Publication

Signatures of coherent flow structures in the atmospheric surface layer over Lake Geneva

Abstract

Reliable estimates of air-water exchange of momentum, heat, and gas are vital for understanding boundary layer dynamics and for developing accurate global and regional climate and weather forecasting models. Spatiotemporal variability of physical processes, below and above the water surface and at the interface, contribute to the uncertainty of these estimates. Air-side exchange processes are closely related to various phenomena in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL), which frequently manifest themselves as coherent structures in turbulent flow fields. The identification of such structures and their dynamics is essential for determining their role in the variability of air-water fluxes.

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Related concepts (33)
Boundary layer
In physics and fluid mechanics, a boundary layer is the thin layer of fluid in the immediate vicinity of a bounding surface formed by the fluid flowing along the surface. The fluid's interaction with the wall induces a no-slip boundary condition (zero velocity at the wall). The flow velocity then monotonically increases above the surface until it returns to the bulk flow velocity. The thin layer consisting of fluid whose velocity has not yet returned to the bulk flow velocity is called the velocity boundary layer.
Fluid dynamics
In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including aerodynamics (the study of air and other gases in motion) and hydrodynamics (the study of liquids in motion). Fluid dynamics has a wide range of applications, including calculating forces and moments on aircraft, determining the mass flow rate of petroleum through pipelines, predicting weather patterns, understanding nebulae in interstellar space and modelling fission weapon detonation.
Turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between those layers. Turbulence is commonly observed in everyday phenomena such as surf, fast flowing rivers, billowing storm clouds, or smoke from a chimney, and most fluid flows occurring in nature or created in engineering applications are turbulent.
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