Efficacy of the Cell Perturbation Method in Large-Eddy Simulations of Boundary Layer Flow over Complex Terrain
Abstract
A challenge to simulating turbulent flow in multiscale atmospheric applications is the efficient generation of resolved turbulence motions over an area of interest. One approach is to apply small perturbations to flow variables near the inflow planes of turbulence-resolving simulation domains nested within larger mesoscale domains. While this approach has been examined in numerous idealized and simple terrain cases, its efficacy in complex terrain environments has not yet been fully explored. Here, we examine the benefits of the stochastic cell perturbation method (CPM) over real complex terrain using data from the 2017 Perdigão field campaign, conducted in an approximately 2-km wide valley situated between two nearly parallel ridges. Following a typical configuration for multiscale simulation using nested domains within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to downscale from the mesoscale to a large-eddy simulation (LES), we apply the CPM on a domain with horizontal grid spacing of 150 m. At this resolution, spurious coherent structures are often observed under unstable atmospheric conditions with moderate mean wind speeds. Results from such an intermediate resolution grid are often nested down for finer, more detailed LES, where these spurious structures adversely affect the development of turbulence on the subsequent finer grid nest.more »
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of Twente, Enschede (Netherlands)
- Univ. of Twente, Enschede (Netherlands)
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1866158
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-818072
Journal ID: ISSN 2073-4433; 1028491
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344; AGS-1565483
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Atmosphere (Basel)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Atmosphere (Basel); Journal Volume: 12; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2073-4433
- Publisher:
- MDPI
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 17 WIND ENERGY; 58 GEOSCIENCES; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; large-eddy simulation; complex terrain; weather research and forecasting model; turbulence generation; cell perturbation method; the Perdigão
Citation Formats
Connolly, Alex, van Veen, Leendert, Neher, James, Geurts, Bernard J., Mirocha, Jeff D., and Chow, Fotini Katopodes. Efficacy of the Cell Perturbation Method in Large-Eddy Simulations of Boundary Layer Flow over Complex Terrain. United States: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.3390/atmos12010055.
Connolly, Alex, van Veen, Leendert, Neher, James, Geurts, Bernard J., Mirocha, Jeff D., & Chow, Fotini Katopodes. Efficacy of the Cell Perturbation Method in Large-Eddy Simulations of Boundary Layer Flow over Complex Terrain. United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12010055
Connolly, Alex, van Veen, Leendert, Neher, James, Geurts, Bernard J., Mirocha, Jeff D., and Chow, Fotini Katopodes. Thu .
"Efficacy of the Cell Perturbation Method in Large-Eddy Simulations of Boundary Layer Flow over Complex Terrain". United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12010055. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1866158.
@article{osti_1866158,
title = {Efficacy of the Cell Perturbation Method in Large-Eddy Simulations of Boundary Layer Flow over Complex Terrain},
author = {Connolly, Alex and van Veen, Leendert and Neher, James and Geurts, Bernard J. and Mirocha, Jeff D. and Chow, Fotini Katopodes},
abstractNote = {A challenge to simulating turbulent flow in multiscale atmospheric applications is the efficient generation of resolved turbulence motions over an area of interest. One approach is to apply small perturbations to flow variables near the inflow planes of turbulence-resolving simulation domains nested within larger mesoscale domains. While this approach has been examined in numerous idealized and simple terrain cases, its efficacy in complex terrain environments has not yet been fully explored. Here, we examine the benefits of the stochastic cell perturbation method (CPM) over real complex terrain using data from the 2017 Perdigão field campaign, conducted in an approximately 2-km wide valley situated between two nearly parallel ridges. Following a typical configuration for multiscale simulation using nested domains within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to downscale from the mesoscale to a large-eddy simulation (LES), we apply the CPM on a domain with horizontal grid spacing of 150 m. At this resolution, spurious coherent structures are often observed under unstable atmospheric conditions with moderate mean wind speeds. Results from such an intermediate resolution grid are often nested down for finer, more detailed LES, where these spurious structures adversely affect the development of turbulence on the subsequent finer grid nest. We therefore examine the impacts of the CPM on the representation of turbulence within the nested LES domain under moderate mean flow conditions in three different stability regimes: weakly convective, strongly convective, and weakly stable. In addition, two different resolutions of the underlying terrain are used to explore the role of the complex topography itself in generating turbulent structures. We demonstrate that the CPM improves the representation of turbulence within the LES domain, relative to the use of high-resolution complex terrain alone. During the convective conditions, the CPM improves the rate at which smaller-scales of turbulence form, while also accelerating the attenuation of the spurious numerically generated roll structures near the inflow boundary. During stable conditions, the coarse mesh spacing of the intermediate LES domain used herein was insufficient to maintain resolved turbulence using CPM as the flow develops downstream, highlighting the need for yet higher resolution under even weakly stable conditions, and the importance of accurate representation of flow on intermediate LES grids.},
doi = {10.3390/atmos12010055},
journal = {Atmosphere (Basel)},
number = 1,
volume = 12,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 2020},
month = {Thu Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 2020}
}
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