ACINN Graduate Seminar - SS 2023

2023-05-31 at 12:00 (on-line and on-site)

Turbulent Transport of Momentum and Heat in the Atmospheric Surface Layer (ASL): New Perspectives on an Old Topic

Dan Li

Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University, USA

The study of momentum and heat transfer in wall-bounded turbulent flows has a long history and continues to attract researchers from a wide range of disciplines. In the atmospheric surface layer, an improved understanding of turbulent transport of momentum and heat has implications for many critical issues such as weather and air pollution forecasts. One unique feature of the atmospheric surface layer is that the flow is thermally stratified resulting from surface heating and cooling in a typical diurnal cycle. While the Reynolds analogy still finds its way in engineering applications, atmospheric scientists discovered the dissimilarity between turbulent transport of momentum and heat caused by the effect of thermal stratification or buoyancy as early as 1940s. Monin-Oubkhov similarity theory further provides a theoretical framework for investigating the effect of buoyancy on turbulent transport of momentum and heat. In this presentation, I will discuss some recent advances in our understanding of turbulent transport of momentum and heat in the atmospheric surface layer, with a focus on the role of buoyancy. I will try to present a unifying framework for connecting the macroscopic flow features with the microscale turbulent energy distributions. Challenges and future work will be discussed at the end.

Bio: Dr. Dan Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University. He completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University. Prior to joining Boston University, he was a postdoctoral research associate in the Program of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Princeton University. His research focuses on improving the understanding of the dynamics and thermodynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer (especially the surface layer) and applying the knowledge to addressing real world sustainability challenges. He is the recipient of the 2022 Timothy Oke Award for Original Research in the Field of Urban Climatology from the International Association for Urban Climate.

 

 

 

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