Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Improving a Two-Equation Turbulence Model for Canopy Flows Using Large-Eddy Simulation

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

Abstract

Large-eddy simulations of the neutrally-stratified flow over an extended homogeneous forest were used to calibrate a canopy model for the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RaNS) method with the \(k-\varepsilon \) turbulence model. It was found that, when modelling the forest as a porous medium, the canopy drag dissipates the turbulent kinetic energy (acts as a sink term). The proposed model was then tested in more complex flows: a finite length forest and a forested hill. In the finite length forest, the destruction of the turbulent kinetic energy by the canopy was overestimated near the edge, for a length approximately twice the tree height. In the forested hill, the model was less accurate inside the recirculation zone and overestimated the turbulent kinetic energy, due to an incorrect prediction of the production term. Nevertheless, the canopy model presented here provided consistent results in both a priori and a posteriori tests and improved the accuracy of RaNS simulations with the \(k-\varepsilon \) model.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ayotte K, Finnigan J, Raupach M (1999) A second-order closure for neutrally stratified vegetative canopy flows. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 90:189–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belcher S, Harman I, Finnigan J (2012) The wind in the willows: flows in forest canopies in complex terrain. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 44:479–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beljaars A, Walmsley J, Taylor P (1987) A mixed spectral finite-difference model for neutrally stratified boundary-layer flow over roughness changes and topography. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 38:273–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calaf M, Meneveau C, Meyers J (2010) Large eddy simulation study of fully developed wind-turbine array boundary layers. Phys Fluids 22(015):110

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupont S, Brunet Y (2008) Edge flow and canopy structure: a large-eddy simulation study. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 126:51–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont S, Brunet Y (2009) Coherent structures in canopy edge flow: a large-eddy simulation study. J Fluid Mech 630:93–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont S, Patton E (2012) Influence of stability and seasonal canopy changes on micrometeorology within and above an orchard canopy: the CHATS experiment. Agric For Meteorol 157:11–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont S, Brunet Y, Finnigan J (2008) Large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow over a forested hill: validation and coherent structure identification. Q J R Meteorol Soc 134:1911–1929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer M, Patton E, Shaw R (1997) Turbulent kinetic energy budgets from a large-eddy simulation of airflow above and within a forest canopy. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 84:23–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finnigan J (2000) Turbulence in plant canopies. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 32:519–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finnigan J, Shaw R, Patton E (2009) Turbulence structure above a vegetation canopy. J Fluid Mech 637:387–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foudhil H, Brunet Y, Caltagirone JP (2005) A fine-scale \(k\)–\(\varepsilon \) model for atmospheric flow over heterogeneous landscapes. Environ Fluid Mech 5:247–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green S (1992) Modelling turbulent air flow in a stand of widely-spaced trees. PHOENICS. J Comput Fluid Dyn Appl 5:294–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Harman I, Finnigan J (2007) A simple unified theory for flow in the canopy and roughness sublayer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 123:339–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones W, Launder B (1972) The prediction of laminarization with a two-equation model of turbulence. Int J Heat Mass Transf 15:301–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katul G, Mahrt L, Poggi D, Sanz C (2004) One- and two-equation models for canopy turbulence. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 113:81–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J, Chen J, Black T, Novak M (1996) \(E\)–\(\varepsilon \) modelling of turbulent air flow downwind of a model forest edge. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 77:21–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansour N, Kim J, Moin P (1988) Reynolds-stress and dissipation-rate budgets in a turbulent channel flow. J Fluid Mech 194:15–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Marusic I, Kunkel G, Porté-Agel F (2001) Experimental study of wall boundary conditions for large-eddy simulation. J Fluid Mech 446:309–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason P, Thomson D (1992) Stochastic backscatter in large-eddy simulations of boundary layers. J Fluid Mech 242:51–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meneveau C, Lund T, Cabot W (1996) A Lagrangian dynamic subgrid-scale model of turbulence. J Fluid Mech 319:353–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohammadi B, Pironneau O (1994) Analysis of the K–epsilon turbulence model, 1st edn. Wiley, Hoboken, 194 pp

  • Murakami S (1993) Comparison of various turbulence models applied to a bluff body. J Wind Eng Ind Aerodyn 46–47:21–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton E, Katul G (2009) Turbulent pressure and velocity perturbations induced by gentle hills covered with sparse and dense canopies. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 133:189–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton E, Horst T, Sullivan P, Lenschow D, Oncley S, Brown W, Burns S, Guenther A, Held A, Karl T, Mayor S, Rizzo L, Spuler S, Sun J, Turnipseed A, Allwine E, Edburg S, Lamb B, Avissar R, Calhoun R, Kleissl J, Massman W, Paw UK, Weil J (2011) The canopy horizontal array turbulence study. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 92:593–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piomelli U, Balaras E (2002) Wall-layer models for large-eddy simulations. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 34:349–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raupach M (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 

  • Raupach M, Shaw R (1982) Averaging procedures for flow within vegetation canopies. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 22:79–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raupach M, Thom A, Edwards I (1980) A wind-tunnel study of turbulent flow close to regularly arrayed rough surfaces. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 18:373–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raupach M, Finnigan J, Brunei Y (1996) Coherent eddies and turbulence in vegetation canopies: the mixing-layer analogy. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 78:351–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanz C (2003) A note on \(k\)-\(\varepsilon \) modelling of vegetation canopy air-flows. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 108:191–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw R, Patton E (2003) Canopy element influences on resolved- and subgrid-scale energy within a large-eddy simulation. Agric For Meteorol 115:5–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw R, Pereira A (1982) Aerodynamic roughness of a plant canopy: a numerical experiment. Agric Meteorol 26:51–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw R, Schumann U (1992) Large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow above and within a forest. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 61:47–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva Lopes A, Palma J (2002) Numerical simulation of isotropic turbulence using a collocated approach and a nonorthogonal grid system. J Comput Phys 175:713–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva Lopes A, Piomelli U, Palma J (2006) Large-eddy simulation of the flow in an S-duct. J Turbul 7:N11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva Lopes A, Palma J, Castro F (2007) Simulation of the Askervein flow. Part 2: large-eddy simulations. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 125:85–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sogachev A, Panferov O (2006) Modification of two-equation models to account for plant drag. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 121:229–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Svensson U, Häggkvist K (1990) A two-equation turbulence model for canopy flows. J Wind Eng Ind Aerodyn 35:201–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson J (1988) A second-order closure model for flow through vegetation. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 42:371–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang B, Morse A, Shaw R, Paw UK (2006a) Large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow across a forest edge. Part II: momentum and turbulent kinetic energy budgets. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 121:433–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang B, Raupach M, Shaw R, Paw UK, Morse A (2006b) Large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow across a forest edge. Part I: flow statistics. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 120:377–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yue W, Parlange M, Meneveau C, Zhu W, van Hout R, Katz J (2007) Large-eddy simulation of plant canopy flows using plant-scale representation. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 124:183–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

A. Silva Lopes and J. Viana Lopes are research fellows under Programa Ciência of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). These research activities were developed as part of the work program of the Center for Wind Energy and Atmospheric Studies, a unit of the Portuguese research network, sponsored by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEsA, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465 , Porto, Portugal

    A.Silva Lopes, J. M. L. M. Palma & J. Viana Lopes

Authors
  1. A.Silva Lopes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. M. L. M. Palma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Viana Lopes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A.Silva Lopes.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lopes, A., Palma, J.M.L.M. & Lopes, J.V. Improving a Two-Equation Turbulence Model for Canopy Flows Using Large-Eddy Simulation. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 149, 231–257 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-013-9850-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-013-9850-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation