Boundary-Layer Meteorology

, Volume 43, Issue 3, pp 231–245 | Cite as

An eddy correlation technique with extended applicability to non-simple terrain

  • Robert T. McMillen
Article
Revised:

Abstract

A system is described which is intended to calculate vertical fluxes of heat, moisture, momentum, and certain atmospheric pollutants at sites that are less than ideal. Fluxes, along with other turbulence statistics, are computed in real-time and printed at the end of each averaging period. The main elements of the program are (1) ‘detrending’ (by use of running mean removal), (2) calculation of the entire stress tensor (which allows a three-dimensional coordinate rotation to be performed on the covariances), (3) software-adjustable timing delays for each instrument channel, and (4) real-time graphic presentation of the raw data as stripchart images. The first two of these program elements tend to relax the normal site and sensor-leveling requirements. Sample results are presented, and the sensitivities of the calculated quantities to coordinate rotation and to mean removal time are examined for both ideal and non-ideal sites.

Keywords

Covariance Timing Delay Stress Tensor Main Element Average Period 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Deacon, E. L.: ‘The Measurement of Turbulent Transfer in the Lower Atmosphere’, Adv. in Geophys. 6, 211–228.Google Scholar
  2. Dyer, A. J.: 1975, ‘Measurement of Turbulent Fluxes by Fluxatron and NIFTI Techniques’, Atmos. Tech. 7, 24–29.Google Scholar
  3. Dyer, A. J. and Hicks, B. B.: 1972, ‘The Spatial Variability of Eddy Fluxes in the Constant Flux Layer’, Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 98, 206–212.Google Scholar
  4. Dyer, A. J. and Maher, F.: 1965, ‘The ‘Evapotron’: an Instrument for the Measurement of Eddy Fluxes in the Lower Atmosphere’, CSIRO Div. Met. Phys., Tech. Paper No. 15.Google Scholar
  5. Dyer, A. J., Hicks, B. B., and King, K. M.: 1967, ‘The Fluxatron — a Revised Approach to the Measurement of Eddy Fluxes in the Lower Atmosphere’, J. Appl. Meteorol. 6, 408–413.Google Scholar
  6. Enochson, L. D. and Otnes, R. K.: 1968, Programming and Analysis of Digital Time Series Data, The Shock and Vibration Information Center, U.S. Department of Defense, 277 pp.Google Scholar
  7. Garber, R. W., Daum, P. H., Doering, R. F., D'Ottavio, T., and Tanner, R. L.: 1983, ‘Determination of Ambient Aerosol and Gaseous Sulfur Using a Continuous FPD-III. Design and Characterization of a Monitor for Airborne Applications’, Atmos. Environ. 17, 1381–1385.Google Scholar
  8. Hicks, B. B.: 1972, ‘Propeller Anemometers as Sensors of Atmospheric Turbulence’, Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 3, 214–228.Google Scholar
  9. Jarvis, P. G., James, G. B., and Landsberg, J. J.: 1976, ‘Coniferous Forest’, in J. L. Monteith (ed.), Vegetation and the Atmosphere, Vol. 2, Academic Press, New York. pp. 171–240.Google Scholar
  10. Kaimal, J. C. and Haugen, D. A.: 1969, ‘Some Errors in the Measurements of Reynolds Stress’, J. Appl. Meteorol. 8, 460–462.Google Scholar
  11. Kanemasu, E. T., Wesely, M. L., Hicks, B. B., and Heilman, J. L.: 1979, ‘Techniques for Calculating Energy and Mass Fluxes’, in B. J. Barfield and J. F. Gerber (eds.), Modification of the Aerial Environment of Crops, ASAE Monograph No. 2, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph, MO, U.S.A., pp. 156–182.Google Scholar
  12. Kraus, E. B.: 1968, ‘What We Do Not Know about Sea-Surface Wind Stress’, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 49, 247–253.Google Scholar
  13. Lloyd, C. R., Shuttelworth, W. J., Gash, J. H. C., and Turner, M.: 1984, ‘A Microprocessor System for Eddy-Correlation’, Agric. For. Meteorol. 33, 67–80.Google Scholar
  14. McMillen, R. T.: 1983, ‘Eddy Correlation Calculations Done in Real-Time’, Preprints 16th Conference on Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, American Meteorological Society, Boston, pp. 111–113.Google Scholar
  15. McMillen, R. T.: 1986, A BASIC Program for Eddy Correlation in Non-Simple Terrain, NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL ARL-147, NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories, Silver Spring, MD, 32 pp.Google Scholar
  16. McMillen, R. T., Matt, D. R., Hicks, B. B., and Womack, J. D.: 1987, Dry Deposition Measurements of Sulfur Dioxide to a Spruce-Fir Forest in the Black Forest: A Data Report, NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL ARL-152, NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories, Silver Spring, MD, 66 pp.Google Scholar
  17. Pond, S.: 1968, ‘Some Effects of Buoy Motion on Measurements of Wind Speed and Stress’, J. Geophys. Res. 73, 507–511.Google Scholar
  18. Priestly, C. H. B.: 1959, ‘Estimation of Surface Stress and Heat Flux from Profile Data’, Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 85, 415–418.Google Scholar
  19. Tajchman, S. J.: 1971, ‘Evapotranspiration and Energy Balances of Forest and Field’, Water Resour. Res. 7, 511–523.Google Scholar
  20. Wesely, M. L.: 1970, ‘Eddy Correlation Measurements in the Atmospheric Surface Layer over Agricultural Crops’, Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., (Diss. Abstr. No. 70–24, 828), 102 pp.Google Scholar
  21. Wyngaard, J. C.: 1981, ‘The Effects of Probe-Induced Flow Distortion on Atmospheric Turbulence Measurements’, J. Appl. Meteorol. 20, 784–794.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Kluwer Academic Publishers 1988

Authors and Affiliations

  • Robert T. McMillen
    • 1
  1. 1.Air Resources Laboratory, Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion DivisionNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Research LaboratoriesOak RidgeUSA

Personalised recommendations