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The relative importance of ejections and sweeps to momentum transfer in the atmospheric boundary layer

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Abstract

Using an incomplete third-order cumulant expansion method (ICEM) and standard second-order closure principles, we show that the imbalance in the stress contribution of sweeps and ejections to momentum transfer (ΔS o ) can be predicted from measured profiles of the Reynolds stress and the longitudinal velocity standard deviation for different boundary-layer regions. The ICEM approximation is independently verified using flume data, atmospheric surface layer measurements above grass and ice-sheet surfaces, and within the canopy sublayer of maturing Loblolly pine and alpine hardwood forests. The model skill for discriminating whether sweeps or ejections dominate momentum transfer (e.g. the sign of ΔS o ) agrees well with wind-tunnel measurements in the outer and surface layers, and flume measurements within the canopy sublayer for both sparse and dense vegetation. The broader impact of this work is that the “genesis” of the imbalance in ΔS o is primarily governed by how boundary conditions impact first and second moments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Box 90328, Durham, NC, USA

    Gabriel Katul & Davide Poggi

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Gabriel Katul

  3. Dipartimento di Idraulica Trasporti e Infrastrutture Civili, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129, Torino, Italy

    Davide Poggi

  4. CNR - Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Section of Lecce, Polo Scientifico dell’Università, Strada Prov. Lecce-Monteroni km 1,200, 73100, Lecce, Italy

    Daniela Cava

  5. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, FC Pye Laboratory, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    John Finnigan

Authors
  1. Gabriel Katul
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  2. Davide Poggi
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  3. Daniela Cava
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  4. John Finnigan
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Correspondence to Gabriel Katul.

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Katul, G., Poggi, D., Cava, D. et al. The relative importance of ejections and sweeps to momentum transfer in the atmospheric boundary layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 120, 367–375 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-006-9064-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-006-9064-6

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