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Revisiting the Local Scaling Hypothesis in Stably Stratified Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Turbulence: an Integration of Field and Laboratory Measurements with Large-Eddy Simulations

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Abstract

The ‘local scaling’ hypothesis, first introduced by Nieuwstadt two decades ago, describes the turbulence structure of the stable boundary layer in a very succinct way and is an integral part of numerous local closure-based numerical weather prediction models. However, the validity of this hypothesis under very stable conditions is a subject of ongoing debate. Here, we attempt to address this controversial issue by performing extensive analyses of turbulence data from several field campaigns, wind-tunnel experiments and large-eddy simulations. A wide range of stabilities, diverse field conditions and a comprehensive set of turbulence statistics make this study distinct

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Abbreviations

f c :

Coriolis parameter

g :

gravitational acceleration

G :

geostrophic wind speed

H :

boundary-layer height

L :

Obukhov length ( \(= -{\Theta u_*^3}/{\kappa g (\overline{w\theta})}\))

r mn :

correlation coefficient between m and n

u,v,w :

velocity fluctuations (around the average) in x,y and z directions

U,V :

mean velocity components in x and y directions

u * :

friction velocity \(\left(=\sqrt[4]{{\overline{uw}}^2+{\overline{vw}}^2}\right)\)

\(\overline{uw},\overline{vw}\) :

vertical turbulent momentum fluxes

\(\overline{u\theta},\overline{w\theta}\) :

longitudinal and vertical heat fluxes

z :

height above the surface

κ:

von Karman constant (=0.40)

Λ:

local Obukhov length

σ m :

standard deviation of m

θ:

temperature fluctuations (around the average)

Θ:

mean temperature

θ* :

temperature scale ( \(=-{\overline{w\theta}}/{u_*}\))

ζ:

stability parameter (=z/Λ)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, U.S.A

    Sukanta Basu, Fernando Porté-agel, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou & Jean-François Vinuesa

  2. Institute of Hydrology, Water Resources Management and Environmental Engineering, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany

    Markus Pahlow

Authors
  1. Sukanta Basu
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  2. Fernando Porté-agel
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  3. Efi Foufoula-Georgiou
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  4. Jean-François Vinuesa
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  5. Markus Pahlow
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Correspondence to Sukanta Basu.

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A subscript ‘L’ on the turbulence quantities (e.g., u *L) will be used to specify evaluation using local turbulence quantities – otherwise, surface values are implied

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Basu, S., Porté-agel, F., Foufoula-Georgiou, E. et al. Revisiting the Local Scaling Hypothesis in Stably Stratified Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Turbulence: an Integration of Field and Laboratory Measurements with Large-Eddy Simulations. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 119, 473–500 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-005-9036-2

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