Addressing the Grid-Size Sensitivity Issue in Large-Eddy Simulations of Stable Boundary Layers

Yi Dai; Sukanta Basu; Björn Maronga; Stephan R. de Roode

doi:10.1007/s10546-020-00558-1

Addressing the Grid-Size Sensitivity Issue in Large-Eddy Simulations of Stable Boundary Layers

Yi Dai, Sukanta Basu^*, Björn Maronga, Stephan R. de Roode

^*Corresponding author for this work

Atmospheric Remote Sensing

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

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Abstract

We have identified certain fundamental limitations of a mixing-length parametrization used in a popular turbulent kinetic energy-based subgrid-scale model. Replacing this parametrization with a more physically realistic one significantly improves the overall quality of the large-eddy simulation (LES) of stable boundary layers. For the range of grid sizes considered here (specifically, 1 m–12.5 m), the revision dramatically reduces the grid-size sensitivity of the simulations. Most importantly, the revised scheme allows us to reliably estimate the first- and second-order statistics of a well-known LES intercomparison case, even with a coarse grid size of O(10 m).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	63-89
Number of pages	27
Journal	Boundary-Layer Meteorology
Volume	178
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-020-00558-1
Publication status	Published - 2020

Keywords

Buoyancy length scale
Prandtl number
Stable boundary layer
Subgrid-scale model

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10.1007/s10546-020-00558-1

Dai2021_Article_AddressingTheGrid-SizeSensitivFinal published version, 1.54 MBLicence: CC BY

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abstract = "We have identified certain fundamental limitations of a mixing-length parametrization used in a popular turbulent kinetic energy-based subgrid-scale model. Replacing this parametrization with a more physically realistic one significantly improves the overall quality of the large-eddy simulation (LES) of stable boundary layers. For the range of grid sizes considered here (specifically, 1 m–12.5 m), the revision dramatically reduces the grid-size sensitivity of the simulations. Most importantly, the revised scheme allows us to reliably estimate the first- and second-order statistics of a well-known LES intercomparison case, even with a coarse grid size of O(10 m).",

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AU - Dai, Yi

AU - Basu, Sukanta

AU - Maronga, Björn

AU - de Roode, Stephan R.

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - We have identified certain fundamental limitations of a mixing-length parametrization used in a popular turbulent kinetic energy-based subgrid-scale model. Replacing this parametrization with a more physically realistic one significantly improves the overall quality of the large-eddy simulation (LES) of stable boundary layers. For the range of grid sizes considered here (specifically, 1 m–12.5 m), the revision dramatically reduces the grid-size sensitivity of the simulations. Most importantly, the revised scheme allows us to reliably estimate the first- and second-order statistics of a well-known LES intercomparison case, even with a coarse grid size of O(10 m).

AB - We have identified certain fundamental limitations of a mixing-length parametrization used in a popular turbulent kinetic energy-based subgrid-scale model. Replacing this parametrization with a more physically realistic one significantly improves the overall quality of the large-eddy simulation (LES) of stable boundary layers. For the range of grid sizes considered here (specifically, 1 m–12.5 m), the revision dramatically reduces the grid-size sensitivity of the simulations. Most importantly, the revised scheme allows us to reliably estimate the first- and second-order statistics of a well-known LES intercomparison case, even with a coarse grid size of O(10 m).

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KW - Prandtl number

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JO - Boundary-Layer Meteorology: an international journal of physical and biological processes in the atmospheric boundary layer

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Addressing the Grid-Size Sensitivity Issue in Large-Eddy Simulations of Stable Boundary Layers

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