Near-surface particle image velocimetry measurements in a transitionally rough-wall atmospheric boundary layer

Abstract

The Reynolds number dependence of the structure and statistics of wall-layer turbulence remains an open topic of research. This issue is considered in the present work using two-component planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements acquired at the Surface Layer Turbulence and Environmental Science Test (SLTEST) facility in western Utah. The Reynolds number (δuτ/ν) was of the order 106. The surface was flat with an equivalent sand grain roughness k+ = 18. The domain of the measurements was 500 < yuτ/ν < 3000 in viscous units, 0.00081 < y/δ < 0.005 in outer units, with a streamwise extent of 6000ν/uτ. The mean velocity was fitted by a logarithmic equation with a von Kármán constant of 0.41. The profile of u′v′ indicated that the entire measurement domain was within a region of essentially constant stress, from which the wall shear velocity was estimated. The stochastic measurements discussed include mean and RMS profiles as well as two-point velocity correlations. Examination of the instantaneous vector maps indicated that approximately 60% of the realizations could be characterized as having a nearly uniform velocity. The remaining 40% of the images indicated two regions of nearly uniform momentum separated by a thin region of high shear. This shear layer was typically found to be inclined to the mean flow, with an average positive angle of 14.9°.