An Aircraft Study of Turbulence Dissipation and Temperature Structure Function in the Unstable Marine Atmospheric Surface Layer,
Abstract
The dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, sigma, and the temperature structure function parameter, C sub T squared, were measured over water from the near surface (Z = 3m) to the top of the boundary layer. The near surface values of sigma and C sub T squared were used to calculate the velocity and temperature Monin-Obukhov scaling parameters. The unstable data were used to evaluate the feasibility of extrapolating the values of sigma and C sub T squared as a function of height with empirical scaling formulae. The dissipation rate scaling formula of Wyngaard et al. (1971a) gave a very good fit to an average of the sigma data for Z < Z sub i - 100. Although the C sub T squared data obeyed a (cube root of Z to the 4th power) height dependence for 0.1 Z sub i < Z < 0.5 Z sub i, the scaling formula of Wyngaard et al. (1971b) disagreed with the average C sub T squared by as much as 50%. At this point it is not clear if the discrepancy is a unique property of the marine boundary layer or if it is simply some unknown instrumental or analytic problem.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 17, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA084387
Entities
People
- Christopher W. Fairall
Organizations
- Braddock Dunn & McDonald