A Businger Mechanism for Intermittent Bursting in the Stable Boundary Layer
High-resolution large-eddy simulations of the Antarctic very stable boundary layer reveal a mechanism for systematic and periodic intermittent bursting. A nonbursting state with a boundary layer height of just 3 m is alternated by a bursting state with a height of ≈5 m. The bursts result from unstab...
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fttudelft:oai:tudelft.nl:uuid:542a97fb-7e3b-4e19-9c22-92dc193662c9 2024-04-28T07:57:57+00:00 A Businger Mechanism for Intermittent Bursting in the Stable Boundary Layer van der Linden, S.J.A. (author) van de Wiel, B.J.H. (author) Petenko, Igor (author) van Heerwaarden, Chiel C. (author) Baas, P. (author) Jonker, H.J.J. (author) 2020 http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:542a97fb-7e3b-4e19-9c22-92dc193662c9 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-19-0309.1 en eng http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092281513&partnerID=8YFLogxK Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences--0022-4928--c6d7a37c-4abc-47a3-8e46-763412a29947 http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:542a97fb-7e3b-4e19-9c22-92dc193662c9 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-19-0309.1 © 2020 S.J.A. van der Linden, B.J.H. van de Wiel, Igor Petenko, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, P. Baas, H.J.J. Jonker journal article 2020 fttudelft https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-19-0309.1 2024-04-10T00:03:45Z High-resolution large-eddy simulations of the Antarctic very stable boundary layer reveal a mechanism for systematic and periodic intermittent bursting. A nonbursting state with a boundary layer height of just 3 m is alternated by a bursting state with a height of ≈5 m. The bursts result from unstable wave growth triggered by a shear-generated Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, as confirmed by linear stability analysis. The shear at the top of the boundary layer is built up by two processes. The upper, quasi-laminar layer accelerates due to the combined effect of the pressure force and rotation by the Coriolis force, while the lower layer decelerates by turbulent friction. During the burst, this shear is eroded and the initial cause of the instability is removed. Subsequently, the interfacial shear builds up again, causing the entire sequence to repeat itself with a time scale of ≈10 min. Despite the clear intermittent bursting, the overall change of the mean wind profile is remarkably small during the cycle. This enables such a fast erosion and recovery of the shear. This mechanism for cyclic bursting is remarkably similar to the mechanism hypothesized by Businger in 1973, with one key difference. Whereas Businger proposes that the flow acceleration in the upper layer results from downward turbulent transfer of high-momentum flow, the current results indicate no turbulent activity in the upper layer, hence requiring another source of momentum. Finally, it would be interesting to construct a climatology of shear-generated intermittency in relation to large-scale conditions to assess the generality of this Businger mechanism. Atmospheric Remote Sensing Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Delft University of Technology: Institutional Repository Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 77 10 3343 3360 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Delft University of Technology: Institutional Repository |
op_collection_id |
fttudelft |
language |
English |
description |
High-resolution large-eddy simulations of the Antarctic very stable boundary layer reveal a mechanism for systematic and periodic intermittent bursting. A nonbursting state with a boundary layer height of just 3 m is alternated by a bursting state with a height of ≈5 m. The bursts result from unstable wave growth triggered by a shear-generated Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, as confirmed by linear stability analysis. The shear at the top of the boundary layer is built up by two processes. The upper, quasi-laminar layer accelerates due to the combined effect of the pressure force and rotation by the Coriolis force, while the lower layer decelerates by turbulent friction. During the burst, this shear is eroded and the initial cause of the instability is removed. Subsequently, the interfacial shear builds up again, causing the entire sequence to repeat itself with a time scale of ≈10 min. Despite the clear intermittent bursting, the overall change of the mean wind profile is remarkably small during the cycle. This enables such a fast erosion and recovery of the shear. This mechanism for cyclic bursting is remarkably similar to the mechanism hypothesized by Businger in 1973, with one key difference. Whereas Businger proposes that the flow acceleration in the upper layer results from downward turbulent transfer of high-momentum flow, the current results indicate no turbulent activity in the upper layer, hence requiring another source of momentum. Finally, it would be interesting to construct a climatology of shear-generated intermittency in relation to large-scale conditions to assess the generality of this Businger mechanism. Atmospheric Remote Sensing |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van der Linden, S.J.A. (author) van de Wiel, B.J.H. (author) Petenko, Igor (author) van Heerwaarden, Chiel C. (author) Baas, P. (author) Jonker, H.J.J. (author) |
spellingShingle |
van der Linden, S.J.A. (author) van de Wiel, B.J.H. (author) Petenko, Igor (author) van Heerwaarden, Chiel C. (author) Baas, P. (author) Jonker, H.J.J. (author) A Businger Mechanism for Intermittent Bursting in the Stable Boundary Layer |
author_facet |
van der Linden, S.J.A. (author) van de Wiel, B.J.H. (author) Petenko, Igor (author) van Heerwaarden, Chiel C. (author) Baas, P. (author) Jonker, H.J.J. (author) |
author_sort |
van der Linden, S.J.A. (author) |
title |
A Businger Mechanism for Intermittent Bursting in the Stable Boundary Layer |
title_short |
A Businger Mechanism for Intermittent Bursting in the Stable Boundary Layer |
title_full |
A Businger Mechanism for Intermittent Bursting in the Stable Boundary Layer |
title_fullStr |
A Businger Mechanism for Intermittent Bursting in the Stable Boundary Layer |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Businger Mechanism for Intermittent Bursting in the Stable Boundary Layer |
title_sort |
businger mechanism for intermittent bursting in the stable boundary layer |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:542a97fb-7e3b-4e19-9c22-92dc193662c9 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-19-0309.1 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092281513&partnerID=8YFLogxK Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences--0022-4928--c6d7a37c-4abc-47a3-8e46-763412a29947 http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:542a97fb-7e3b-4e19-9c22-92dc193662c9 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-19-0309.1 |
op_rights |
© 2020 S.J.A. van der Linden, B.J.H. van de Wiel, Igor Petenko, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, P. Baas, H.J.J. Jonker |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-19-0309.1 |
container_title |
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences |
container_volume |
77 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
3343 |
op_container_end_page |
3360 |
_version_ |
1797591077894488064 |