Large Eddies Regulate Turbulent Flux Gradients in Coupled Stable Boundary Layers

Lan, Changxing; Liu, Heping; Katul, Gabriel G.; Li, Dan; Finn, Dennis

doi:10.1029/2019gl082228

Large Eddies Regulate Turbulent Flux Gradients in Coupled Stable Boundary Layers

Journal Article · Thu May 09 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl082228· OSTI ID:1611628

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[4]; Finn, Dennis ^[5]

Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States); DOE/OSTI
Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)
Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)
Boston Univ., MA (United States)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Due to strong mean wind shear, the stable boundary layer (SBL) becomes vertically coupled. In a coupled SBL, large turbulent eddies enhance cross-layer mixing and vertically mix turbulent kinetic energy. However, large gradients in momentum and heat fluxes are frequently observed, degrading the performance of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. It is shown that increased vertical gradients of mean variables (i.e., wind speed and potential temperature) can cause flux gradients. This process is operated upon by downward penetrating large eddies with altered phase difference, contributing unevenly to fluxes and thus causing flux gradients. In the coupled SBL with small gradients in mean variables, large eddies are vertically synchronized, contributing evenly to fluxes across layers and thus causing small flux gradients. As turbulent production becomes weak and the cross-layer difference in turbulent flux transport increases, large eddies become less vertically synchronized, contributing unevenly to fluxes across layers and thus causing large flux gradients.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0011461

OSTI ID:: 1611628

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1524456

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 46; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (32)

