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Large-Scale Turbulence Structures in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observed above the Suburbs of Kyoto City, Japan

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Abstract

The characteristics and occurrence conditions of large-scale turbulence structures in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) are investigated above the suburbs of Kyoto City, Japan. An extensive observational set-up, including sonic anemometers–thermometers mounted on a tower, Doppler lidar, and radiosondes, was used to examine the turbulence structures and vertical profiles of the ABL downwind from the city. In near-neutral situations, large-scale turbulence structures with temporal scales of 100‒300 s are detected by the wavelet analysis in the time series of the streamwise velocity component measured in the surface layer. A shift towards unstable conditions is found to be favourable for the emergence of large-scale turbulence structures. Furthermore, the existence of these structures is seen to be related to the development of the ABL and the change of the turbulence situation in the daytime. On average at this site, wind speed in the lower ABL increases in the afternoon. From the intensive observations, we can infer that the downward transfer of momentum via turbulent mixing and other mechanisms extends a high-speed layer at the upper levels towards the surface. Intermittent occurrence of the further increase of wind speed in an interval of several tens of minutes is also found. Turbulence structures are clearly identified in these periods of higher wind speed.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank members of the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, for their assistance in the maintenance of the measurement system and observations. This study was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for challenging Exploratory Research, 24651208, 2012–2013, and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), 26282107, 2014‒2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan

    Mitsuaki Horiguchi, Alexandros-Panagiotis Poulidis & Tetsuya Takemi

  2. Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, 183-8504, Japan

    Kenichi Tatsumi

  3. Nuclear Science Research Institute, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Ibaraki, 319-1195, Japan

    Toshiya Yoshida

  4. Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Alexandros-Panagiotis Poulidis

Authors
  1. Mitsuaki Horiguchi
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  2. Kenichi Tatsumi
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  3. Alexandros-Panagiotis Poulidis
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  4. Toshiya Yoshida
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  5. Tetsuya Takemi
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Correspondence to Mitsuaki Horiguchi.

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Horiguchi, M., Tatsumi, K., Poulidis, AP. et al. Large-Scale Turbulence Structures in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observed above the Suburbs of Kyoto City, Japan. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 184, 333–354 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-022-00707-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-022-00707-8

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