TURBULENCE SPECTRA, LENGTH SCALES AND

STRUCTURE PARAMETERS IN THE

STABLE SURFACE LAYER

J. C. KAIMAL
Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, Bedford, Mass. 01730, U.S.A.

(Received 8 August, 1972)

Abstract. The paper describes the basic similarity in the spectral forms for velocity and temperature,
and the cospectral forms for stress and heat flux in a stably stratified surface layer. A practical
scheme is developed for estimating these spectra and cospectra using only height and Richardson
number. From this development emerges certain simple relationships between Richardson number,
turbulent dissipation rates, characteristic length scales and structure parameters. The paper also
presents evidence for isotropy in the surface layer, and the dependence of the limiting wavelength for
the ~ ratio between transverse and longitudinal velocitycomponents on height and stability.

1. Introduction

In a recent paper describing the spectral properties of turbulence over a flat uniform
site, Kaimal et al. (1972) showed that, with proper nondimensionalization, all
spectra and cospectra in the surface layer can be reduced to a set of universal curves.
One approach based on similarity theory brought spectra and cospectra into coinci-
dence in the inertial subrange and spread them out systematically according to
z / L (z being the height and L, the Monin-Obukhov length) at lower frequencies. A
more useful presentation, from the point of view of generalizing the stable atmosphere,
is one which collapses spectra (and cospectra) from various heights and thermal
stabilities into a single curve. Here the spectral (cospectral) intensity, normalized by
the total variance (covariance), is plotted against a modified frequency scale, f i f o ,
where f is the 'reduced' frequency commonly used in micrometeorology and f0 is a
frequency related to the characteristic length scale for the parameter. The new
frequency, fo, is found to behave in a systematic and predictable manner with respect
to stability. This paper will explore the implications of the new scaling and the
relationships which emerge from it.
The data presented in this study are part of a larger set obtained during the 1968
Kansas experiments (Haugen et al., 1970) conducted by the Boundary Layer Branch
of the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories. They consist of five 1-hr stable
runs; each run consisted of simultaneous veloeity and temperature fluctuation
measurements at three heights on a tower. The heights chosen were 5.66, 11.3 and
22.6 m, i.e., geometric means between the conventional 4-, 8-, 16-, 32-m heights used
in wind and temperature profile work. At each of the three heights, fluctuating
velocity components, u, v, and w (longitudinal, lateral, and vertical, respectively)
were measured with a three-axis acoustic anemometer; the fluctuating temperature,

Boundary-Layer Meteorology 4 (1973) 289-309. All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 1973 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordreeht-Holland
290 J.c. KAIMAL

0, with a fine platinum wire thermometer; velocity fluctuations, with a hot-wire

anemometer to several kilohertz, providing information needed for direct determina-
tion of the turbulent dissipation rate, 8; mean wind speed (U) and temperature (T)
gradients, with standard cup anemometers and resistance thermometers; and direct
measurements of the friction velocity, u, with two drag plates operated near the
tower. Further details of the site, instrumentation, and data handling can be found
in the earlier paper by Haugen et al. (I 970). Details of the fast-Fourier technique used
for computing spectral and cospectral estimates are given by Kaimal et al. (1972).

2. Spectra of Velocity and Temperature

One notable feature of the stable spectrum is its shape, which appears to be relatively
insensitive to changes in height, thermal stability, and even the fluctuating property
under consideration. By contrast, the unstable spectrum shows no such tendency
to conform to a single shape. The stable logarithmic spectrum is a near symmetric
curve which falls asf -2/3 on the high frequency side and a s f +1 on the low frequency
side. Any number of schemes could be devised to bring the spectra into coincidence.
Given the relative constancy of the spectral shape, normalization by the area under
the curve (i.e., the total variance) appears the most logical since it would bring all
spectra to approximately the same level on the intensity scale. If, at the same time,
the frequency scale is adjusted to force the inertial subrange into coincidence, the
lower frequencies also fall in place. The resulting universal form can be approximated
by the empirical formula:

nS, (n) 0.164 (f/fo)

---~ 1 + O.164(f/fo) 5/3' (1)

where n is the cyclic frequency, nS,(n) is the logarithmic power spectral density,
2 is the variance of ~ in the bandwidth 0.005 ~<n ~< 10 Hz*, f ( = nz/U) is the reduced
frequency and fo is the reduced frequency at the intercept of the extrapolated inertial
subrange slope with the nS~(n)/a~ = 1 line. The low-frequency cut-off for the variance
is designed to eliminate possible influence from trends and long-term oscillations in
the observed time series.
On examining Figure 1 we find that the empirical formula provides a reasonably
good fit for all four variables. The only significant departures are on the low-frequency
side of v and 0, but these, on the average are no greater than __+20~. From (1), the
asymptotic spectral behavior can be written as
ns~ (~) [(f/fo) -213,; f >>fo (2a)
o~ [O.164(f/fo); f ~ fo. (2b)
The curve has a value of 0.25 at the peak and should integrate to a value very close
to unity. The logarithmic spectral peak is located at fifo ~ 3.8. Thus, if fro denotes the

* From summation of spectral estimates in this frequency range.

