. We additionally provide recommendations for technical implementations of future measurement probes and contribute to an improved understanding and further development of WTMs.&lt;/p&gt;


1978 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 508-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Hodges ◽  
R. C. Hoke ◽  
R. Bertrand

Data acquired in the Exxon Research and Engineering Company’s fluid bed boiler program indicate that the arrangement and orientation of internal boiler tubes has a strong effect on the measured bed temperature profile. Horizontally oriented tubes yield much steeper temperature gradients than do vertical tubes. Excessive vertical temperature gradients in coal fired fluid bed boilers can either limit coal feed rates or result in the formation of agglomerates of solid material which are destructive of bed internals. This study represents an attempt to understand the influence of orientation on vertical temperature profiles in fluid bed boilers. A back-mixing model for solids recirculation was developed and applied to the prediction of bed temperatures. Bubbling bed theory is not suitable for estimating solids circulation rates in pressurized beds of large particles with immersed tubes. However, by introducing the concept of a solids mixing height it was possible to estimate solid movement. The solids mixing height and vertical boiler tube dimensions were correlated in a manner which resulted in good agreement between theoretical and experimental bed temperature profiles. It is felt that this simple model may prove quite useful in the design of large scale commercial fluid bed boilers.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 192-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Hovmand ◽  
Kaare Kemp

Atmospheric bulk deposition of heavy metals (HM) was measured from 1972/73 to the present time at five to ten forest sites in rural areas of Denmark. From 1979, HM in aerosols were measured at one to four forest sites. On the basis of these long-term continuous measurements, the atmospheric inputs to the forest floor have been calculated. Yearly HM emission estimates to the European atmosphere seems to correlate well with yearly average values of HM deposition, as well as with HM concentrations in the ambient atmosphere. HM emissions have been estimated since the 1950s. Using the correlation between emission and deposition, HM deposition values maybe extrapolated in reverse chronological order. The accumulated atmospheric HM deposition has been estimated in this way over a period of 50 years.


1967 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. McCombie

The thermal regime of South Bay is described from records collected from 1953 to 1962 with thermometers, thermographs, and bathythermographs, the last being cast at 11 stations along the bay and one in Lake Huron. Warming begins in April and thermal stratification is established in June. Shallow areas warm more rapidly than deep in the spring and cool more quickly in autumn. The boundary between the epilimnion and the thermocline becomes sharper as summer advances but the transition from thermocline to hypolimnion remains gradual. The average seasonal trend of surface temperatures is a sine function with a maximum of 66 F in mid August and a minimum of 34 F in late March, though values outside this range occur frequently. At 180 ft the maximum of 47 F is attained in November. At the lake and outermost bay stations there is a temperature slump in June and July which may be due to an upwelling in the lake. Evidence of an exchange of water between the lake and bay is seen in vertical temperature sections and water movements Variations in epilimnial temperatures are correlated with those of the air temperature, but variations in epilimnial and hypolimnial temperatures appear to be unrelated. Finally, literature describing the influence of temperature on the year class strength of smallmouth bass, the distribution of lake trout, the growth of yellow perch, and the life history of Pontoporeia in South Bay is reviewed.


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