Turbulence regimes and the validity of similarity theory in the stable boundary layer over complex terrain of the Loess Plateau, China: Turbulence in the stable boundary layer Liang, Jiening; Zhang, Lei; Wang, Ying Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 119, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD021510	journal	May 2014
Large eddies modulating flux convergence and divergence in a disturbed unstable atmospheric surface layer: LARGE EDDIES MODULATING FLUX Gao, Zhongming; Liu, Heping; Russell, Eric S. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 121, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024529	journal	February 2016
Intrinsic Constraints on Asymmetric Turbulent Transport of Scalars Within the Constant Flux Layer of the Lower Atmosphere: CONSTANT FLUX LAYER Li, Dan; Katul, Gabriel G.; Liu, Heping Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2018GL077021	journal	February 2018
Contrasting structures between the decoupled and coupled states of the stable boundary layer: Stable Boundary Layer Coupling Acevedo, Otávio C.; Mahrt, Larry; Puhales, Franciano S. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 142, Issue 695 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2693	journal	December 2015
Observations of submeso motions and intermittent turbulent mixing across a low level jet with a 132-m tower: Submeso Motions and Intermittent Turbulence Mortarini, L.; Cava, D.; Giostra, U. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 144, Issue 710 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3192	journal	December 2017
Flux-gradient relationships in the constant flux layer Dyer, A. J.; Hicks, B. B. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 96, Issue 410 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49709641012	journal	October 1970
Correction of flux measurements for density effects due to heat and water vapour transfer Webb, E. K.; Pearman, G. I.; Leuning, R. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 106, Issue 447, p. 85-100 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49710644707	journal	January 1980
An Introduction to Boundary Layer Meteorology Stull, Roland B. Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3027-8	book	January 1988
Temperature measurement with a sonic anemometer and its application to heat and moisture fluxes Schotanus, P.; Nieuwstadt, F. T. M.; De Bruin, H. A. R. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 26, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00164332	journal	May 1983
Statistische Theorie nichthomogener Turbulenz Rotta, J. Zeitschrift f�r Physik, Vol. 131, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01329645	journal	March 1951
Statistische Theorie nichthomogener Turbulenz Rotta, J. Zeitschrift f�r Physik, Vol. 129, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01330059	journal	November 1951
Coherent Structures and the Dissimilarity of Turbulent Transport of Momentum and Scalars in the Unstable Atmospheric Surface Layer Li, Dan; Bou-Zeid, Elie Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 140, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-011-9613-5	journal	April 2011
The Coupling State of an Idealized Stable Boundary Layer Acevedo, Otávio C.; Costa, Felipe D.; Degrazia, Gervásio A. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 145, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-011-9676-3	journal	January 2012
Statistics of Turbulence in the Stable Boundary Layer Affected by Gravity Waves Sorbjan, Zbigniew; Czerwinska, Agnieszka Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 148, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-013-9809-y	journal	March 2013
Observations of Near-Surface Heat-Flux and Temperature Profiles Through the Early Evening Transition over Contrasting Surfaces Jensen, Derek D.; Nadeau, Daniel F.; Hoch, Sebastian W. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 159, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-015-0067-z	journal	July 2015
The Role of Large-Coherent-Eddy Transport in the Atmospheric Surface Layer Based on CASES-99 Observations Sun, Jielun; Lenschow, Donald H.; LeMone, Margaret A. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 160, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-016-0134-0	journal	February 2016
Investigation of Turbulence Behaviour in the Stable Boundary Layer Using Arbitrary-Order Hilbert Spectra Wei, W.; Zhang, H. S.; Schmitt, F. G. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 163, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-016-0227-9	journal	January 2017
Near-Surface Vertical Flux Divergence in the Stable Boundary Layer Mahrt, L.; Thomas, Christoph K.; Grachev, Andrey A. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 169, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-018-0379-x	journal	July 2018
Turbulent Prandtl number in the atmospheric boundary layer - where are we now? Li, Dan Atmospheric Research, Vol. 216 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2018.09.015	journal	February 2019
New Equations For Sonic Temperature Variance And Buoyancy Heat Flux With An Omnidirectional Sonic Anemometer Liu, Heping; Peters, Gerhard; Foken, Thomas Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 100, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019207031397	journal	September 2001
A review on Hilbert-Huang transform: Method and its applications to geophysical studies Huang, Norden E.; Wu, Zhaohua Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 46, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007RG000228	journal	January 2008
Distinct Turbulence Structures in Stably Stratified Boundary Layers With Weak and Strong Surface Shear Lan, Changxing; Liu, Heping; Li, Dan Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 123, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028628	journal	August 2018
Co-spectrum and mean velocity in turbulent boundary layers Katul, Gabriel G.; Porporato, Amilcare; Manes, Costantino Physics of Fluids, Vol. 25, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4821997	journal	September 2013
Large CO ₂ effluxes at night and during synoptic weather events significantly contribute to CO ₂ emissions from a reservoir Liu, Heping; Zhang, Qianyu; Katul, Gabriel G. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 11, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064001	journal	May 2016
Non-closure of the surface energy balance explained by phase difference between vertical velocity and scalars of large atmospheric eddies Gao, Zhongming; Liu, Heping; Katul, Gabriel G. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa625b	journal	March 2017
Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flows: Their Structure and Measurement Kaimal, J. C.; Finnigan, J. J. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195062397.001.0001	book	March 1994
The empirical mode decomposition and the Hilbert spectrum for nonlinear and non-stationary time series analysis Huang, Norden E.; Shen, Zheng; Long, Steven R. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 454, Issue 1971 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1998.0193	journal	March 1998
Two phenomenological constants explain similarity laws in stably stratified turbulence Katul, Gabriel G.; Porporato, Amilcare; Shah, Stimit Physical Review E, Vol. 89, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.023007	journal	February 2014
Stably Stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layers Mahrt, L. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 46, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-fluid-010313-141354	journal	January 2014
Turbulence Regimes and Turbulence Intermittency in the Stable Boundary Layer during CASES-99 Sun, Jielun; Mahrt, Larry; Banta, Robert M. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 69, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-11-082.1	journal	January 2012
Multiple Regimes of Wind, Stratification, and Turbulence in the Stable Boundary Layer Monahan, Adam H.; Rees, Tim; He, Yanping Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 72, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-14-0311.1	journal	August 2015
Evidence for Gap Flows in the Birch Creek Valley, Idaho Finn, D.; Reese, B.; Butler, B. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 73, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-16-0052.1	journal	December 2016

Similar Records

Distinct Turbulence Structures in Stably Stratified Boundary Layers With Weak and Strong Surface Shear

Journal Article · Wed Jul 11 20:00:00 EDT 2018 · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres · OSTI ID:1539760

Turbulence Structures in the Very Stable Boundary Layer Under the Influence of Wind Profile Distortion

Journal Article · Sun Oct 16 20:00:00 EDT 2022 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres · OSTI ID:2422012

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Geology

Large Eddies Regulate Turbulent Flux Gradients in Coupled Stable Boundary Layers

Citation Formats

References (32)

Similar Records

Related Subjects