MTMG49BoundaryLayerMeteorologyandMicrometeorology

1.3 Fundamentals of Turbulence

Conceptually,itisusefultothinkoftheairflowwithintheboundarylayerasconsistingofthreecomponents:the
meanwind,wavesandturbulence.Turbulenceoccursbecauseoftheshearinthemeanwind,andthetemperature
stratificationcanenhanceorsuppressturbulence.Wavesoftenoccurinthenocturnalboundarylayer,wherethe
stablestratificationsupportsgravitywaves.Theflowofairoverhillsisonesourceofwaves.Turbulencepromotes
rapid mixing; wave motions do not. Turbulence is the source of much of the complication in modelling and
measuringtheboundarylayer.Wenowconsider
Thenatureofturbulence
Howitaffectsthebulk(mean)propertiesintheboundarylayer
Howitismodelled
Thedynamicsofturbulenceitself.
1. Reynolds averaging
Aplotofaproperty(windetc.)measuredintheABLshowshighfrequencyvariationsduetoturbulentmotion,
superimposedonlowfrequencyvariationsasweathersystemspassthrough.Theeasiestwaytoseparatethesetwo
componentsistothinkoftwocomponents:theinstantaneouswind u isthesumofthemeanwind u andthe
turbulencecontribution u ,suchthat
(1)
u u u ,
andsimilarlyforandothervariables.
Sketch1:IllustrationofReynoldsaveraging.
Fromobservationsatasinglepoint, u mightbea30minuteaverage,butinanumericalforecastmodelitcould
representahorizontalspatialaverageoverthe50100kmrepresentedbyasinglegridbox.
Inmeteorology,weareinterestedinforecastingthemeanquantitiessuchas u and ,while u and are
inherentlyrandomandtheinstantaneousvaluescannotbepredicted.Todeterminetheeffectofthefluctuationson
anequationwecanreplaceeachvariablebythesumofitsmeananditsfluctuationandsolve.Soalloccurrencesof
uwouldbereplacedusing(1).Butbydefinition u 0 ,soonemightthinkthatthefluctuationsaveragetozero.
However,wherewehavetheonefluctuatingquantitymultipliedbyanotherthisisnotthecase.Forexample,
uw (u u ' )( w w' ) u w u w'u ' w u ' w' .
(2)
Whentheaveragevalueoftheproductuviscalculated,theterms uw' and u' w averageouttozero,so
(3)
uw u w u ' w' .
Weareleftwithanextraterm,thecovarianceofuandw.Whatdoesthistermmean?

MTMG49BoundaryLayerMeteorologyandMicrometeorology

2. Heat transport by turbulence

Wenowconsiderhowturbulencecantransportheatandmomentumintheboundarylayer.Considerthesurface
layeronasunnydaywithnomeanwind.
Sketch2:Turbulentheatfluxinaconvectivesurfacelayer.

Excessheatenergyinanindividualairparcel:

Transportofheatbyoneeddy:

Meanheattransport:

Butthisisjustthesensibleheatflux!Infact,HisdefinedatalllevelsintheABL,andistheprimarymechanismfor
heattransportthroughtheABL.H(z=0)istheterminthesurfaceenergybudgetequation.
Sohowdoesthisaffectthethermodynamicequation?Ifweneglectthesmalleffectsofradiationandmolecular
diffusion,andconsideraboundarylayerwithnocloudorevaporatingprecipitation,theninstantaneouspotential
temperatureisconserved:
D
0
(4)
Dt
IntheappendixitisdescribedhowexpandingouttheadvectiontermsusingReynoldsaveragingresultsinanextra
termwhenweconsidertherateofchangeofhorizontalmeanpotentialtemperature:
D
w
1 H

.
(5)
Dt
z
C p z
Thissimplystatesthattherateofincreaseoftemperatureinalayerisproportionaltothesensibleheatenteringthe
layerfrombelowminusthesensibleheatleavingfromabove.
TomeasureHweneedrapidresponse(fasterthan10Hz)measurementsof w and :
Sonicanemometerprovides u , v and w .
Platinumresistancethermometerprovides T ,whichisalmostidenticalto .
Fromthesemeasurementswecalculate w ;thisisknownastheeddycorrelationmethod.
Asanaside,itturnsoutthattheradiationcanbeeasilyaddedto(5).Aswithsensibleheatflux,theradiativeheat
fluxcanbedefinedatallheightsintheatmosphere,socontinuingtheconventionofthesurfaceenergybudgetthat
Rnispositivedownwards,weobtain:

MTMG49BoundaryLayerMeteorologyandMicrometeorology
D
1 ( H Rn )

.
Dt
C p
z

3
(6)

Notethatinclearairtheadditionof Rn typicallyleadstoacoolingof13Kperday,whereas H canleadtoa

warmingorcoolingofseveralKperhour.However,attheboundariesofcloudstheradiationtermcandominate.
3. Momentum transport by turbulence
Inthesamewayasturbulencetransportsheatittransportsmomentum.Considerthecasewhenthemeanwindis
directedinthexdirection.
Sketch3:Turbulentmomentumflux.
Excesshorizontalmomentuminanindividualairparcel: u
Verticalmomentumtransportbyoneeddy: u w
Meanmomentumflux: u w
(Nm2)
Becausewindspeedinvariablyincreaseswithheightinthesurfacelayer, u w isinvariablynegative.Wetherefore
oftenusethe Reynoldsstress xz u w .Thesurfacevalueof xz isthedrag(forceperunitarea)ofthe
atmosphereonroughelementsofthesurface,butisalsothedragthatroughnesselementsexertonthewind.Itis
thereforecrucialtorepresentinweathermodels.
We can see how this affects the momentum equation by performing the same Reynolds averaging (see the
appendix).Neglectingthesmalleffectofmoleculardiffusion,thexmomentumequationforasmallparcelofairis
givenby
Du
1 p

fv .
Dt
x

(7)