 TURBULENCESPECTRA, LENGTH SCALESAND STRUCTURE PARAMETERS 291

I.O

0.5 f=l

-2/3
o.,64 (-
0.2 m

Ci=W
0.1 _ 1.0

0.05

1~1 0.02
\
I.O - -
0.5

,0.2

0.1
_
..

•
".
:
:.-~
.--..-'.~
,*------------ f .?2/3
.. t
m

b~jt~l 0.5 0,05

•

0.2 0,02

0.I

f 1.0
0.05 0.5

• ••••
0.02 0.2

a=0
O.I

0.05

O.OZ I I I I I
0. I 1.0 I0 I00
f/to
Fig. 1. Normalized logarithmic spectra of u, v, w and 0 plotted against modified f scale show
universal behavior of stable spectra. Curves shown correspond to empirical formula in (1).

reduced peak frequency, we have

fo ~ 0.26 fm, (3)

SO (1) may alternately be expressed in the more conventional manner, as a function
off/fro (e.g., Busch and Panofsky, 1968)•

3. Cospectra of Stress and Heat Flux

The stable logarithmic cospectra, normalized by their covariance, also collapse into
a single curve when plotted against fifo (see Figure 2). For uw and wO, fo is defined
292 s.c. KAIMAL

I.o I
I I I I ~x\ I I I I
0.5 --
IX
•I .\ t f ~-4/3
:• : " "" ":"~"". \'-'--~T, o /

i
• . "'a.::

0.2 --

0.I -- 1.0 _ a B ~ . . '. ~ " "x~.'i"...

IOOO-
~ 0.2

t
I.o F o.~

~ 0.5 t 0.05

0.01 J i I I I I I
0.01 0.I 1.0 I0

f/f~
Fig. 2. Normalized logarithmiccospectra of uw, wO and uO plotted against modifiedfscale, uw and
wO curves correspond to empiricalformula in (4) and the uO curve to formula in (5).

as the intercept of the - ~ inertial subrange slope with the nC,~(n)/c~fl = 1 line. Here
c~ and/3 represent the variables involved and e/~ is the covariance in the frequency
band 0.005 ~< n ~< 10 Hz. The dimensional arguments for the - 4 power law and its
verification from the Kansas data are given in a recent paper by Wyngaard and Cot6
(1972). Both uw and wO cospectra may be approximated by the formula

nC~,t~(n) 0.88 ( f i f o )
~---~ - 1 + 1 . 5 ( f i f o ) z'l" (4)

This formula is at best a rough approximation, a compromise between the uw and

wO shapes. The curve integrates to a value very close to unity, but its asymptotic
high-frequency slope is somewhat shallower than - 4 . Nevertheless, in the range
0.05 <fifo < 10, where most of the cospectral intensity is concentrated, the curve
provides a fairly good fit to the data.
 T U R B U L E N C E S P E C T R A , L E N G T H SCALES A N D S T R U C T U R E P A R A M E T E R S 293

The empirical formula for uO differs slightly from (4), because of its steeper roll-off
at the high end. The stable logarithmic uO cospectrum seems to follow a - 3 power
law although a - 2 law is predicted from dimensional considerations (Wyngaard
and Cot6, 1972). Redefining f0 as the intercept of - 3 slope with the nC, o(n)/uO = 1
line,
nC,o (n) 0.85 ( f i f o )
u---0 - 1 ~- 1.7 ( f i f o ) 2"2" (5)

Here too, as in (4), the asymptotic high frequency behavior is not correctly predicted
by the formula but its fit, in the spectral range of interest, is fairly good.

4. Variation offo with Stability

The usefulness of the above empirical formulas for estimating spectra and cospectra
in the surface layer is greatly enhanced if a clear relationship can be established
between f0 and some parameter like z/L or the gradient Richardson number (Ri)
representing the state of the atmosphere. Figure 3 shows (fo)w plotted against both
z/L and Ri. The (fo)w vs. z/L relationship is obviously nonlinear in the near neutral,
but its asymptotic behavior is consistent with predictions made by Wyngaard and
Cot6 (1972) for the very stable atmosphere. They predict, in the stable limit, 2 o
(the wavelength corresponding to f0 ) should become independent of z and proportional
to L.

I I I I I I I

t.2

1.0

Y
A
O

v 0.8

/
(fo)w " Ri
N

, 0.6 ( 0 . 0 5 < Ri < 0 . 2 ) ,

0.4
o
v
0.2

o I I t I I I I
0 1.0 2.0 5.0 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
z/L Ri

Fig. 3. Plots of (f0)~ vs. z/L and Ri. The z/L relationship is asymptotically linear, but the Ri rela-
tionship is approximately linear in the range 0.05 < Ri < 0.2.
294 J, c . KAIMAL

m
 TURBULENCE SPECTRA, LENGTH SCALES AND STRUCTURE PARAMETERS 295

0.6

3=
0.4

0.2 . . ~ ° (fo)w =2.8 Ri --

0.5

0.2 % °

0.1 ~ - - - - ~ " (f0)v = 1.5Ri

0.12

0.08
~.o
0.04 / •" ( f o ) u =0.SRi
°-

0.14

0.10
v

0.06

0.02 i t I I r-
0.02 0,04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.20
Ri
Fig. 4. Plots offo's for all spectra versus Richardson number.

The (fo)w vs. Ri plot, on the other hand, offers a simpler relationship for all but
the most stable case. The best-fit line goes through the origin implying that (2o)w
z/Ri. Clearly, (/to)w does not become infinite in neutral stratification, nor does it
reach a limiting value at the critical Richardson number (Ri = 0.25). But the propor-
tionality is valid over a stability range (0.05 < Ri < 0.2), wide enough to include the
vast majority of situations one is likely to encounter in the atmospheric layer between
4 and 32 m. Richardson numbers smaller than 0.05 occur frequently at levels below
4 m, but seldom for any extended period (e.g., 15 rain), above it. A survey of 122
296 J.c. KAIMAL

0.8
_--J~[ [ ~ 1 [ [ I--2_
0.6 m

0.4 m

0.2 m

__ (fo)uw = 5.1Ri __

0
1.2

0.8

0.4 ~-~ 0 0 •

• (fo)wO= 5.6RI

0
0.6

0.4

0.2
(fo)uo=2Ri
o 1 ~ 1 I-
0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.20
Ri
Fig. 5. Plots off0's for the cospectra versus Richardson number.

stable 15-min runs, obtained during the Kansas experiments of 1965 (Boundary Layer
Branch Data Report, 1967), reveals only 4 runs with Ri < 0.05 above 4 m and most
of these occurred during transitions through neutral. At the other end of the stability
range, Okamoto and Webb (1970) find that at Ri > 0.2, the temperature fluctuations
become variable in character, causing the temperature spectrum to change unpredic-
tably from one occasion to another.
In Table I are presented fo'S for each run and the corresponding z/L and Ri values.
Allfo's behave in roughly the same manner as (fo)w. F r o m the plots of Figures 4 and 5,
 TURBULENCE SPECTRA~ LENGTH SCALES AND STR UCTURE PARAMETERS 297

the following relationships emerge in the range 0.05 Ri < 0.2.

(fo)w = 2.8 Ri, (6a)

(fo)v = 1.5 Ri, (6b)
(fo), = 0.5 Ri, (6c)
(fo)o = 0.83 Ri. (6d)
(fo),~ = 3.1 Ri, (7a)
(fo)wo = 5.6 Ri, (7b)
(fo),o = 2.0 Ri. (7c)
Substitution of (6) and (7) in the empirical formulas derived earlier yields expressions
for spectra and cospectra in terms of f and Ri. Thus, from the relatively simple
measurements of wind and temperature profiles one can determine, with a fair degree
of accuracy, the spectral characteristics of the flow in the stable surface layer over
a wide range of stabilities. The link between spectral behavior and stability provided by
(6) leads to several other useful relationships as seen in the sections to follow.

5. Characteristic Length Scales in Stable Air

Several schemes for estimating the characteristic length scale of the energy-containing
eddies can be found in the literature. The three most commonly used are:
(1) The integral scale (A), the classical length scale of fluid mechanics, obtained
from the integral time scale, ~, through the assumption of Taylor's hypothesis:

A = W = V i" 0 (t) at, (8)

~d
0

where 0 (t) is the autocorrelation coefficient.

