Abstract
A pair of parallel cold wires separated in either the vertical or lateral direction was used to obtain the three components θx, θy, θz of the temperature derivative in the streamwise, lateral and vertical directions, respectively. The average absolute skewness values of θx and θz are nonzero and approximately equal, while the skewness of θy is approximately zero. These results appear to be consistent with the presence of a large, three-dimensional organised structure in the surface layer. There is an apparent low-frequency contamination in the spectral density of θy and θz due mainly to small errors in estimating the sensitivity of the cold wires. The temperature derivatives were high-pass filtered, the filter being set to remove possible contributions from the large structure and to minimise low-frequency sensitivity contamination. The filtered rms ratios \~θx/\~θy and \~θx/\~θz were in the range 0.7 to 0.9, a result in qualitative agreement with that obtained in the laboratory boundary layer by Sreenivasan et al. (1977). The skewness of filtered θx or θz is negligible, consistent with local isotropy of small-scale temperature fluctuations and in support of the high wavenumber spectral isotropy discussed in Antonia and Chambers (1978).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antonia, R. A. and Chambers, A. J.: 1978, ‘Spectra of Temperature Derivatives in the Atmospheric Surface Layer’, Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 15, 347–355.
Antonia, R. A., Danh, H. Q., and Prabhu, A.: 1977, ‘The Response of a Turbulent Boundary Layer to a Step Change in Surface Heat Flux’, J. Fluid Mech. 80, 153–177.
Antonia, R. A., Chambers, A. J., Friehe, C. A., and Van Atta, C. W.: 1978, ‘Temperature Ramps in the Atmospheric Surface Layer’, Report No. 16, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Newcastle. To appear in J. Atmos. Sci.
Batchelor, G. K.: 1960, The Theory of Homogeneous Turbulence, Cambridge University Press.
Boston, N. E. J. and Burling, R. W.: 1972, ‘An Investigation of High Wave-Number Temperature and Velocity Spectra in Air’, J. Fluid Mech. 55, 473–492.
Brown, G. L. and Thomas, A. S.: 1977, ‘Large Structure in a Turbulent Boundary Layer’, Phys. Fluids 20, S243-S252.
Businger, J. A., Wyngaard, J. C., Izumi, Y., and Bradley, E. F.: 1971, ‘Flux-Profile Relationships in the Atmospheric Surface Layer’, J. Atmos. Sci. 28, 181–189.
Champagne, F. H., Friehe, C. A., LaRue, J. C., and Wyngaard, J. C.: 1977, ‘Flux Measurements, Flux Estimation Techniques, and Fine-Scale Turbulence Measurements in the Unstable Layer Over Land’, J. Atmos. Sci. 34, 515–530.
Clay, J. P.: 1973, ‘Turbulent Mixing of Temperature in Water, Air and Mercury’, PhD Thesis, University of California, San Diego.
Comte-Bellot, G.: 1965, ‘Ecoulement Turbulent entre deux Parois Parallèles’, Publications Scientifiques et Techniques du Ministère
Fairall, C. W. and Schacher, G.: 1977, ‘Frequency Response of Hot Wires Used for Atmospheric Turbulence Measurements in the Marine Environment’, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 48, 12–17.
Fulachier, L.: 1972, ‘Contribution à l'étude des Analogies des Champs Dynamique et Thermique dans une Couche Limite Turbulente. Effet de l'Aspiration’, Thèse Docteur ès Sciences, Université de Provence.
Freytag, C.: 1978, ‘Statistical Properties of Energy Dissipation’, Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 14, 183–198.
Gibson, C. H., Friehe, C. A., and McConnell, S. O.: 1977, ‘Structure of Sheared Turbulent Fields’, Phys. Fluids 20, S156-S167.
Head, M. R. and Bandyopadhyay, P.: 1978, ‘Combined Flow Visualization and Hot-Wire Measurements in Turbulent Boundary Layers’, in Coherent Structure of Turbulent Boundary Layers (eds. C. R. Smith and D. E. Abbott), AFOSR/Lehigh University Workshop, 98–129.
Hill, R. J.: 1978, ‘Models of the Scalar Spectrum for Turbulent Advection’, J. Fluid Mech. 88, 541–562.
LaRue, J. C., Deaton, T., and Gibson, C. H.: 1975, ‘Measurement of High Frequency Turbulent Temperature’, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 46, 757–764.
Laufer, J.: 1975, ‘New Trends in Experimental Turbulence Research’, Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech. 7, 307–326.
Mestayer, P. and Chambaud, P.: 1979, ‘Some Limitations to Measurements of Turbulence Micro-Structure with Hot- and Cold-Wires’. Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 16, 311–329.
Monin, A. S. and Yaglom, A. M.: 1975, Statistical Fluid Mechanics: Mechanics of Turbulence, 2, M.I.T. Press.
Schacher, G. and Fairall, C. W.: 1976, ‘Use of Resistance Wires for Atmospheric Turbulence Measurements in the Marine Environment’, Rev.-Sci. Instrum. 47, 703–707.
Schmitt, K. F., Friehe, C. A., and Gibson, C. H.: 1978, ‘Humidity Sensitivity of Atmospheric Temperature Sensors by Salt Contamination’, J. Phys. Ocean. 8, 151–161.
Sreenivasan, K. R., Antonia, R. A., and Danh, H. Q.: 1977, ‘Temperature Dissipation Fluctuations in a Turbulent Boundary Layer’, Phys. Fluids 20, 1238–1249.
Sreenivasan, K. R. and Antonia, R. A.: 1977, ‘Skewness of Temperature Derivatives in Turbulent Shear Flows’, Phys. Fluids 20, 1986–1988.
Townsend, A. A.: 1976, The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow, Cambridge University Press.
Tsvang, L. R.: 1977, ‘International Turbulence Comparison Experiment 1976’, Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 12, 373–374.
Van Atta, C. W.: 1977, ‘Second-Order Spectral Local Isotropy in Turbulent Scalar Fields’, J. Fluid Mech. 80, 609–615.
Verollet, E.: 1977, ‘Etude d'une Couche Limite Turbulente avec Aspiration et Chauffage à la Paroi’, Report CEA-R-4872, Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Saclay.
Williams, R. M. and Paulson, C. A.: 1977, ‘Microscale Temperature and Velocity Spectra in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer’, J. Fluid Mech. 83, 547–567.
Wyngaard, J. C.: 1969, ‘Spatial Resolution of the Vorticity Meter and Other Hot-Wire Arrays’, J. Sci. Inst. (J. Physics E) 2, 983–987.
Wyngaard, J. C. and Tennekes, H.: 1970, ‘Measurements of the Small-Scale Structure of Turbulence at Moderate Reynolds Numbers’, Phys. Fluids 13, 1962–1969.
Wyngaard, J. C.: 1971, ‘Spatial Resolution of a Resistance Wire Temperature Sensor’, Phys. Fluids 14, 2052–2054.
Wyngaard, J. C. and Cote, O. R.: 1971, ‘The Budgets of Turbulent Kinetic Energy and Temperature Variance in the Atmospheric Surface Layer’, J. Atmos. Sci. 28, 190–201.
Wyngaard, J. C. and Clifford, S. F.: 1976, ‘Taylor's Hypothesis and High Frequency Turbulence Spectra’, J. Atmos. Sci. 34, 922–929.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Antonia, R.A., Chambers, A.J., Phong-Anant, D. et al. Properties of spatial temperature derivatives in the atmospheric surface layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 17, 101–118 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00121939
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00121939