Towards Possible Laminar Channels through Turbulent Atmospheres in a Multifractal Paradigm

Abstract

In this paper, developments are made towards simulating complex atmospheric behavior using turbulent energy cascade staging models developed through scale relativity theories. Such theoretical considerations imply gauges that describe atmospheric parameters as multifractal functions undertaking scale symmetry breaking at each stage of the turbulent energy cascade. It is found that gauges of higher complexity (in this case, a Riccati-type gauge) can exhibit more complex behavior accordingly, such as both dilation and contraction, but properly parameterizing the solutions formed by these gauges in terms of turbulent staging can be challenging given the multiple constants and parameters. However, it is found that a logistic-type approximation of the multifractal equations of motion that describe turbulent atmospheric entities can be coupled with a model produced by a simpler gauge, and this combination can reveal instances of laminar, or otherwise non-chaotic, behavior in a given turbulent flow at certain scales. Employing the theory with elastic lidar data, quasi-laminar behavior is found in the vicinity of the planetary boundary layer height, and laminar channels are revealed throughout an atmospheric column—these might be used to reveal complex vertical transport behavior in the atmospheric column.