Collaborative Research: Effects of Stability, Canopies, and Non-Stationarity on Dispersion in the Stable Boundary Layer

Abstract

Under previous support from the Army Research Office (ARO), we developed Lagrangian particle dispersion models (LPDMs) for dispersion in convective and stable planetary boundary layers (PBLs) including some with a forest canopy and showed that predicted concentration fields agreed well with laboratory data and field observations. For the ARO program just completed, this work was extended to dispersion in more stable PBLs and stable boundary layers (SBLs) over horizontally heterogeneous surfaces. This was pursued in part using our new coupled multi-layer canopy - soil model. The program consisted of three main investigations. The first had two parts: a) further development of the coupled-canopy large-eddy simulation (LES) model and comparison with observations from the CHATS (Canopy Horizontal Array Turbulence Study) field program, and b) modeling of canopy dispersion using the LPDM-LES approach and assessment of this with the CHATS dispersion data. The second was an investigation of the effects of a surface-temperature heterogeneity on dispersion in the SBL. The third study a) used the coupled model to produce a more stable boundary layer and applied the LES fields generated from this to drive our LPDM, and b) developed an LPDM based on parameterized turbulence profiles for modeling dispersion in more stable PBLs.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 31, 2013
Accession Number
ADA609408

Entities

People

  • Edward G. Patton
  • Jeffrey C. Weil
  • Peter P Sullivan

Organizations

  • University of Colorado Boulder

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheric Chemistry
  • Boundary Layer
  • Data Analysis
  • Ecology
  • Engineering
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Large Eddy Simulation
  • Layers
  • Leading Edges
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Meteorology
  • Simulations
  • Students
  • Surface Temperature
  • Temperature Gradients
  • Turbulence
  • Turbulent Mixing

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Forest Ecology
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers