Abstract
A detailed analysis has been carried out of the temporal and spatial structure of mean winds and turbulence in the neutrally-stable planetary boundary layer over typically rural terrain. The data were obtained from a horizontal array of tower-mounted propeller anemometers (z = 11 m) during a five-hour period for which the mean wind direction was virtually perpendicular to the main span of the array. Various turbulence characteristics have been obtained for all three components of velocity and have been compared with idealized models for such a flow and with some of the other available atmospheric results.
Considerable tower-to-tower and block-to-block variability has been observed in many of the measured results, particularly in those for the horizontal-component integral scales. Surface shear stress, roughness length and turbulence intensities were in good agreement with expected values for such a site. Power spectra for all components displayed significantly more energy at middle and lower frequencies than that observed by Kaimal et al. (1972) over flat, relatively featureless terrain. This is felt to be a result of the generally rougher gross features of the terrain in the present case and has led to the development of a modified version of the Kaimal-spectral model which fits the observed data better than either the original Kaimal model or the von Kármán model. It is suggested that it may in future be possible to represent power spectra over a wide range of terrain types by using such a modified spectral model.
Integral scales of turbulence were calculated by three different techniques and in most cases displayed a strong dependence on the technique used. Averaged values of scale showed reasonable agreement with most of the available atmospheric data and with the values suggested by ESDU (1975). The anticipated elongation of turbulent eddies in the longitudinal direction was confirmed for all three velocity components, although it was found to be not as large as some other observations.
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Teunissen, H.W. Structure of mean winds and turbulence in the planetary boundary layer over rural terrain. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 19, 187–221 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00117220
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00117220