Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Numerical Study for Turbulent Flow and Thermal Influence over Inhomogenous Canopy of Roughness Elements

  • Published:
Environmental Fluid Mechanics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A large-eddy simulation with transitional structure function(TSF) subgrid model we previously proposed was performed to investigate the turbulent flow with thermal influence over an inhomogeneous canopy, which was represented as alternative large and small roughness elements. The aerodynamic and thermodynamic effects of the presence of a layer of large roughness elements were modelled by adding a drag term to the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations and a heat source/sink term to the scalar equation, respectively. The layer of small roughness elements was simply treated using the method as described in paper (Moeng 1984, J. Atmos Sci. 41, 2052–2062) for homogeneous rough surface. The horizontally averaged statistics such as mean vertical profiles of wind velocity, air temperature, et al., are in reasonable agreement with Gao et al.(1989, Boundary layer meteorol. 47, 349–377) field observation (homogeneous canopy). Not surprisingly, the calculated instantaneous velocity and temperature fields show that the roughness elements considerably changed the turbulent structure within the canopy. The adjustment of the mean vertical profiles of velocity and temperature was studied, which was found qualitatively comparable with Belcher et al. (2003, J Fluid Mech. 488, 369–398)’s theoretical results. The urban heat island(UHI) was investigated imposing heat source in the region of large roughness elements. An elevated inversion layer, a phenomenon often observed in the urban area (Sang et al., J Wind Eng. Ind. Aesodyn. 87, 243–258)’s was successfully simulated above the canopy. The cool island(CI) was also investigated imposing heat sink to simply model the evaporation of plant canopy. An inversion layer was found very stable and robust within the canopy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. S.E. Belcher N. Jerram J.C.R. Hunt (2003) ArticleTitleAjustment of a turbulent boundary layer to a canopy of roughness elements J. Fluid. Mech. 488 369–398 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0022112003005019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. R.E. Britter S.R. Hanna (2003) ArticleTitleFlow and dispersion in urban areas Annu. Rev. Fluid. Mech. 35 469–496 Occurrence Handle10.1146/annurev.fluid.35.101101.161147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. I.P. Castro (2003) ArticleTitleCFD for external aerodynamics in the built environment The QNET-CFD network Newsletter. 2 229–259

    Google Scholar 

  4. H. Cheng I.P. Castro (2002) ArticleTitleNear wall flow over urban-like roughness Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 104 229–259 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1016060103448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Coceal O., Thomas T.G., Castro I.P., Belcher S.E. (2005). Numerical investigation of turbulent flow over cubic roughness arrays. J Fluid Mech., to be published.

  6. J.W. Deardorff (1974) ArticleTitleThree-dimensional numerical study of the height and mean structure of a heated planetary boundary layer Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 1 81–106

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ferziger, J.H.: 1993, Subgrid scale modelling, in Galperin, B. & Orszag S.A. (eds.) Large eddy simulation of complex engineering and geophysical flows, Cambridge University Press, 1993, 37–54

  8. J.J. Finnigan (1979) ArticleTitleTurbulence in waving wheat II Structure of momentum transfer Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 16 213–236

    Google Scholar 

  9. L. Fitzmaurice R.H. Shaw U.K.T. Paw E.G. Patton (2003) ArticleTitleThree-dimensional scalar microfront systems in a large-eddy simulation of vegetation canopy flow Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 112 107–127

    Google Scholar 

  10. W. Gao R.H. Shaw U.K.T. Paw (1989) ArticleTitleObservation of organized structure in turbulent flow within and above a forest canopy Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 47 349–377 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00122339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. K. Horiuti (1997) ArticleTitleA new dynamic two-parameter mixed model for large-eddy simulation Phys. Fluids. 9 IssueID11 3443–3464 Occurrence Handle10.1063/1.869454 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2sXntVKgurY%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. M. Kanda M. Hino (1994) ArticleTitleOrganized structures in developing turbulent flow within and above a plant canopy, using a large eddy simulation Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 68 237–257 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00705599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. M. Kanda R. Moriwaki F. Kasamatsu (2004) ArticleTitleLarge-eddy simulation of turbulent organized structures within and above explicitly resolved cube arrays Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 112 343–368 Occurrence Handle10.1023/B:BOUN.0000027909.40439.7c

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. J.C. Kline W.C. Reynolds et al. (1967) ArticleTitleThe structure of turbulent boundary layer J. Fluid. Mech. 30 741–773

    Google Scholar 

  15. B. Kosovic (1997) ArticleTitleSubgrid-Scale modeling for the large-eddy simulation of high-Reynolds-number boundary layers J. Fluid. Mech. 336 151–182 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2sXjt1eqsr8%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. M. Lesieur O. Metais (1996) ArticleTitleNew trends in large-eddy simulations of turbulence Annu. Rev. Fluid. Mech. 28 45–82 Occurrence Handle10.1146/annurev.fl.28.010196.000401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. J.C. Li B. Ouyang (Eds) (1996) Simulations and Observations of Terrestrial Processes Science press Beijing 121–128

    Google Scholar 

  18. Li JC., Xie Z. (1999). large-eddy simulation for canopy turbulent flow. Acta Mechanica Sinica. 31(4)

  19. F.-S. Lien E. Yee (2005) ArticleTitleNumerical modelling of the turbulent flow developing within and over a 3-D building array, part III: a distirbuted drag force approach, its implementation and application Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 114 287–313

    Google Scholar 

  20. A. Martilli (2002) ArticleTitleNumerical study of urban impact on boundry layer structure: sensitivity to wind speed, urban morphology, and rural soil moisture J. Appl. Meteor. 41 1247–1266 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0450(2002)041<1247:NSOUIO>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. O. Metais M. Lesieur (1992) ArticleTitleSpectral large-eddy simulations of isotropic and stably-stratified turbulence J. Fluid. Mech. 239 157–194 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK3sXisVClsw%3D%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. C.-H. Moeng (1984) ArticleTitleA large eddy simulation model for the study of planetary boundary layer turbulence J. Atmos. Sci. 41 2052–2062

    Google Scholar 

  23. O. Naot Y. Mahrer (1989) ArticleTitleModelling microclimate environments: a verification study Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 46 333–354 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00172240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. E.G. Patton (1997) Large Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Flow Above and within a Plant Canopy Doctoral Dissertation of the Univ of California Davis

    Google Scholar 

  25. E.G. Patton R.H. Shaw M.J. Judd M.R. Raupach (1998) ArticleTitleLarge eddy simulation of windbreak flow Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 87 275–306 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1000945626163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. M.R. Raupach R.A. Antonia S. Rajagopalan (1991) ArticleTitleRough-wall turbulent boundary layers Appl. Mech. Rev. 44 1–25

    Google Scholar 

  27. J. Sang He. Liu Hu. Liu Z. Zhang (2000) ArticleTitleObservational and numerical studies of wintertime urban boundary layer J. Wind. Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 87 243–258 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0167-6105(00)00040-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. P. Sagaut (2001) Large Eddy Simulation for Incompressible Flows Springer-Verlag Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  29. R.H. Shaw G. den Hartog H.H. Neumann (1988) ArticleTitleInfluence of foliar density and thermal stability on profiles of Reynolds stress and turbulence intensity in a deciduous forest Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 45 391–409 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00124010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. R.H. Shaw U. Schumann (1992) ArticleTitleLarge eddy simulation of turbulent flow above and within a forest Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 61 47–64 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF02033994

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Stoesser T., Mathey F., Frohlich J., Rodi W. 2003, LES of flow over multiple cubes, ERCOFTAC Bulletin No. 56.

  32. A.S. Thomas M.K. Buull (1983) ArticleTitleOn the role of thewall-pressure fluctuations in deterministic motions in the turbulent boundary layer J. Fluid. Mech. 163 459–478

    Google Scholar 

  33. Xie Z., and Li JC. (1997). A model of the land atmosphere interaction with canopy influence. 7ACMF, Dec.8–12, Madras, India.

  34. Z. Xie P.R. Voke P. Hayden G.A. Robins (2004) ArticleTitleLarge-eddy simulation of turbulent flow over a rough surface Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 111 417–440 Occurrence Handle10.1023/B:BOUN.0000016599.75196.17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Xie, Z., Hayden, P., Voke, P.R. and Robins, A.G.: 2004. Large-eddy simulation of dispersion: comparison between elevated source and ground level source. J. Turbulence. 5.

  36. Xie, Z. and Castro, I.P.: 2005, LES of turbulent flow over wall-mounted cubes using three major CFD codes, School of Engineering Sciences, Technical Report, AFM-05/02, University of Southampton.

  37. Y. Zang R.L. Street J.R. Koseff (1993) ArticleTitleA dynamic mixed subgfid-scale model and its application to turbulent recirculation flows Phys. Fluids. 5 IssueID12 3186–3196 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2cXjtlKqsg%3D%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Zhengtong Xie

  2. Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100080, China

    Jiachun Li

Authors
  1. Zhengtong Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jiachun Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhengtong Xie.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Xie, Z., Li, J. A Numerical Study for Turbulent Flow and Thermal Influence over Inhomogenous Canopy of Roughness Elements. Environ Fluid Mech 5, 577–597 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-005-2490-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-005-2490-z

Key words

Search

Navigation