Characterizing Turbulence at a Forest Edge: A Vorticity Budget Analysis around a Canopy

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Hauptverfasser: Perez, Dorianis M., Canfield, Jesse M., Linn, Rodman R., Speer, Kevin
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Perez, Dorianis M.
Canfield, Jesse M.
Linn, Rodman R.
Speer, Kevin
author_facet Perez, Dorianis M.
Canfield, Jesse M.
Linn, Rodman R.
Speer, Kevin
contents Vorticity is a key characteristic of flow patterns that determine wildland fire behavior, frontal evolution, and wind-canopy interaction. Investigating the role of vorticity in the flow fields around vegetation can help us better understand fire-atmosphere feedback and the influences of vegetation on this feedback. In modeling vorticity, ``perhaps the greatest knowledge gap exists in understanding which terms in the vorticity equation dominate [...] (and) when one or the other might dominate" (Potter, 2012). In this study, we investigate the role of vorticity in boundary layer dynamics and canopy/forest edge effects using HIGRAD/FIRETEC, a three-dimensional, two-phase transport model that conserves mass, momentum, energy, and chemical species. A vorticity transport equation was derived and discretized. Simulations were performed over a cuboidal homogeneous canopy surrounded by surface vegetation. This derivation led to the discovery of a drag tilting and stretching term, which shows that gradients in the aerodynamic drag of the vegetation, tied to heterogeneities in surface area-to-volume ratio, play an important role in the generation of vorticity. Results from the vorticity budget analysis show that this term contributes significantly in the areas where these gradients are present, namely the edges of the canopy.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_06044
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Characterizing Turbulence at a Forest Edge: A Vorticity Budget Analysis around a Canopy
Perez, Dorianis M.
Canfield, Jesse M.
Linn, Rodman R.
Speer, Kevin
Fluid Dynamics
Vorticity is a key characteristic of flow patterns that determine wildland fire behavior, frontal evolution, and wind-canopy interaction. Investigating the role of vorticity in the flow fields around vegetation can help us better understand fire-atmosphere feedback and the influences of vegetation on this feedback. In modeling vorticity, ``perhaps the greatest knowledge gap exists in understanding which terms in the vorticity equation dominate [...] (and) when one or the other might dominate" (Potter, 2012). In this study, we investigate the role of vorticity in boundary layer dynamics and canopy/forest edge effects using HIGRAD/FIRETEC, a three-dimensional, two-phase transport model that conserves mass, momentum, energy, and chemical species. A vorticity transport equation was derived and discretized. Simulations were performed over a cuboidal homogeneous canopy surrounded by surface vegetation. This derivation led to the discovery of a drag tilting and stretching term, which shows that gradients in the aerodynamic drag of the vegetation, tied to heterogeneities in surface area-to-volume ratio, play an important role in the generation of vorticity. Results from the vorticity budget analysis show that this term contributes significantly in the areas where these gradients are present, namely the edges of the canopy.
title Characterizing Turbulence at a Forest Edge: A Vorticity Budget Analysis around a Canopy
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.06044