(2) The wavelength (2m) corresponding to the peak of the logarithmic power
spectrum, also obtained through the assumption of Taylor's hypothesis:

~m = U/rt m or Z/fm, (9)

where nmand f,, are the peak frequencies in cyclic and reduced frequencies, respectively.
This length scale is used widely in the interpretation of atmospheric spectra. For
an exponentially decaying correlation function, 2m can be shown to equal 2rcA (Webb,
1955).
(3) The length scale (l) derived from considerations of available kinetic energy and
its rate of dissipation (Tennekes and Lumley, 1972):
= (to)

where e could be u, v or w. l~ is found to be a valid length scale in many laboratory

flows and is assumed to be of the same order as A~.
298 J.C. KAIMAL

All three length scales can be determined from the power spectrum: A, by extrapolat-
ing the low-frequency roll-off to zero frequency; 2,,, directly from the logarithmic
spectrum; and I, from the inertial subrange behavior.
The feasibility of measuring integral length scales is discussed in a recent paper by
Comte-Bellot and Corrsin (1972). Theoretically one needs an infinite record length
to estimate z. Even then the interpretation of z is fully appealing only if O(t)>~O.
Because of limitations imposed by finite observation time and instrument response, one
is forced to make a simple extrapolation of either the autocorrelation function or
the spectrum, hoping that the measured A represents the actual length scale at
moderate and high frequencies. A large gap usually exists between spectral regions
representing turbulent energy and energy from long-term oscillations and trends in
stable air, so that extrapolation of the + 1 slope in the logarithmic spectrum to
zero frequency could be expected to yield an integral scale with local validity. This
assumption enables one to derive a simple expression for the low-frequency behavior
of the spectrum (see Appendix l)

2 - 4z=n = ( 4 A J z ) f , (11)
O'=
where ~ = u, v, w or 0. Equating (2b) and (11) we get

A~ = 0.041 z/(Jo)=. (12)

Since (fo) is linearly related to Ri in the range 0.05 < Ri < 0.2, the integral length
scale can be expressed as a function of height and Richardson number.
The second length scale 2m is obtained directly from (3)

(2m), = 0.26 z / ( f o ) , (13)

2rcA,,

as assumed by Webb (1955).

The third length scale l~ is also a fixed multiple of A, for any given ~. By rearrang-
ing terms and converting from wave number to reduced frequency (see Appendix 2),
Kolmogorov's law for the inertial subrange can be expressed as:
nS,(n) SO.147(ez/tr3)2/3f-2/a', ~ = u (14a)
2 [O.196(ez/a3)2/af-2/3 ~ v, w. (lnb)

The difference in the two constants (factor of ~) is merely the consequence of isotropy
in the inertial subrange. Evidence of the ) ratio in stable air is discussed in Section 6.
The analogous expression for temperature, derived from Corrsin's (1951) spectral
form for the inertial subrange (see Appendix 3), will be

/'/So(/'/) ( N 3 / 2 2 ~ 2 / 3 f -2/3 (15)

t r ~ -- 0.235 \ ~ j

where N is the dissipation rate for ½(02).

 TURBULENCE SPECTRA~ LENGTH SCALESAND STRUCTURE PARAMETERS 299

Comparing (14) and (15) with (2) and (3)

(fo), = 0.056 (ze/o3), (16a)
(fo)v = 0.087 (ze/a3), (16b)
(fo)w = 0.087 (16c)
(fo)o = 0.114 (zN3/2/a3el/2). (16d)

Defining a new length scale, lo, for temperature in direct analogy to the length
scales for velocity:
10 = ff3~l/2/g3/2, (17)

we can now write

I. = 0.056 z/(fo),, (18a)

Iv -- 0.087 z/(fo)~, (18b)
Iw = 0.087 z/(fo)w, (18c)
lo = 0.114 z/(fo)o, (18d)
From (12), (13) and (18) their relative magnitudes may be expressed as follows:

1 {-3 (1~); f ° r ~ = u
(A)~2~(2,,),~ ±(/~); f o r e = v , w
(1~); for cz = 0.
Substituting forfo from (6), these length scales become functions of z/Ri. The expres-
sion for each length scale, nondimensionalized with height, is given in the table below.

