Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Turbulent Flow at 190 m Height Above London During 2006–2008: A Climatology and the Applicability of Similarity Theory

  • Article
  • Published:
Boundary-Layer Meteorology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Flow and turbulence above urban terrain is more complex than above rural terrain, due to the different momentum and heat transfer characteristics that are affected by the presence of buildings (e.g. pressure variations around buildings). The applicability of similarity theory (as developed over rural terrain) is tested using observations of flow from a sonic anemometer located at 190.3 m height in London, U.K. using about 6500 h of data. Turbulence statistics—dimensionless wind speed and temperature, standard deviations and correlation coefficients for momentum and heat transfer—were analysed in three ways. First, turbulence statistics were plotted as a function only of a local stability parameter z/Λ (where Λ is the local Obukhov length and z is the height above ground); the σ i /u * values (i = u, v, w) for neutral conditions are 2.3, 1.85 and 1.35 respectively, similar to canonical values. Second, analysis of urban mixed-layer formulations during daytime convective conditions over London was undertaken, showing that atmospheric turbulence at high altitude over large cities might not behave dissimilarly from that over rural terrain. Third, correlation coefficients for heat and momentum were analyzed with respect to local stability. The results give confidence in using the framework of local similarity for turbulence measured over London, and perhaps other cities. However, the following caveats for our data are worth noting: (i) the terrain is reasonably flat, (ii) building heights vary little over a large area, and (iii) the sensor height is above the mean roughness sublayer depth.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Al-Jiboori MH (2008) Correlation coefficients in urban turbulence. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 126: 311–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Jiboori MH, Fei H (2005) Surface roughness around a 325-m meteorological tower and its effect on urban turbulence. Adv Atmos Sci 22: 595–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Jiboori MH, Xu Y, Qian Y (2002) Local similarity relationships in the urban boundary layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 102: 63–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barlow JF, Coceal O (2009) A review of urban roughness sublayer turbulence. UK Met Office Technical Report no. 527, 68 pp

  • Barlow JF, Dobre A, Smalley RJ, Arnold SJ, Tomlin AS, Belcher SE (2009) Referencing of street-level flows measured during the DAPPLE 2004 campaign. Atmos Environ 43: 5536–5544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brost RA, Wyngaard JC, Lenschow DH (1982) Marine stratocumulus layers. Part II: Turbulence budgets. J Atmos Sci 39: 818–836

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caughey SJ, Palmer SG (1979) Some aspects of turbulence structure through the depth of the convective boundary layer. Q J Roy Meteorol Soc 105: 811–827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang S, Huynh G, Tofsted D (2009) Turbulence characteristics in Oklahoma City measured from an 83-meters pseudo tower. In: Eighth symposium on the urban environment, Phoenix, Arizona, January 12–15

  • Christen A (2005) Atmospheric turbulence and surface energy exchange in urban environments. PhD thesis, Faculty of Science, University of Basel, 142 pp

  • Clarke CF, Ching JKS, Godowich JM (1982) A study of turbulence in an urban environment. EPA technical report, EPA 600-S3-82-062

  • Dore A, Vieno M, Fournier N, Weston KJ, Sutton MA (2006) Development of a new wind-rose for the British Isles using radiosonde data, and application to an atmospheric transport model. Q J Roy Meteorol Soc 132: 2769–2784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans S (2009) 3D cities and numerical weather prediction models: an overview of the methods used in the LUCID project. CASA working paper 148, 19 pp

  • Filho EPM, Sa LDA, Karam HA, Alvala RCS, Souza A, Periera MMR (2008) Atmospheric surface layer characteristics of turbulence above the Pantanal wetland regarding the similarity theory. Agric For Meteorol 148: 883–892

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimmond CSB, Oke TR (1999) Aerodynamic properties of urban areas derived from analysis of surface form. J Appl Meteorol 38: 1262–1292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanna S, Zhou Y (2007) Results of analysis of sonic anemometer observations at street level and rooftop in Manhatan. In: 6th international conference on urban air quality, Limassol, Cyprus, March 27–29, 4 pp

  • Inagaki A, Kanda M (2008) Turbulent flow similarity over an array of cubes in near-neutrally stratified atmospheric flow. J Fluid Mech 615: 101–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaimal JC, Finnigan JJ (1994) Atmospheric boundary layer flows: their structure and measurements. Oxford University Press, New York, p 289

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaimal JC, Eversole RA, Lenschow DH, Stankov BB, Kahn PH, Businger JA (1982) Spectral characteristics of the convective boundary layer over uneven terrain. J Atmos Sci 39: 1098–1114

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanda M, Moriizumi T (2009) Momentum and heat transfer over urban-like surfaces. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 131: 385–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kono H, Tamura D, Iwai Y, Aoki T, Watanabe S, Nishioka M, Ito Y, Adachi T (2008) Experimental study of turbulence and vertical temperature profile in the urban boundary layer. In: Proceedings of 12th international conference on harmonisation within atmospheric dispersion modelling for regulatory purposes, October 6–9, Cavtat, Croatia, 5 pp

  • Langford B, Nemitz E, House E, Phillips GJ, Famulari D, Davison B, Hopkins JR, Lewis AC, Hewitt CN (2010) Fluxes and concentrations of volatile organic compounds above central London, UK. Atmos Chem Phys 10: 627–645

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenschow DH, Wyngaard JC, Pennell WT (1980) Mean-field and second moment budgets in a baroclinic, convective boundary layer. J Atmos Sci 37: 1313–1326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Ohtaki E (1997) An independent method to determine the height of the mixed layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 85: 497–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu G, Sun J, Jiang W (2009) Observational verification of urban surface roughness parameters derived from morphological models. Meteorol Appl 16: 205–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundquist JK, Leach M, Gouveia F (2004) Turbulent kinetic energy in the Oklahoma City urban environment. In: 5th conference on urban environment, Vancouver, BC, August 23–27, 5 pp

  • Macdonald RW, Griffiths RF, Hall DJ (1998) An improved method for estimation of surface roughness of obstacle arrays. Atmos Environ 32: 1857–1864

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin C (2009) Transportation of urban ultrafine particles in four European cities. PhD thesis, University of Manchester, 282 pp

  • Mengesha YG (1999) Atmospheric boundary-layer flow over topography: data analysis and representations of topography. MSc thesis, York University, Toronto, Canada

  • Moraes OLL, Acevedo OC, Degrazia GA, Anfossi D, da Silva R, Anabor V (2005) Surface layer turbulence parameters over complex terrain. Atmos Environ 39: 3103–3112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moriwaki R, Kanda M (2006) Local and global similarity in turbulent transfer of heat, water vapour and CO 2 in the dynamic convective sub-layer over a suburban area. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 120: 163–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortarini L, Ferrero E, Richiardone R, Falabino S, Anfossi D, Trini Castelli S, Carretto E (2009) Assessment of dispersion parameterizations through wind data measured by three sonic anemometers in a urban canopy. Adv Sci Res 3: 91–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padhra A (2009) Estimating the sensitivity of urban surface drag to building morphology. PhD thesis, University of Reading, UK, 143 pp

  • Pahlow M, Parlange M, Porté-Agel F (2001) On Monin-Obukhov similarity in the stable atmospheric boundary layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 99: 225–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panofsky HA, Tennekes H, Lenschow DH, Wyngaard JC (1977) The characteristics of turbulent velocity components in the surface layer under convective conditions. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 11: 355–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian W, Princevac M, Venkatram A (2009) Relationships between urban and suburban micrometeorological variables. In: Eighth symposium on the urban environment, Phoenix, Arizona, January 12–15, 11 pp

  • Quan L, Hu F (2009) Relationship between turbulent flux and variance in the urban canopy. Meteorol Atmos Phys 104: 29–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raupach MR (1994) Simplified expressions for vegetation roughness length and zero-plane displacement as functions of canopy height and area index. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 71: 211–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rotach MW (1999) On the influence of the urban roughness sublayer on turbulence and dispersion. Atmos Environ 33: 4001–4008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth M (1993) Turbulent transfer relationships over an urban surface. II: Integral statistics. Q J Roy Meteorol Soc 119: 1105–1120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth M (2000) Review of atmospheric turbulence over cities. Q J Roy Meteorol Soc 126: 941–990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sato A, Michioka T, Takimoto H (2008) Field experiments of flow and dispersion within street canyons using outdoor urban scale model. In: 12th conference on harmonization within the atmospheric dispersion modelling for regulatory purposes, Cavtat, Croatia, October 6–9, 18 pp

  • Schmid HP (1997) Experimental design for flux measurements: matching scales of observation and fluxes. Agric For Meteorol 87: 179–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorbjan Z (1989) Structure of the atmospheric boundary layer. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, p 317

    Google Scholar 

  • Stull RB (1988) An introduction to boundary layer meteorology. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, p 680

    Google Scholar 

  • Tampieri F, Maurizi A, Viola A (2009) An investigation on temperature variance scaling in the atmosphere surface layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 132: 31–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verkaik JW, Holtslag AAM (2007) Wind profiles, momentum fluxes and roughness lengths at Cabauw revisited. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 122: 701–719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vittal Murty KPR, Prasad GSSD, Sá LDA, Filho EPM, de Souza A, Malhi Y (1998) A method to determine the height of the mixed layer from spectral peak frequency of horizontal velocity. In: X Congresso Brasileiro de Meteorologia, 1998, Brasília. Anais do X Congresso Brasileiro de Meteorologia, 4 pp

  • Wesely ML, Thurtell GW, Tanner CB (1970) Eddy correlation measurements of sensible heat flux near the earth’s surface. J Appl Meteorol 9: 45–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilczak JM, Phillips MS (1986) An indirect estimation of convective boundary layer structure for use in pollutant dispersion models. J Clim Appl Meteorol 25: 1609–1624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilczak JM, Oncley SP, Stage SA (2001) Sonic anemometer tilt correction algorithms. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 99: 127–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JD (2008) Monin-Obukhov functions for standard deviations of velocity. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 129: 353–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood CR, Arnold SJ, Balogun AA, Barlow JF, Belcher SE, Britter RE, Cheng H, Dobre A, Lingard JJN, Martin D, Neophytou M, Petersson FK, Robins AG, Shallcross DE, Smalley RJ, Tate JE, Tomlin AS, White IR (2009) Dispersion experiments in central London: the 2007 DAPPLE project. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 90: 955–969

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6BB, UK

    C. R. Wood, A. Lacser, J. F. Barlow, A. Padhra & S. E. Belcher

  2. Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona, Israel

    A. Lacser

  3. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Edinburgh, Bush Estate, Penicuik, EH26 0QB, UK

    E. Nemitz, C. Helfter & D. Famulari

  4. King’s College London, The Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK

    C. S. B. Grimmond

Authors
  1. C. R. Wood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Lacser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. F. Barlow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. Padhra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. S. E. Belcher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. E. Nemitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. C. Helfter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. D. Famulari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. C. S. B. Grimmond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. R. Wood.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wood, C.R., Lacser, A., Barlow, J.F. et al. Turbulent Flow at 190 m Height Above London During 2006–2008: A Climatology and the Applicability of Similarity Theory. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 137, 77–96 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-010-9516-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-010-9516-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation