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AdvectionWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Advection
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Inphysics,engineering,andearthsciences,advectionisatransportmechanismofasubstanceor
conservedpropertybyafluidduetothefluid'sbulkmotion.Anexampleofadvectionisthetransportof
pollutantsorsiltinariverbybulkwaterflowdownstream.Anothercommonlyadvectedquantityis
energyorenthalpy.Herethefluidmaybeanymaterialthatcontainsthermalenergy,suchaswateror
air.Ingeneral,anysubstanceorconserved,extensivequantitycanbeadvectedbyafluidthatcanhold
orcontainthequantityorsubstance.
Inadvection,afluidtransportssomeconservedquantityormaterialviabulkmotion.Thefluid'smotion
isdescribedmathematicallyasavectorfield,andthetransportedmaterialisdescribedbyascalarfield
showingitsdistributionoverspace.Advectionrequirescurrentsinthefluid,andsocannothappenin
rigidsolids.Itdoesnotincludetransportofsubstancesbymoleculardiffusion.
Advectionissometimesconfusedwiththemoreencompassingprocessofconvectionwhichisthe
combinationofadvectivetransportanddiffusivetransport.
Inmeteorologyandphysicaloceanography,advectionoftenreferstothetransportofsomepropertyof
theatmosphereorocean,suchasheat,humidity(seemoisture)orsalinity.Advectionisimportantforthe
formationoforographiccloudsandtheprecipitationofwaterfromclouds,aspartofthehydrological
cycle.

Contents
1Distinctionbetweenadvectionandconvection
2Meteorology
3Otherquantities
4Mathematicsofadvection
4.1Theadvectionequation
4.2Solvingtheequation
4.3TreatmentoftheadvectionoperatorintheincompressibleNavierStokesequations
5Seealso
6References

Distinctionbetweenadvectionandconvection
Thetermadvectionsometimesservesasasynonymforconvection,buttechnically,convectioncovers
thesumoftransportbothbydiffusionandbyadvection.Advectivetransportdescribesthemovementof
somequantityviathebulkflowofafluid(asinariverorpipeline).[1][2]

Meteorology
Inmeteorologyandphysicaloceanography,advectionoftenreferstothehorizontaltransportofsome
propertyoftheatmosphereorocean,suchasheat,humidityorsalinity,andconvectiongenerallyrefers
toverticaltransport(verticaladvection).Advectionisimportantfortheformationoforographicclouds
(terrainforcedconvection)andtheprecipitationofwaterfromclouds,aspartofthehydrologicalcycle.
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Otherquantities
Theadvectionequationalsoappliesifthequantitybeingadvectedisrepresentedbyaprobabilitydensity
functionateachpoint,althoughaccountingfordiffusionismoredifficult.

Mathematicsofadvection
Theadvectionequationisthepartialdifferentialequationthatgovernsthemotionofaconservedscalar
fieldasitisadvectedbyaknownvelocityvectorfield.Itisderivedusingthescalarfield'sconservation
law,togetherwithGauss'stheorem,andtakingtheinfinitesimallimit.
Oneeasilyvisualizedexampleofadvectionisthetransportofinkdumpedintoariver.Astheriver
flows,inkwillmovedownstreamina"pulse"viaadvection,asthewater'smovementitselftransports
theink.Ifaddedtoalakewithoutsignificantbulkwaterflow,theinkwouldsimplydisperseoutwards
fromitssourceinadiffusivemanner,whichisnotadvection.Notethatasitmovesdownstream,the
"pulse"ofinkwillalsospreadviadiffusion.Thesumoftheseprocessesiscalledconvection.

Theadvectionequation
InCartesiancoordinatestheadvectionoperatoris
.
whereu=(ux,uy,uz)isthevelocityfield,andisthedeloperator(notethatCartesiancoordinatesare
usedhere).
Theadvectionequationforaconservedquantitydescribedbyascalarfieldisexpressed
mathematicallybyacontinuityequation:

whereisthedivergenceoperatorandagainuisthevelocityvectorfield.Frequently,itisassumed
thattheflowisincompressible,thatis,thevelocityfieldsatisfies

anduissaidtobesolenoidal.Ifthisisso,theaboveequationcanberewrittenas

Inparticular,iftheflowissteady,then
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whichshowsthatisconstantalongastreamline.Hence,

sodoesn'tvaryintime.

Ifavectorquantitya(suchasamagneticfield)isbeingadvectedbythesolenoidalvelocityfieldu,the
advectionequationabovebecomes:

Here,aisavectorfieldinsteadofthescalarfield.

Solvingtheequation
Theadvectionequationisnotsimpletosolvenumerically:thesystemisahyperbolicpartialdifferential
equation,andinteresttypicallycentersondiscontinuous"shock"solutions(whicharenotoriously
difficultfornumericalschemestohandle).
Evenwithonespacedimensionandaconstantvelocityfield,thesystemremainsdifficulttosimulate.
Theequationbecomes

where=(x,t)isthescalarfieldbeingadvectedanduxisthexcomponentofthevectoru=(ux,0,0).

TreatmentoftheadvectionoperatorintheincompressibleNavierStokesequations
AccordingtoZang,[3]numericalsimulationcanbeaidedbyconsideringtheskewsymmetricformfor
theadvectionoperator.

where

anduisthesameasabove.
Sinceskewsymmetryimpliesonlyimaginaryeigenvalues,thisformreducesthe"blowup"and"spectral
blocking"oftenexperiencedinnumericalsolutionswithsharpdiscontinuities(seeBoyd[4]).
Usingvectorcalculusidentities,theseoperatorscanalsobeexpressedinotherways,availableinmore
softwarepackagesformorecoordinatesystems.

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Thisformalsomakesvisiblethattheskewsymmetricoperatorintroduceserrorwhenthevelocityfield
diverges.Solvingtheadvectionequationbynumericalmethodsisverychallengingandthereisalarge
scientificliteratureaboutthis.

Seealso
Conservationequation
Convection
Courantnumber
Pcletnumber
Overshoot(signal)
Del
Earth'satmosphere
Diffusion

References
1. SuthanS.Suthersan,"Remediationengineering:designconcepts",CRCPress,1996.(Googlebooks)
(http://books.google.ca/books?
id=Rd2QIcNKl1UC&pg=PA13&dq=advection+and+convection#v=onepage&q=advection%20and%20convecti
on&f=false)
2. JacquesWillyDelleur,"Thehandbookofgroundwaterengineering",CRCPress,2006.(Googlebooks)
(http://books.google.ca/books?
id=EiXxaGH3CzcC&pg=PT485&dq=advection+versus+convection#v=onepage&q=advection%20versus%20c
onvection&f=false)
3. Zang,Thomas(1991)."Ontherotationandskewsymmetricformsforincompressibleflowsimulations".
AppliedNumericalMathematics7:2740.doi:10.1016/01689274(91)901026
(https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2F01689274%2891%29901026).
4. Boyd,JohnP.(2000).ChebyshevandFourierSpectralMethods2ndedition(http://www
personal.engin.umich.edu/~jpboyd/BOOK_Spectral2000.html).Dover.p.213.

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