Evolution and Features of Dust Devil-Like Vortices in Turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard Convection—A Numerical Study Using Direct Numerical Simulation

Dust devils are convective vortices with a vertical axis of rotation that are made visible by entrained soil particles. These soil particles contribute to the atmospheric aerosol input, influencing the Earth radiation budget. Quantifying this contribution requires reliable information about the statistics of dust devils, their formation process, and how they are maintained. In the past, this information was mainly derived from field experiments and large-eddy simulations (LESs). Field experiments suffer from the erratic occurrence of dust devils and the limited area that can be monitored reliably. In LESs, dust devils cannot be resolved completely, especially close to the ground. Additionally, they are affected by numerical features of surface boundary conditions, as well as subgrid-scale models in an unknown way. To mitigate these limitations, we employ direct numerical simulations (DNSs) to improve our understanding of dust devils. We comprehensively investigate the statistics and structure of dust devils for Rayleigh numbers up to 1011 using DNS of Rayleigh-Bénard convection between two plates for the first time. We find that dust devil-like structures occur in DNS with Rayleigh numbers much lower than in the atmosphere (≥107). These results support previous DNS studies in which vortices with vertical axes were observed but not further investigated. The dust devil statistics strongly depend on the Rayleigh number and velocity boundary conditions, but depend little on the aspect ratio of the model domain. Simulated dust devils show very similar properties to convective vortices analyzed in LESs of the atmospheric boundary layer. © 2021. The Authors

Heat transport measurements in turbulent rotating Rayleigh-Benard convection

We present experimental heat transport measurements of turbulent Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection with rotation about a vertical axis. The fluid, water with Prandtl number ($\sigma$) about 6, was confined in a cell which had a square cross section of 7.3 cm$\times$7.3 cm and a height of 9.4 cm. Heat transport was measured for Rayleigh numbers $2\times 10^5 <$ Ra $< 5\times 10^8$ and Taylor numbers $0 <$ Ta $< 5\times 10^{9}$. We show the variation of normalized heat transport, the Nusselt number, at fixed dimensional rotation rate $\Omega_D$, at fixed Ra varying Ta, at fixed Ta varying Ra, and at fixed Rossby number Ro. The scaling of heat transport in the range $10^7$ to about $10^9$ is roughly 0.29 with a Ro dependent coefficient or equivalently is also well fit by a combination of power laws of the form $a Ra^{1/5} + b Ra^{1/3}$. The range of Ra is not sufficient to differentiate single power law or combined power law scaling. The overall impact of rotation on heat transport in turbulent convection is assessed.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure

Toward Large-Eddy Simulations of Dust Devils of Observed Intensity: Effects of Grid Spacing, Background Wind, and Surface Heterogeneities

Dust devils are convective vortices with a vertical axis of rotation made visible by lifted soil particles. Currently, there is great uncertainty about the extent to which dust devils contribute to the atmospheric aerosol input and thereby influence Earth's radiation budget. Past efforts to quantify the aerosol transport and study their formation, maintenance, and statistics using large-eddy simulation (LES) have been of limited success. Therefore, some important features of dust devil-like vortices simulated with LES still do not compare well with those of observed ones. One major difference is the simulated value of the core pressure drop, which is almost 1 order of magnitude smaller compared to the observed range of 250 to 450 Pa. However, most of the existing numerical simulations are based on highly idealized setups and coarse grid spacings. In this study, we investigate the effects of various factors on the simulated vortex strength with high-resolution LES. For the fist time, we are able to reproduce observed core pressures by using a high spatial resolution of 2 m, a model setup with moderate background wind and a spatially heterogeneous surface heat flux. It is found that vortices mainly appear at the lines of horizontal flow convergence above the centers of the strongly heated patches, which is in contrast to some older observations in which vortices seemed to be created along the patch edges

Comparison of conventional Lagrangian stochastic footprint models against LES driven footprint estimates

