Abstract
The turbulence-kinetic-energy dissipation rate is a fundamental property in turbulent flows, but its direct measurement in the atmospheric surface layer is still a challenge. Indirect estimates are often obtained from inertial-subrange laws using turbulence statistics of the longitudinal velocity component. In this study, synthetic turbulence data are used to investigate the impact of path-averaging effects present in sonic anemometer data on the inertial subrange of the second-order structure function. Path averaging reduces the energy levels in the second-order structure function, creating a negative bias in the estimates of the dissipation rate. The effect is dependent on the path-averaging transfer function, mean wind speed and path length. A simple correction for the bias on the basis of existing transfer functions is applied and tested with data obtained from two separate sonic anemometers. Compared to the spectrum, the second-order structure function after the correction becomes the optimum statistical measure for indirect estimation of the dissipation rate, due to its lower random error and insensitivity to aliasing effects.
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Acknowledgements
LSF was funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) under research Grant 401019/2017-9; NLD was also funded by CNPq under research Grants 444462/2014-7 and 303581/2013-1. We thank Fernando Armani, Rodrigo Branco Rodakoviski, Lucas Emilio B. Hoeltgebaum, André Luís Diniz dos Santos, Bianca Luhm Crivellaro and Dornelles Vissotto Junior for data collection and post processing of the Rio Verde dam experiment, and André Luiz Grion for insightful discussions.
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Freire, L.S., Dias, N.L. & Chamecki, M. Effects of Path Averaging in a Sonic Anemometer on the Estimation of Turbulence-Kinetic-Energy Dissipation Rates. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 173, 99–113 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-019-00453-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-019-00453-4