Kinematic simulation of turbulent flow and particle motions

This thesis describes a new method for simulating high Reynolds number turbulence which requires much less computing power. This involved both theoretical work - to understand and model the important processes - and computational work, to implement the model efficiently. There are 'many different techniques for modelling particle dispersion in turbulent flow (e.g. K-theory and Random Flight) but they make assumptions about the fluid-particle interaction and require empirical coefficients. Theoretical work on the motion of bubbles and varticles in idealised flows has shown that the instantaneous structure of the velocity field is important in determining particle trajectories, and that particle motion cannot currently be modelled reliably in terms of time- or ensemble-averaged fluid velocities. Therefore the solution of many practical problems requires the simulation of the instantaneous structure of a turbulent velocity field. This can now be provided with the very large computers and large amounts of computer time; even then, only low Reynolds number turbulence can be simulated. In the method developed here, the velocity field of homogeneous isotropic turbulence is simulated by a large number of random Fourier modes varying in space and time. They are chosen so that the flow field has certain properties, namely (i) it satisfies continuity, (ii) the two point Eulerian spatial spectra have known form (e.g. the Kolmogorov inertial subrange), (iii) the time dependence is modelled by dividing the turbulence into large- and small-scales eddies, and by assuming that the large eddies advect the small eddies which also decorrelate as they are advected, (iv) the large- and small-scale Fourier modes are each statistically independent and Gaussian. Computations of the streamlines in a sequence of realisations of the flow show that they have a similar structure to that obtained from direct numerical simulations. New results for the statistics of high Reynolds number turbulent flows are obtained, for the velocity and pressure fields . Particle statistics are obtained by computing the trajectories of many particles and taking the ensemble average. Particle dispersion has been computed for a range of particle parameters and the results agree well with experimental measurements such as those of Snyder and Lumley; this enables us to compute empirical coefficients (e.g. Lagrangian timescales) for use in simpler models such as Random Flight, and for modelling other processes such as combustion and mixing. Rapid Distortion Theory is used to investigate the effects of high shear rate on the structure of homogeneous turbulence in chapter 4. The results show that an important effect of the shear acting on initially isotropic turbulence is the selective amplification of structures having large length scale in the mean flow direction.I am grateful to Peterhouse for a three-year studentship, to Harwell for a three-year CASE studentship and computing sources, and to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics for various funding

A New Vortex Initialization Scheme Coupled with WRF-ARW

The ability of numerical simulations to predict typhoons has been improved in recent decades. Although the track prediction is satisfactory, the intensity prediction is still far from adequate. Vortex initialization is an efficient method to improve the estimations of the initial conditions for typhoon forecasting. In this paper, a new vortex initialization scheme is developed and evaluated. The scheme requires only observational data of the radius of maximum wind and the max wind speed in addition to the global analysis data. This scheme can also satisfy the vortex boundary conditions, which means that the vortex is continuously merged into the background environment. The scheme has a low computational cost and has the flexibility to adjust the vortex structure. It was evaluated with 3 metrics: track, center sea-level pressure (CSLP), and maximum surface wind speed (MWSP). Simulations were conducted using the WRF-ARW numerical weather prediction model. Super and severe typhoon cases with insufficiently strong initial MWSP were simulated without and with the vortex initialization scheme. The simulation results were compared with the 6-hourly observational data from Hong Kong Observatory (HKO). The vortex initialization scheme improved the intensity (CSLP and MWSP) prediction results. The scheme was also compared with other initialization methods and schemes

A review of progress and applications of pulsed doppler wind LiDARs

Doppler wind LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) makes use of the principle of optical Doppler shift between the reference and backscattered radiations to measure radial velocities at distances up to several kilometers above the ground. Such instruments promise some advantages, including its large scan volume, movability and provision of 3-dimensional wind measurements, as well as its relatively higher temporal and spatial resolution comparing with other measurement devices. In recent decades, Doppler LiDARs developed by scientific institutes and commercial companies have been well adopted in several real-life applications. Doppler LiDARs are installed in about a dozen airports to study aircraft-induced vortices and detect wind shears. In the wind energy industry, the Doppler LiDAR technique provides a promising alternative to in-situ techniques in wind energy assessment, turbine wake analysis and turbine control. Doppler LiDARs have also been applied in meteorological studies, such as observing boundary layers and tracking tropical cyclones. These applications demonstrate the capability of Doppler LiDARs for measuring backscatter coefficients and wind profiles. In addition, Doppler LiDAR measurements show considerable potential for validating and improving numerical models. It is expected that future development of the Doppler LiDAR technique and data processing algorithms will provide accurate measurements with high spatial and temporal resolutions under different environmental conditions