In this study we introduce a comparison method for footprint model results by evaluating the performance of conventional Lagrangian stochastic (LS) footprint models that use parameterised flow field characteristics with results of a Lagrangian trajectory model embedded in a large eddy simulation (LES) framework. The two conventional models follow the particles backward and forward in time while the trajectories in LES only evolve forward in time. We assess their performance in two unstably stratified boundary layers at observation levels covering the whole depth of the atmospheric boundary layer. We present a concept for footprint model comparison that can be applied for 2-D footprints and demonstrate that comparison of only cross wind integrated footprints is not sufficient for purposes facilitating two dimensional footprint information. Because the flow field description among the three models is most realistic in LES we use those results as the reference in the comparison. We found that the agreement of the two conventional models against the LES is generally better for intermediate measurement heights and for the more unstable case, whereas the two conventional flux footprint models agree best under less unstable conditions. The model comparison in 2-D was found quite sensitive to the grid resolution

Work process-related lead userness as an antecedent of innovative behavior and user innovation in organizations

Recent studies have identified that employees can be lead users of their employing firm's products, and valuable sources of product innovation, residing within organizational boundaries. We extend this line of thought by recognizing that employees can be lead users with regard to internal work processes. We define work process-related lead userness (WPLU) as the extent to which employees experience unsatisfied process-related needs ahead of others, and expect high benefits from solutions to these needs. We hypothesize a positive association with user innovation in the workplace, evidenced by the development of tools, equipment, materials and methods. We test a moderated mediation model delineating how and when WPLU is related to user innovation within organizational boundaries. Drawing on survey data from 104 employees and 13 supervisors in a forensic services organization, we find that WPLU contributes to user innovation via engagement in innovative work behavior, especially when employees have higher self-efficacy (perceived capability to overcome obstacles) and lower job autonomy (situational constraints on the job)

Modeling deep ocean convection: Large eddy simulation in comparison with laboratory experiments

A large-eddy simulation model (LES) has been applied to study deep convective processes in a stratified ocean driven by the energetic cooling at the ocean surface. Closely related to a recent laboratory experiment, the numerical experiment deals with the inverted problem of the growth of a convective mixed layer driven by a localized source of bottom heating in a rotating, stably stratified fluid. In general, good agreement is found between numerical and laboratory results. After onset of the heating a well-mixed layer forms above the heated circular surface. Although small-scale turbulence quantities like rms velocities and length scale can be best described by the nonrotating turbulent velocity and length scales, they are also found to differ significantly from a nonrotating control run, which indicates that rotation affects but does not control the turbulence. Due to the horizontal radial temperature gradient between the mixed layer and the ambient fluid a rim current develops around the periphery of the heated surface. Its near-surface maximum can be well described by a simple thermal wind law. The strong counterrotating current also observed in the laboratory at greater heights above the surface is found to be mainly driven by surface friction and should not be observed in the ocean. As time progresses, the rim current becomes unstable, eventually generating a field of baroclinic eddies that stop the mixed layer growth by causing some horizontal exchange between the convective layer and its cooler surrounding. The wavelength of the instabilities slowly increases with time and is clearly related to the local Rossby radius

Large eddy simulation of thermally induced oscillations in the convective boundary layer

