Large-Eddy Simulations of the Steady Wintertime Antarctic Boundary Layer

Observations of two typical contrasting weakly stable and very stable boundary layers from the winter at Dome C station, Antarctica, are used as a benchmark for two centimetre-scale-resolution large-eddy simulations. By taking the Antarctic winter, the effects of the diurnal cycle are eliminated, enabling the study of the long-lived steady...

Effects of a fence on pollutant dispersion in a boundary layer exposed to a rural-to-urban transition

Simultaneous particle-image velocimetry and laser-induced fluorescence combined with large-eddy simulations are used to investigate the flow and pollutant dispersion behaviour in a rural-to-urban roughness transition. The urban roughness is characterized by an array of cubical obstacles in an aligned arrangement. A plane fence is added one...

Pollutant dispersion in boundary layers exposed to rural-to-urban transitions: Varying the spanwise length scale of the roughness

Both large-eddy simulations (LES) and water-tunnel experiments, using simultaneous stereoscopic particle image velocimetry and laser-induced fluorescence, have been used to investigate pollutant dispersion mechanisms in regions where the surface changes from rural to urban roughness. The urban roughness was characterized by an array of...

An Investigation of the Eddy-Covariance Flux Imbalance in a Year-Long Large-Eddy Simulation of the Weather at Cabauw

The low-frequency contribution to the systematic and random sampling errors in single-tower eddy-covariance flux measurements is investigated using large-eddy simulation (LES). We use a continuous LES integration that covers a full year of realistic weather conditions over Cabauw, the Netherlands, and emulate eddy-covariance measurements. We...

Stable Stratification Effects on Flow and Pollutant Dispersion in Boundary Layers Entering a Generic Urban Environment

Large-eddy simulations (LES) are used to investigate the effect of stable stratification on rural-to-urban roughness transitions. Smooth-wall turbulent boundary layers are subjected to a generic urban roughness consisting of cubes in an in-line arrangement. Two line sources of pollutant are added to investigate the effect on pollutant dispersion...

A Year-Long Large-Eddy Simulation of the Weather over Cabauw: An Overview

Results are presented of two large-eddy simulation (LES) runs of the entire year 2012 centered at the Cabauw observational supersite in the Netherlands. The LES is coupled to a regional weather model that provides the large-scale information. The simulations provide three-dimensional continuous time series of LES-generated turbulence and clouds,...

Convective boundary layers driven by nonstationary surface heat fluxes

In this study the response of dry convective boundary layers to nonstationary surface heat fluxes is systematically investigated. This is relevant not only during sunset and sunrise but also, for example, when clouds modulate incoming solar radiation. Because the time scale of the associated change in surface heat fluxes may differ from case to...

A statistical approach to the life cycle analysis of cumulus clouds selected in a virtual reality environment

In this study, a new method is developed to investigate the entire life cycle of shallow cumuli in large eddy simulations. Although trained observers have no problem in distinguishing the different life stages of a cloud, this process proves difficult to automate, because cloud-splitting and cloud-merging events complicate the distinction...