After Reynolds averaging an extra term is introduced representing the frictional force per unit mass due to
turbulence
Du
1 p
u w

fv
,
Dt
x
z

(8)

andsimilarlyintheothermomentumequations.
4. The turbulence closure problem
Whatdowedowiththeextratermsthathaveappearedinthethermodynamicandmomentumequations?Wemight
attempttofindthembywritingpredictiveequationsforthem,i.e.anequationfor u' w' /t.However,whenwedo
this(usingReynoldsaveraging)wefindthattheequationcontainsthirdordertermssuchas u' v' w' .Apredictive

MTMG49BoundaryLayerMeteorologyandMicrometeorology

equationforthiscontainsevennastiertermsthatwedontknowwhattodowith.Thisproblemisknownasthe
turbulenceclosureproblem.
Onewaytogetaroundtheturbulenceclosureproblemistoretaintermsuptoaparticularorderandapproximatethe
rest.Inthefollowingsectionwewillseeanexampleofafirstorderclosure,wherethefirstmoments( u )are
retainedandthesecondmoments ( u' w' )areapproximated. Closure approximations canbe dividedinto local
schemes,wheretheunknownquantitiesareparameterisedintermsoflocalknownquantities(suchasthemeanwind
shearandtemperaturegradient),and nonlocalschemes,wheretheunknownquantitiesdependontheboundary
layerpropertiesoveralargerregionofspace.
5. Local first order closure: K theory
Wehavealreadyseenhowthegradientofaquantitytendstodeterminethedirectionoftheturbulentflux,withheat
tendingtoflowfromhottocold.Asimpleapproximationistoassumethatverticaltransportisproportionaltothe
gradientofthemean.Sofortemperatureflux:

Temperatureflux:

Momentumflux:

In these equations, Kh and Km arethe eddy diffusivities (in m2 s1)for heat and momentum, respectively. This
approachisknownas Ktheory orthe fluxgradient method.Notethatotherscalarstendtohavethesameeddy
diffusivityasheat.Thetreatmentofturbulenceinthiswayisexactlyanalogoustothewayinwhichmolecular
diffusionworks.Ifweconsiderhowthiswouldappearinthethermodynamicequation,thenassuming Kh tobe
constantwithheightwehave:
D
w
2

Kh
.
(9)
Dt
z
z 2
Thistermhasthesameformandhencethesameeffectasmoleculardiffusion,inthatittriestomixtheprofileuntil
itisuniform(i.e. u and independentofz).Inaconvectiveboundarylayerthisisrealised:theprofilebecomes
wellmixed.However,Khistypicallyaround106timeslargerthanthemolecularthermaldiffusioncoefficient ,so
turbulenceisfarmoreefficientatmixing.
However,westillneedtoknowwhat KhandKmare.Variousapproacheshavebeentakenandwillbecoveredin
futurelectures;EkmanconsideredtheeddydiffusivitytobeconstantthroughtheABL,butinthesurfacelayerwe
canrelateittothedistancefromthesurfaceandintherestoftheboundarylayeritcanberelatedtostability.

MTMG49BoundaryLayerMeteorologyandMicrometeorology
Furtherreading:Holtonp116121.

MTMG49BoundaryLayerMeteorologyandMicrometeorology

Appendix: Reynolds averaging of the advection terms (non-examinable)

TheLagranianderivativeofaquantitya(whichcouldbeu,etc.)canbewrittenas

Bycontinuity,

Da a
a
a
a

u
v
w
.
Dt
t
x
y
z

(A1)

u v w

0,
x y z

(A2)

sowecanaddamultiple(a)oftheabovethreetermstotheequationsofmotionwithoutchanginganything,asthey
sumtozero:
u v w
Da a
a
a
a

u
v
w
a

(A3)
.
Dt t
x
y
z
x y z
Bythechainrulefordifferentiationthismayberewrittenas
Da a ua va wa

.
Dt
t
x
y
z

(A4)

WethenapplyReynoldsdecompositionandrewrite a,u,v and w asthesumofthemeanandafluctuatingpart.

Whenaveragedweobtain
Da a u a v a w a u ' a ' v ' a ' w' a '

. (A5)
Dt
t
x
y
z
x
y
z

Notealsothattheoperationofdifferentiatingaquantitydoesnotalterthefactthatitaveragesouttozeroovera
longenoughperiod.Wethenexpandthederivativesonthelefthandsideoftheequationusingthechainruleand
usethecontinuityequationtocanceltermsinthereverseofthestepusedtogofrom(A1)to(A4)toobtain
Da a
a
a
a u ' a ' v ' a ' w' a '

u
v
w

. (A6)
Dt
t
x
y
z
x
y
z

Aswithalmostallotherpropertiesoftheatmosphere(temperature,mixingratio,windspeed,pressureetc.),the
turbulentfluxtermshaveamuchlargergradientintheverticalthanthehorizontal.Wearethereforejustifiedin
neglectingallbutthelastturbulentfluxterm,toleave
Da Da w' a '

Dt
Dt
z
.
a
a
a
a w' a '

u
v
w

t
x
y
z
z

(A7)

Comparing(A1)and(A7)weseethatifwearetoapplytheNavierStokesequationstoanaveragequantityrather
thananinstantaneousoneatapointinspace,wemustintroduceanextratermduetotheverticaltransportofthat
quantitybyturbulenteddies.