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On the determination of zero-plane displacement and roughness length for flow over forest canopies

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Abstract

This paper discusses the importance of the aerodynamic characteristics of forest and other similar canopies to modelling of boundary-layer flow and to estimating the diffusivity coefficients of turbulence transfer mechanisms over such canopies.

The hypothesis of Marunich (1971) reported by Tajchman (1981) that the zero-plane displacement, d, equals the upward displacement of the flow trajectory, is critically examined. It is concluded that Marunich's hypothesis is conceptually incorrect and that calculations of d based on Marunich's hypothesis are inherently in error.

This paper presents a method based on the mass conservation principle and uses wind profiles in and above a forest canopy as the sole input for determining d, z 0 and u *.

Sensitivities of calculated results to measurements errors of wind profile data are evaluated. It is found that an error of less than 1% in wind in the logarithmic regime above the canopy can introduce up to 100% errors in calculated values of d, z 0 and u *. It is also found that the high sensitivity to wind data accuracy, characteristic of the present method, can be used as a guide for the selection of high quality canopy wind data.

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  1. Air Quality Processes Research Division, Atmospheric Environment Service, Downsview, Ontario, Canada

    Aloysius Koufang Lo

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  1. Aloysius Koufang Lo
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Lo, A.K. On the determination of zero-plane displacement and roughness length for flow over forest canopies. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 51, 255–268 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122140

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122140

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