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Title: Coastal Wind and Turbulence Observations during the Morning and Evening Transitions over Tropical Terrain

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [2]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California
  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
  3. Department of Civil and Water Engineering, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
  4. Washakie Renewable Energy, Salt Lake City, Utah
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Abstract Data collected during a multiyear, wind-resource assessment over a multi-land-use coastal environment in Belize are used to study the development and decay of wind and turbulence through the morning and evening transitions. Observations were made on three tall masts, forming an inland transect of approximately 5 km. The wind distribution is found to be bimodal and governed by synoptic scales, with onshore and offshore flow regimes. The behavior between the coastal and inland sites is found to be very similar when the flow is directed offshore; for onshore flow, stark differences occur. The mean wind speed at the coastal site is approximately 20% greater than the most inland site and is nearly constant throughout the diurnal cycle. For both flow regimes, the influence of the land–sea breeze circulation is inconsequential relative to the large-scale synoptic forcing. Composite time series are used to study the evolution of sensible heat flux and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) throughout the morning and evening transitions. The TKE budget reveals that at the coastal site mechanical production of TKE is much more important than buoyant production. This allows for the unexpected case in which TKE increases through the ET despite the decrease of buoyant TKE production. Multiresolution flux decomposition is used to further study this phenomenon as well as the evolution of the sensible heat flux at differing time scales. An idealized schematic is presented to illustrate the timing and structure of the morning and evening transitions for an inland site and a coastal site that are subjected to similar synoptic forcing.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1413572
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1417277
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-727607
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology Vol. 56 Journal Issue: 12; ISSN 1558-8424
Publisher:
American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Figures / Tables (17)

Table 1(p. 36)table Table 1
Table 2(p. 37)table Table 2
FIG. 1(p. 40)figure FIG. 1
FIG. 2(p. 41)figure FIG. 2
FIG. 3(p. 42)figure FIG. 3
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FIG. 6(p. 45)figure FIG. 6
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FIG. 9(p. 48)figure FIG. 9
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FIG. 11(p. 50)figure FIG. 11
FIG. 12(p. 51)figure FIG. 12
FIG. 13(p. 52)figure FIG. 13
FIG. 14(p. 53)figure FIG. 14
FIG. 15(p. 54)figure FIG. 15

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58 GEOSCIENCES
17 WIND ENERGY
complex terrain
atmosphere-land interaction
coastal flows
turbulence
diurnal effects
budgets