Evaluations on Profiles of the Eddy Diffusion Coefficients through Simulations of Super Typhoons in the Northwestern Pacific

The modeling of the eddy diffusion coefficients (also known as eddy diffusivity) in the first-order turbulence closure schemes is important for the typhoon simulations, since the coefficients control the magnitude of the sensible heat flux and the latent heat flux, which are energy sources for the typhoon intensification. Profiles of the eddy diffusion coefficients in the YSU planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme are evaluated in the advanced research WRF (ARW) system. Three versions of the YSU scheme (original, K025, and K200) are included in this study. The simulation results are compared with the observational data from track, center sea-level pressure (CSLP), and maximum surface wind speed (MWSP). Comparing with the original version, the K200 improves the averaged mean absolute errors (MAE) of track, CSLP, and MWSP by 6.0%, 3.7%, and 23.1%, respectively, while the K025 deteriorates the averaged MAEs of track, CSLP, and MWSP by 25.1%, 19.0%, and 95.0%, respectively. Our results suggest that the enlarged eddy diffusion coefficients may be more suitable for super typhoon simulations

High-resolution calculation of the urban vegetation fraction in the Pearl River Delta from the Sentinel-2 NDVI for urban climate model parameterization

Abstract The European Space Agency recently launched the Sentinel mission to perform terrestrial observations in support of tasks such as monitoring forests, detecting land-cover changes, and managing natural disasters. The resolution of these satellite images can be as high as 10 m depending on the bands. In this study, we used the red and near-infrared bands in 10-m resolution from Sentinel-2 images to calculate the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and estimate of the green vegetation fraction in urban areas within the Pearl River Delta region (PRD). We used vegetation coverage obtained from high-resolution Google satellite images as a reference to validate the vegetation estimates derived from the Sentinel-2 images, and found the correlation between the two to be as high as 0.97. As such, information from the Sentinel-2 imagery can supplement the urban canopy parameters (UCPs) derived from the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT) level-0 dataset, which is used in urban meteorological models. The rapid retrieval and open-source nature of the methodology supports high-resolution urban climate modeling studies

An assessment indicator for air ventilation and pollutant dispersion potential in an urban canopy with complex natural terrain and significant wind variations

In an urban planning context, an assessment indicator for evaluating a city's dispersion potential is beneficial, especially if the city has a complex natural terrain and significant wind variations. A study was conducted to implement an urban canopy drag indicator, taking site wind variation into account by involving both wind speed and direction in the calculations. Hong Kong (HK) was taken as an example due to its complicated natural topography and wind characteristics. A spatial distribution of an urban canopy drag over HK was determined based on wind data from 2004. The urban canopy drag values in three highly urbanized areas in HK, including Kowloon West, Kowloon East and Hong Kong Island North, were obtained and are discussed in detail. A fluid particle tracking program was developed and applied to identify the major wind paths in Kowloon West, with an area of approximately 5.5×6km as an example. We analyzed the diurnal variation in the dispersion times and the major wind paths in the region during both summer and winter. Our results estimated that the horizontal dispersion times of Kowloon West during both winter and summer were approximately 20min. By combining the wind paths from both seasons, we identified several major wind paths and critical ventilation areas in Kowloon West. This paper demonstrates the potential use of an urban canopy drag indicator for assessing air ventilation and pollutant dispersion in a city planning context. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

A comparative study of typhoon wind profiles derived from field measurements, meso-scale numerical simulations, and wind tunnel physical modeling

To investigate the applicability and limitations of both physical (wind tunnel test) and numerical (weather prediction) simulations of the atmospheric boundary layer, field measurements from a Doppler SODAR and a wind-profiler were combined to serve as validation criteria when comparing the results from a numerical simulation conducted by the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) and from wind tunnel testing. The comparisons focused on the simulation of the typhoon boundary layer, and revealed that a major drawback of wind tunnel testing is the use of an unrealistic approaching wind profile. As a result, the wind tunnel test results should only be considered valid when the measured wind profile is influenced predominantly by the underlying terrain. Meanwhile, the relatively coarse resolution of the underlying terrain model used in the numerical weather prediction system may lead to an inaccurate mean wind speed profile at lower altitudes, especially when the winds are coming from the land fetch. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd