DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Estimation of turbulence dissipation rate and its variability from sonic anemometer and wind Doppler lidar during the XPIA field campaign

Abstract

Abstract. Despite turbulence being a fundamental transport process in the boundary layer, the capability of current numerical models to represent it is undermined by the limits of the adopted assumptions, notably that of local equilibrium. Here we leverage the potential of extensive observations in determining the variability in turbulence dissipation rate (ϵ). These observations can provide insights towards the understanding of the scales at which the major assumption of local equilibrium between generation and dissipation of turbulence is invalid. Typically, observations of ϵ require time- and labor-intensive measurements from sonic and/or hot-wire anemometers. We explore the capability of wind Doppler lidars to provide measurements of ϵ. We refine and extend an existing method to accommodate different atmospheric stability conditions. To validate our approach, we estimate ϵ from four wind Doppler lidars during the 3-month XPIA campaign at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (Colorado), and we assess the uncertainty of the proposed method by data intercomparison with sonic anemometer measurements of ϵ. Our analysis of this extensive dataset provides understanding of the climatology of turbulence dissipation over the course of the campaign. Further, the variability in ϵ with atmospheric stability, height, and wind speed is also assessed. Finally, we present how ϵmore » increases as nocturnal turbulence is generated during low-level jet events.« less

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
  2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1463341
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1464916
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-135886; NREL/JA-5000-72199
Journal ID: ISSN 1867-8548
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830; AGS-1554055; AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online); Journal Volume: 11; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 1867-8548
Publisher:
European Geosciences Union
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION; 17 WIND ENERGY; turbulence; atmospheric boundary layer; wind

Citation Formats

Bodini, Nicola, Lundquist, Julie K., and Newsom, Rob K. Estimation of turbulence dissipation rate and its variability from sonic anemometer and wind Doppler lidar during the XPIA field campaign. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.5194/AMT-11-4291-2018.
Bodini, Nicola, Lundquist, Julie K., & Newsom, Rob K. Estimation of turbulence dissipation rate and its variability from sonic anemometer and wind Doppler lidar during the XPIA field campaign. United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/AMT-11-4291-2018
Bodini, Nicola, Lundquist, Julie K., and Newsom, Rob K. Fri . "Estimation of turbulence dissipation rate and its variability from sonic anemometer and wind Doppler lidar during the XPIA field campaign". United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/AMT-11-4291-2018. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1463341.
@article{osti_1463341,
title = {Estimation of turbulence dissipation rate and its variability from sonic anemometer and wind Doppler lidar during the XPIA field campaign},
author = {Bodini, Nicola and Lundquist, Julie K. and Newsom, Rob K.},
abstractNote = {Abstract. Despite turbulence being a fundamental transport process in the boundary layer, the capability of current numerical models to represent it is undermined by the limits of the adopted assumptions, notably that of local equilibrium. Here we leverage the potential of extensive observations in determining the variability in turbulence dissipation rate (ϵ). These observations can provide insights towards the understanding of the scales at which the major assumption of local equilibrium between generation and dissipation of turbulence is invalid. Typically, observations of ϵ require time- and labor-intensive measurements from sonic and/or hot-wire anemometers. We explore the capability of wind Doppler lidars to provide measurements of ϵ. We refine and extend an existing method to accommodate different atmospheric stability conditions. To validate our approach, we estimate ϵ from four wind Doppler lidars during the 3-month XPIA campaign at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (Colorado), and we assess the uncertainty of the proposed method by data intercomparison with sonic anemometer measurements of ϵ. Our analysis of this extensive dataset provides understanding of the climatology of turbulence dissipation over the course of the campaign. Further, the variability in ϵ with atmospheric stability, height, and wind speed is also assessed. Finally, we present how ϵ increases as nocturnal turbulence is generated during low-level jet events.},
doi = {10.5194/AMT-11-4291-2018},
journal = {Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online)},
number = 7,
volume = 11,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Fri Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 37 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Spectral characteristics of surface-layer turbulence
journal, July 1972

  • Kaimal, J. C.; Wyngaard, J. C.; Izumi, Y.
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 98, Issue 417
  • DOI: 10.1002/qj.49709841707

Turbulent Velocity-Variance Profiles in the Stable Boundary Layer Generated by a Nocturnal Low-Level Jet
journal, November 2006

  • Banta, Robert M.; Pichugina, Yelena L.; Brewer, W. Alan
  • Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 63, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1175/JAS3776.1

Measurements of dissipation rate in frontal zones
journal, July 2001

  • Chapman, D.; Browning, K. A.
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 127, Issue 576
  • DOI: 10.1002/qj.49712757605

Antenna parameters for incoherent backscatter heterodyne lidar
journal, January 1979


Sonic Anemometer Tilt Correction Algorithms
journal, April 2001

  • Wilczak, James M.; Oncley, Steven P.; Stage, Steven A.
  • Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 99, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1023/A:1018966204465

Low-Frequency Effects on Eddy Covariance Fluxes under the Influence of a Low-Level Jet
journal, March 2007

  • Prabha, Thara V.; Leclerc, Monique Y.; Karipot, Anandakumar
  • Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 46, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1175/JAM2461.1

Turbulent fluxes, stability and shear in the offshore environment: Mesoscale modelling and field observations at FINO1
journal, November 2012

  • Muñoz-Esparza, D.; Cañadillas, B.; Neumann, T.
  • Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Vol. 4, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4769201

The Effect of Wind-Turbine Wakes on Summertime US Midwest Atmospheric Wind Profiles as Observed with Ground-Based Doppler Lidar
journal, July 2013


Improved observations of turbulence dissipation rates from wind profiling radars
journal, January 2017

  • McCaffrey, Katherine; Bianco, Laura; Wilczak, James M.
  • Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 10, Issue 7, p. 2595-2611
  • DOI: 10.5194/amt-10-2595-2017

Turbulent structure and scaling of the inertial subrange in a stratocumulus-topped boundary layer observed by a Doppler lidar
journal, January 2015

  • Tonttila, J.; O'Connor, E. J.; Hellsten, A.
  • Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.5194/acp-15-5873-2015

Remote Measurement of Turbulent Wind Spectra by Heterodyne DopplerLidar Technique
journal, December 2000


Measuring Second- through Fourth-Order Moments in Noisy Data
journal, October 2000


Surface-Layer Fluxes, Profiles, and Turbulence Measurements over Uniform Terrain under Near-Neutral Conditions
journal, April 1996


Impact assessment of biomass burning on air quality in Southeast and East Asia during BASE-ASIA
journal, October 2013


Assessing atmospheric stability and its impacts on rotor-disk wind characteristics at an onshore wind farm
journal, July 2011

  • Wharton, Sonia; Lundquist, Julie K.
  • Wind Energy, Vol. 15, Issue 4, p. 525-546
  • DOI: 10.1002/we.483

Flux Measurements, Flux Estimation Techniques, and Fine-Scale Turbulence Measurements in the Unstable Surface Layer Over Land
journal, March 1977


The Boulder Atmospheric Observatory
journal, May 1983


Consequences of Urban Stability Conditions for Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Urban Dispersion
journal, July 2007

  • Lundquist, Julie K.; Chan, Stevens T.
  • Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 46, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1175/JAM2514.1

An Analysis of the Performance of the UFAM Pulsed Doppler Lidar for Observing the Boundary Layer
journal, February 2009

  • Pearson, Guy; Davies, Fay; Collier, Chris
  • Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 26, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1175/2008JTECHA1128.1

Next-Generation Numerical Weather Prediction: Bridging Parameterization, Explicit Clouds, and Large Eddies
journal, January 2012

  • Hong, Song-You; Dudhia, Jimy
  • Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 93, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1175/2011BAMS3224.1

Assessing State-of-the-Art Capabilities for Probing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer: The XPIA Field Campaign
journal, February 2017

  • Lundquist, Julie K.; Wilczak, James M.; Ashton, Ryan
  • Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 98, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00151.1

Low-Altitude Jet Streams
journal, August 1961


Doppler Lidar Measurements of Vertical Velocity Spectra in the Convective Planetary Boundary Layer
journal, June 2009

  • Lothon, Marie; Lenschow, Donald H.; Mayor, Shane D.
  • Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 132, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1007/s10546-009-9398-y

Identification of tower-wake distortions using sonic anemometer and lidar measurements
journal, January 2017

  • McCaffrey, Katherine; Quelet, Paul T.; Choukulkar, Aditya
  • Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 10, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.5194/amt-10-393-2017

How Long Is Long Enough When Measuring Fluxes and Other Turbulence Statistics?
journal, June 1994


Development of an Improved Turbulence Closure Model for the Atmospheric Boundary Layer
journal, January 2009

  • Nakanishi, Mikio; Niino, Hiroshi
  • Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, Vol. 87, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.2151/jmsj.87.895

The boundary layer contribution to intertropical convergence zones in the quasi-equilibrium tropical circulation model framework
journal, September 2006

  • Sobel, Adam H.; Neelin, J. David.
  • Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics, Vol. 20, Issue 5-6
  • DOI: 10.1007/s00162-006-0033-y

The Relation Between Large-Scale Vertical Motion and Weather in Summer
journal, October 1958


The spatial structure of neutral atmospheric surface-layer turbulence
journal, August 1994


Implementation of a Nonlinear Subfilter Turbulence Stress Model for Large-Eddy Simulation in the Advanced Research WRF Model
journal, November 2010

  • Mirocha, J. D.; Lundquist, J. K.; Kosović, B.
  • Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 138, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1175/2010MWR3286.1

High-Resolution In Situ Profiling through the Stable Boundary Layer: Examination of the SBL Top in Terms of Minimum Shear, Maximum Stratification, and Turbulence Decrease
journal, April 2006

  • Balsley, B. B.; Frehlich, R. G.; Jensen, M. L.
  • Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 63, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1175/JAS3671.1

Research towards a wake-vortex advisory system for optimal aircraft spacing
journal, May 2005


Measurement of Atmospheric Turbulence by 2- μ m Doppler Lidar
journal, November 2005

  • Smalikho, Igor; Köpp, Friedrich; Rahm, Stephan
  • Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 22, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1175/JTECH1815.1

Performance of a Wind-Profiling Lidar in the Region of Wind Turbine Rotor Disks
journal, March 2012

  • Aitken, Matthew L.; Rhodes, Michael E.; Lundquist, Julie K.
  • Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 29, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1175/JTECH-D-11-00033.1

Dissipation of Turbulence in the Wake of a Wind Turbine
journal, November 2014


Observing and Simulating the Summertime Low-Level Jet in Central Iowa
journal, June 2015

  • Vanderwende, Brian J.; Lundquist, Julie K.; Rhodes, Michael E.
  • Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 143, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1175/MWR-D-14-00325.1

Nocturnal Low-Level Jet Characteristics Over Kansas During Cases-99
journal, November 2002

  • Banta, R. M.; Newsom, R. K.; Lundquist, J. K.
  • Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 105, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1023/A:1019992330866

Surface Layer Turbulence Measurements during a Frontal Passage
journal, July 2004


Coherent Doppler lidar signal covariance including wind shear and wind turbulence
journal, January 1994


Turbulence Dissipation Rate in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer: Observations and WRF Mesoscale Modeling during the XPIA Field Campaign
journal, January 2018

  • Muñoz-Esparza, Domingo; Sharman, Robert D.; Lundquist, Julie K.
  • Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 146, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1175/MWR-D-17-0186.1

A Method for Estimating the Turbulent Kinetic Energy Dissipation Rate from a Vertically Pointing Doppler Lidar, and Independent Evaluation from Balloon-Borne In Situ Measurements
journal, October 2010

  • O’Connor, Ewan J.; Illingworth, Anthony J.; Brooks, Ian M.
  • Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 27, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1175/2010JTECHA1455.1

Turbulence Structure of the Hurricane Boundary Layer between the Outer Rainbands
journal, August 2009

  • Zhang, Jun A.; Drennan, William M.; Black, Peter G.
  • Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 66, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1175/2009JAS2954.1

The average dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy in the neutral and unstable atmospheric surface layer
journal, June 1997

  • Albertson, John D.; Parlange, Marc B.; Kiely, Gerard
  • Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 102, Issue D12
  • DOI: 10.1029/96JD03346

Aircraft Observations of Boundary Layer Rolls off the Coast of California
journal, July 1997


Evaluation of a Procedure to Correct Spatial Averaging in Turbulence Statistics from a Doppler Lidar by Comparing Time Series with an Ultrasonic Anemometer
journal, October 2016

  • Brugger, Peter; Träumner, Katja; Jung, Christina
  • Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 33, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1175/JTECH-D-15-0136.1

On the universality of the Kolmogorov constant
journal, November 1995

  • Sreenivasan, Katepalli R.
  • Physics of Fluids, Vol. 7, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.868656

WRF-Fire: Coupled Weather–Wildland Fire Modeling with the Weather Research and Forecasting Model
journal, January 2013

  • Coen, Janice L.; Cameron, Marques; Michalakes, John
  • Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 52, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1175/JAMC-D-12-023.1

Representativeness of wind measurements with a cw Doppler lidar in the atmospheric boundary layer
journal, January 1995

  • Banakh, Victor A.; Smalikho, Igor N.; Köpp, Friedrich
  • Applied Optics, Vol. 34, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1364/AO.34.002055

An Improved Mellor–Yamada Level-3 Model: Its Numerical Stability and Application to a Regional Prediction of Advection Fog
journal, March 2006


Measurements of Boundary Layer Profiles in an Urban Environment
journal, June 2006

  • Frehlich, Rod; Meillier, Yannick; Jensen, Michael L.
  • Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 45, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1175/JAM2368.1

Modelling velocity spectra in the lower part of the planetary boundary layer
journal, July 1984

  • Olesen, H. R.; Larsen, S. E.; H�jstrup, J.
  • Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 29, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1007/BF00119794

Validating precision estimates in horizontal wind measurements from a Doppler lidar
journal, January 2017

  • Newsom, Rob K.; Brewer, W. Alan; Wilczak, James M.
  • Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 10, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.5194/amt-10-1229-2017

Measurements of wind turbulence parameters by a conically scanning coherent Doppler lidar in the atmospheric boundary layer
journal, January 2017

  • Smalikho, Igor N.; Banakh, Viktor A.
  • Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 10, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.5194/amt-10-4191-2017

Some aspects of turbulence structure through the depth of the convective boundary layer
journal, October 1979

  • Caughey, S. J.; Palmer, S. G.
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 105, Issue 446
  • DOI: 10.1002/qj.49710544606

A Numerical Study of Flow and Pollutant Dispersion Characteristics in Urban Street Canyons
journal, November 1999


Errors in radial velocity variance from Doppler wind lidar
journal, January 2016

  • Wang, H.; Barthelmie, R. J.; Doubrawa, P.
  • Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 9, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.5194/amt-9-4123-2016

Estimation of Velocity Error for Doppler Lidar Measurements
journal, October 2001


Statistical theory of turbulence-II
journal, September 1935

  • Taylor, Geoffrey Ingram
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 151, Issue 873
  • DOI: 10.1098/rspa.1935.0159

A First Course in Turbulence
January 1972


The spectral velocity tensor for homogeneous boundary-layer turbulence
journal, April 1989

  • Kristensen, L.; Lenschow, D. H.; Kirkegaard, P.
  • Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 47, Issue 1-4
  • DOI: 10.1007/bf00122327

Statistical Theory of Turbulence
journal, September 1935

  • Taylor, G. I.
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A - Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Vol. 151, Issue 873
  • DOI: 10.1098/rspa.1935.0158

Some aspects of turbulence structure through the depth of the convective boundary layer
journal, October 1979

  • Caughey, Sj; Palmer, Sg
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 105, Issue 446
  • DOI: 10.1256/smsqj.44605

Measurements of dissipation rate in frontal zones
journal, July 2001

  • Chapman, D.; Browning, Ka
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 127, Issue 576
  • DOI: 10.1256/smsqj.57604

How long is long enough when measuring fluxes and other turbulence statistics?
text, January 1993

  • Lenschow, Donald; Mann, Jakob; Kristensen, Leif
  • UCAR/NCAR
  • DOI: 10.5065/d6pg1ppk

Some aspects of turbulence structure through the depth of the convective boundary layer
journal, October 1979

  • Caughey, S. J.; Palmer, S. G.
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 105, Issue 446
  • DOI: 10.1002/qj.49710544606

The spectral velocity tensor for homogeneous boundary-layer turbulence
journal, April 1989

  • Kristensen, L.; Lenschow, D. H.; Kirkegaard, P.
  • Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 47, Issue 1-4
  • DOI: 10.1007/bf00122327

An Improved Mellor–Yamada Level-3 Model: Its Numerical Stability and Application to a Regional Prediction of Advection Fog
journal, March 2006


Doppler Lidar Measurements of Vertical Velocity Spectra in the Convective Planetary Boundary Layer
journal, June 2009

  • Lothon, Marie; Lenschow, Donald H.; Mayor, Shane D.
  • Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 132, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1007/s10546-009-9398-y

The Effect of Wind-Turbine Wakes on Summertime US Midwest Atmospheric Wind Profiles as Observed with Ground-Based Doppler Lidar
journal, July 2013


Development of an Improved Turbulence Closure Model for the Atmospheric Boundary Layer
journal, January 2009

  • Nakanishi, Mikio; Niino, Hiroshi
  • Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, Vol. 87, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.2151/jmsj.87.895

A Description of the Advanced Research WRF Version 2
text, January 2005

  • Skamarock, William; Klemp, Joseph; Dudhia, Jimy
  • UCAR/NCAR
  • DOI: 10.5065/d6dz069t

Works referencing / citing this record:

Aircraft wake vortex and turbulence measurement under near-ground effect using coherent Doppler lidar
journal, January 2019

  • Wu, Songhua; Zhai, Xiaochun; Liu, Bingyi
  • Optics Express, Vol. 27, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1364/oe.27.001142

Spatial and temporal variability of turbulence dissipation rate in complex terrain
journal, January 2019

  • Bodini, Nicola; Lundquist, Julie K.; Krishnamurthy, Raghavendra
  • Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 19, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.5194/acp-19-4367-2019

Estimation of turbulence dissipation rate from Doppler wind lidars and in situ instrumentation for the Perdigão 2017 campaign
journal, January 2019

  • Wildmann, Norman; Bodini, Nicola; Lundquist, Julie K.
  • Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 12, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.5194/amt-12-6401-2019

Do wind turbines pose roll hazards to light aircraft?
journal, January 2018

  • Tomaszewski, Jessica M.; Lundquist, Julie K.; Churchfield, Matthew J.
  • Wind Energy Science, Vol. 3, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.5194/wes-3-833-2018