Mesoscale circulations induced by differential boundary layer heating due to surface inhomogeneities on scales of 5 km and more can significantly change the average properties and the structure of the convective boundary layer (CBL) as well as trigger off temporal oscillations. The results of one of the first numerical case studies using large eddy simulation (LES) on the mesoscale suggest that mesoscale circulations exhibit a considerably larger average kinetic energy than convection under homogeneous conditions. This affects turbulent transport processes and should be accounted for in larger-scale models even if their turbulence parameterizations rely on homogeneous control runs of high-resolution models. This case study uses the Hannover parallelized large eddy simulation model (PALM) with prescribed 1D sinusoidal surface heat flux variations on wavelengths from 2.5 to 40 km. The resulting mesoscale circulations are analyzed by means of domain-averaged cross sections, time averaged and normalized with the boundary layer height, as well as power spectra and domain-averaged time series. The simulated mesoscale circulations were periodic. Vertical profiles and time series demonstrate that the onset of the mesoscale circulation triggers off a temporal boundary layer oscillation, whose period and amplitude depend on the surface heat flux perturbation wavelength and amplitude and on the background wind component perpendicular to the surface inhomogeneity orientation. Spectral analysis shows that the mesoscale circulations damp convection equally in all directions. A hypothesis of the oscillation mechanism is briefly discussed. Copyright 2003 American Meteorological Societ

Increased Mixing and Turbulence in the Wake of Offshore Wind Farm Foundations

The addition of offshore wind farms (OWFs) to stratified regions of shelf seas poses an anthropogenic source of turbulence, in which the foundation structures remove power from the oceanic flow that is fed into turbulent mixing in the wake downstream. The loss of stratification within the wake of a single OWF structure is observed for the first time by means of field observations, which enable a qualitative characterization of the disturbed flow downstream. These results are complemented with high-resolution large eddy simulations of four different stratification strengths that allow for a quantification of turbulence and mixing quantities in the wake of a foundation structure. The turbulent wake of a structure is narrow and highly energetic within the first 100 m, with the dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy well above background levels downstream of the structure. A single monopile is responsible for 7–10% additional mixing to that of the bottom mixed layer, whereby ∼10% of the turbulent kinetic energy generated by the structure is used in mixing. Although the effect of a single turbine on stratification is relatively low, large-scale OWFs could significantly affect the vertical structure of a weakly stratified water column. Further, rough estimates show that the rate of formation of stratification in the study area is of the same order of magnitude as the additional mixing promoted by the structures, thus OWFs could modify the stratification regime and water column dynamics on a seasonal scale, depending on local conditions and farm geometries

Association between antimicrobial usage, biosecurity measures as well as farm performance in German farrow-to-finish farms

Background: Antimicrobial usage in food producing animals is of major concern. A clear link between the extent of use and the development of antimicrobial resistance has already been demonstrated. To evaluate strategies that may reduce the antimicrobial usage while assuring pig health and welfare, it requires profound knowledge of factors that are associated with antimicrobial usage. Data on biosecurity and herd management practices are important parameters to identify risk factors which are related to a higher antimicrobial usage. To investigate between-farm variations of high and low usage the treatment incidence (TI) per age group in 60 German farrow-to-finish herds was qualitatively and quantitatively analysed and linked to biosecurity measures, and herd management characteristics. Results: Weaned pigs received most of the treatments (median TI=487.6), followed by suckling pigs (median TI=138.9). Suckling pigs were treated with critically important antimicrobials (3rd and 4th generation cephalosporines) to a remarkable extent. The number of sows present at site (p<0.01) and a low score for external biosecurity (p=0.06) were associated with a higher antimicrobial usage in pigs from birth till slaughter. Herds with a higher treatment incidence in growing pigs (TI 200days): i) were located in a region with a high pig density (p<0.01), ii) had a less strict access check for visitors and personnel (p<0.01) and iii) scored lower in the subcategory cleaning and disinfection' (internal biosecurity) (p<0.01). Herds with a higher treatment incidence in breeding pigs weaned more piglets per sow and year and scored better in the internal biosecurity level (p=0.02). Conclusions: With the main focus on the treatment incidence in pigs from birth till slaughter and in breeding pigs risk factors for a high usage in these age groups were identified. The level of biosecurity of a herd was associated with the amount of antimicrobials used. Therefore, the findings in this study indicate possible points of action in the reduction and prudent use of antimicrobials in Germany. The active improvement of biosecurity measures could be a promising alternative to reduce antimicrobial usage on herd level