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Revisiting the relation between momentum and scalar roughness lengths of urban surfaces
Author(s) -
Li Qi,
BouZeid Elie,
Grimmond Sue,
Zilitinkevich Sergej,
Katul Gabriel
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.3839
Subject(s) - scalar (mathematics) , momentum transfer , surface finish , scaling , physics , geometry , surface roughness , turbulence , momentum (technical analysis) , eddy , roughness length , large eddy simulation , reynolds number , mechanics , statistical physics , classical mechanics , mathematics , meteorology , optics , materials science , scattering , thermodynamics , wind profile power law , wind speed , finance , economics , composite material
Large‐Eddy Simulations (LESs) of neutral flow over regular arrays of cuboids are conducted to explore connections between momentum ( z 0 m ) and scalar ( z 0 s ) roughness lengths in urban environments, and how they are influenced by surface geometry. As LES resolves the obstacles but not the micro‐scale boundary layers attached to them, the aforementioned roughness lengths are analyzed at two distinct spatial scales. At the micro‐scale (roughness of individual facets, e.g., roofs), it is assumed that both momentum and scalar transfer are governed by accepted arguments for smooth walls that form the basis for the LES wall‐model. At the macro‐scale, the roughness lengths are representative of the aggregate effects of momentum and scalar transfer over the resolved roughness elements of the whole surface, and hence they are directly computed from the LES. The results indicate that morphologically based parametrizations for macro‐scale z 0 m are adequate overall. The relation between the momentum and scalar macro‐roughness values, as conventionally represented by log ( z 0 m / z 0 s ) and assumed to scale with R e ∗ n(where Re ∗ is a roughness Reynolds number), is then interpreted using surface renewal theory (SRT). SRT predicts n = 1/4 when only Kolmogorov‐scale eddies dominate the scalar exchange, whereas n = 1/2 is predicted when large eddies limit the renewal dynamics. The latter is found to better capture the LES results. However, both scaling relations indicate that z 0 s decreases when z 0 m increases for typical urban geometries and scales. This is opposite to how their relation is usually modelled for urban canopies (i.e., z 0 s / z 0 m is a fixed value smaller than unity).