Atmospheric boundary layer turbulence in the presence of swell: turbulent kinetic energy budget, Monin-Obukhov similarity theory and inertial dissipation method

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongshui Zou
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Kinetic Energy ◽  
Similarity Theory ◽  
Turbulent Transport ◽  
Ocean Waves ◽  
Turbulent Stress ◽  
Total Stress ◽  
Inertial Dissipation Method

<p><span>Turbulence over the mobile ocean surface has distinct properties compared to turbulence over land. This raises the issue of whether functions such as the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget and Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) determined over land are directly applicable to ocean surfaces because of the existence of a wave boundary layer (the lower part of atmospheric boundary layer including effects of surface waves. We used the term “WBL” in this article for convenience), where the total stress can be separated into turbulent stress and wave coherent stress. Here the turbulent stress is defined as the stress generated by wind shear and buoyancy, and wave coherent stress accounts for the momentum transfer between ocean waves and atmosphere. In this study, applications of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget and the inertial dissipation method (IDM) in the context of the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) within the WBL are examined. It was found that turbulent transport terms in the TKE budget should not be neglected when calculating the total stress under swell conditions. This was confirmed by observations made on a fixed platform. The results also suggested that turbulent stress, rather than total stress should be used when applying the MOST within the WBL. By combing the TKE budget and MOST, our study showed that the stress computed by the traditional IDM corresponds to turbulent stress rather than total stress. The swell wave coherent stress should be considered when applying the IDM to calculate the stress in the WBL.</span></p>

scholarly journals Atmospheric Boundary Layer Turbulence in the Presence of Swell: Turbulent Kinetic Energy Budget, Monin–Obukhov Similarity Theory, and Inertial Dissipation Method

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 1213-1225
Author(s):  
Zhongshui Zou ◽  
Shuiqing Li ◽  
Jian Huang ◽  
Peiliang Li ◽  
Jinbao Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Kinetic Energy ◽  
Similarity Theory ◽  
Turbulent Transport ◽  
Ocean Waves ◽  
Turbulent Stress ◽  
Total Stress ◽  
Inertial Dissipation Method

AbstractTurbulence over the mobile ocean surface has distinct properties compared to turbulence over land. Thus, findings that are based on the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget and Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) over land may not be applicable to conditions over ocean partly because of the existence of a wave boundary layer (the lower part of atmospheric boundary layer including effects of surface waves; we used the term “WBL” in this article for convenience), where the total stress can be separated into turbulent stress and wave coherent stress. Here the turbulent stress is defined as the stress generated by wind shear and buoyancy, while the wave coherent stress accounts for the momentum transfer between ocean waves and atmosphere. In this study, applicability of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget and the inertial dissipation method (IDM) in the context of the MOST within the WBL are examined. It was found that turbulent transport terms in the TKE budget should not be neglected when calculating the total stress under swell conditions. This was confirmed by observations made on a fixed platform. The results also suggested that turbulent stress, rather than total stress, should be used when applying the MOST within the WBL. By combining the TKE budget and MOST, our study showed that the stress computed by the traditional IDM corresponds to the turbulent stress rather than the total stress. The swell wave coherent stress should be considered when applying the IDM to calculate the stress in the WBL.

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Kinetic Energy in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer from Minisodar Measurements

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 421
Author(s):  
Alexander Potekaev ◽  
Liudmila Shamanaeva ◽  
Valentina Kulagina
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Kinetic Energy ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Linear Increase ◽  
Spatiotemporal Dynamics ◽  
Intermediate Layers ◽  
Subsequent Decrease ◽  
Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer

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.

scholarly journals Assessing the Horizontal Homogeneity of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (HHABL) Profile Using Different CFD Software

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1138
Author(s):  
Islam Abohela ◽  
Elsa Aristodemou ◽  
Abas Hadawey ◽  
Raveendran Sundararajan
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Kinetic Energy ◽  
Dissipation Rate ◽  
Streamwise Velocity ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Wall Function ◽  
Wall Boundary Conditions ◽  
Inlet Conditions

One of the main factors affecting the reliability of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for the urban environment is the Horizontal Homogeneity of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (HHABL) profile—meaning the vertical profiles of the mean streamwise velocity, the turbulent kinetic energy, and dissipation rate are maintained throughout the streamwise direction of the computational domain. This paper investigates the preservation of the HHABL profile using three different commercial CFD codes—the ANSYS Fluent, the ANSYS CFD, and the Siemens STAR-CCM+ software. Three different cases were considered, identified by their different inlet conditions for the inlet velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and dissipation rate profiles. Simulations were carried out using the RANS k-ε turbulence model. Slight variations in the eddy viscosity models, as well as in the wall boundary conditions, were identified in the different software, with the standard wall function with roughness being implemented in the Fluent applications, the scalable wall function with roughness in the CFX applications, and the blended wall function option in the STAR-CCM+ simulations. There was a slight difference in the meshing approach in the three different software, with a prism-layer option in the STAR-CCM+ software, which allowed a finer mesh near the wall/ground boundary. The results show all three software are able to preserve the horizontal homogeneity of the ABL—less than 0.5% difference between the software—indicating very similar degrees of accuracy.

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Kinetic Energy in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer from Minisodar Measurements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Potekaev ◽  
Liudmila Shamanaeva ◽  
Valentina Kulagina
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Kinetic Energy ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Linear Increase ◽  
Spatiotemporal Dynamics ◽  
Intermediate Layers ◽  
Subsequent Decrease ◽  
Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer

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 ТКЕ 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 ТКЕ contribution to the total atmospheric kinetic energy considerably (by a factor of 2.5–3) exceeded the corresponding МКЕ contribution.

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