TY - JOUR
T1 - Critical flux Richardson number for Kolmogorov turbulence enabled by TKE transport
AU - Freire, Livia S.
AU - Chamecki, Marcelo
AU - Bou-Zeid, Elie R.
AU - Dias, Nelson L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Royal Meteorological Society
PY - 2019/4
Y1 - 2019/4
N2 - In stably stratified flows, the flux Richardson number Ri f is a measure of the ratio between buoyancy destruction and shear production of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). In flows with local equilibrium between shear production, buoyancy destruction and dissipation of TKE, the critical Ri f,c≈0.21 corresponds to the limit above which Kolmogorov turbulence can no longer be sustained. Analysis of the TKE and velocity variance budget equations shows that the critical Ri f,c is increased by the presence of positive turbulent transport of TKE. This situation is observed, for example, in the roughness sublayer above plant canopies, as demonstrated using field data from the Amazon rainforest.
AB - In stably stratified flows, the flux Richardson number Ri f is a measure of the ratio between buoyancy destruction and shear production of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). In flows with local equilibrium between shear production, buoyancy destruction and dissipation of TKE, the critical Ri f,c≈0.21 corresponds to the limit above which Kolmogorov turbulence can no longer be sustained. Analysis of the TKE and velocity variance budget equations shows that the critical Ri f,c is increased by the presence of positive turbulent transport of TKE. This situation is observed, for example, in the roughness sublayer above plant canopies, as demonstrated using field data from the Amazon rainforest.
KW - Kolmogorov turbulence
KW - flux Richardson number
KW - stratified turbulence
KW - supercritical turbulence
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U2 - 10.1002/qj.3511
DO - 10.1002/qj.3511
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85063153538
SN - 0035-9009
VL - 145
SP - 1551
EP - 1558
JO - Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
JF - Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
IS - 721
ER -