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Calculation of the neutral wind profile following a large step change in surface roughness
Author(s) -
Wood D. H.
Publication year - 1978
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.49710444012
Subject(s) - mechanics , surface finish , roughness length , wind shear , boundary layer , surface roughness , wind stress , length scale , shear stress , log wind profile , surface (topology) , dissipation , scale (ratio) , planetary boundary layer , meteorology , shear (geology) , wind speed , environmental science , geology , wind profile power law , materials science , geometry , mathematics , atmospheric sciences , physics , thermodynamics , wind gradient , petrology , quantum mechanics , composite material
The response of the boundary layer wind profile and the surface shear to a large step change in surface roughness is predicted by three calculation methods and the predictions are compared with measurements by Bradley. The first method, which assumes that local equilibrium exists everywhere in the adjusting region, performs less well than the second and third methods, which both employ a transport equation for the shear stress. It is also shown that the extra sophistication of the third method, in allowing for the non‐local effects on the dissipation length scale, does not give consistently better results than the second method.