Abstract
The statistical features of turbulence can be studied either through spectral quantities,
such as the kinetic energy spectrum, or through structure functions, which are statistical
moments of the difference between velocities at two points separated by a variable
distance. In this paper structure function relations for two-dimensional turbulence
are derived and compared with calculations based on wind data from 5754 airplane
flights, reported in the MOZAIC data set. For the third-order structure function
two relations are derived, showing that this function is generally positive in the two-dimensional case, contrary to the three-dimensional case. In the energy inertial range
the third-order structure function grows linearly with separation distance and in the
enstrophy inertial range it grows cubically with separation distance. A Fourier analysis
shows that the linear growth is a reflection of a constant negative spectral energy flux,
and the cubic growth is a reflection of a constant positive spectral enstrophy flux.
Various relations between second-order structure functions and spectral quantities
are also derived. The measured second-order structure functions can be divided into
two different types of terms, one of the form r2/3, giving a
k−5/3-range and another, including a logarithmic dependence,
giving a k−3-range in the energy spectrum. The
structure functions agree better with the two-dimensional isotropic relation for larger
separations than for smaller separations. The flatness factor is found to grow very fast
for separations of the order of some kilometres. The third-order structure function
is accurately measured in the interval [30, 300] km and is found to be positive. The
average enstrophy flux is measured as
Πω≈1.8×10−13 s−3
and the constant in the k−3-law is measured as [Kscr ]≈0.19. It is
argued that the k−3-range can be explained by two-dimensional
turbulence and can be interpreted as an enstrophy inertial range, while the
k−5/3-range can probably not be explained by two-dimensional
turbulence and should not be interpreted as a two-dimensional energy inertial range.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Mechanical Engineering,Mechanics of Materials,Condensed Matter Physics
Cited by
333 articles.
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