T A B L E II
Dimensionless length scales as functions of Ri (0.05 < Ri < 0.2)

Length scale u v w 0

A/z 0.082/Ri 0.027/Ri O.O15/Ri 0.049/Ri

2,,~/z 0.520/Ri 0.173/Ri 0.093/Ri 0.313/Ri
l/z O.112/Ri 0.058/Ri O.031/Ri 0.137/Ri

A graphical presentation of the behavior of A/z and l/z with stability is given in
Figure 6. The l/z curves compare well (_+ 25~) with similar curves published by
Gisina and Ponomareva (1971). Their length scale for temperature, although expres-
sed in a different form, has roughly the same magnitude as lo.
To the above list one might add wavelength 2o( = z/fo) which, when used instead
of z to nondimensionalize the frequency (fifo is identically nAo/U), collapses spectra
of several variables from different heights and stabilities into a universal form. But
in stable air, Ao is another fixed multiple of A; there is n~thing unique about it. The
same spectral rearrangement could have been accomplished with either 2,,, or A, only
300 J.C. KAIMAL
2.o[ 4.0

3.5

1 . 5 3.0

2.5
N
N 1.0 I ~ 2,0
13
1.5

o.5.~__~__~____~"--~ 1.0

0.5
O.O 0.0
0.05 0. I 0.15 0.2 0,05 0, I 0,15 0.2
Ri Ri
Fig. 6. Variation of the dimensionless characteristic length scales with Richardson number. A~ is
the integral length scale and l~, the length scale defined from
rate of energy supply and dissipation rates.

20 happens to be the easiest of the three to estimate and also the least subjective.
It would be instructive at this point to examine the validity of the 'frozen field' or
Taylor's hypothesis used for converting time scales into length scales. The hypothesis
is widely used, often in conditions where it is not strictly valid. The main restriction
in the stable surface layer is imposed by wind shear. Lin (1953) has pointed out that
in shear flows, Taylor's hypothesis can be expected to hold only for eddies small
enough so that velocity gradients across them are negligible compared to the convec-
tion velocity. If we take the mean velocity as a first approximation to the convection
velocity, we have from Lumley and Panofsky (1964),

U >> (2t2rc) (dU/dz)

or 2/z < (2~U/z) (dU/dz) -1.
We see from Figure 7 that the right side of the inequality is a function of Ri, varying
in magnitude from about 28 at Ri = 0.05 to about 12 at Ri =0.2. If we interpret
to mean smaller than one-tenth, we find the integral length scales in Figure 6 clearly
satisfy the criterion for Taylor's hypothesis. Efforts to verify the hypothesis (e.g.,
Panofsky et al., 1958) show it is valid even for wind shears in excess of the limit
prescribed by Lin.
Another important consideration in the application of Taylor's hypothesis is the
effect of eddies changing shape continually as they are swept pass the instrument.
According to Lumley (1965), these changes may be considered small when

v ,> InS
At the logarithmic spectral peak, we have [nS,(n)]max~ 0.25 o'2, so that at 2,,, the
 TURBULENCE SPECTRA, LENGTH SCALES AND STRUCTURE PARAMETERS 301

40
I I I I
N
m
.~ 30

'00 •

zo
N

10

0 I I I I
0.05 0. I 0.15 0.2
Ri
Fig. 7. Limitingvalue of wavelength-to-heightratio, according to Lin, for applicability of Taylor's
hypothesis in the presence of shear. This value changes with Ri but is still larger than the length
scales in Figure 6 by more than an order of magnitude.

above inequality becomes

U>> 0.5 o-,,

or a,/U < 2.0.

Turbulence levels, (a,/U), for the runs discussed here average 0.1 (ranging from
0.04-0.15), thereby satisfying Lumley's criterion for the frozen field assumption.
It appears, therefore, that Taylor's hypothesis should be generally valid for fluctua-
tions of velocity and temperature in the stable surface layer.

6. Evaluation of Dissipation Rates and Structure Parameters

Expressions relating dissipation rates and structure functions to Richardson number

follow directly from formulas derived in the previous section. The structure parameters,
C 2 and Crz, are of particular significance to the wave-propagation specialist because
of their effect on the refractive indices of various types of waves. The index of refrac-
tion of sound waves, for example, is affected by both C 2 and Crz, and that of optical
waves mostly by C 2. Semi-empirical formulas relating C 2 to meteorological variables
have been developed in recent years by Panofsky (1968), Tsvang (1969) and Wyngaard
et al. (1971). The spectral behavior in the surface layer suggests that, at least over a
limited range of heights and stability, some simple relationships exist between the
structure parameters and Richardson number.
From (6) and (16) we have

= 32 Ri a~/z ; 0.05 < Ri < 0.2. (19)

302 s.C. KAIMAL

3.0q I I I I I ,- , , , , I I

~) 2.5 m
t~
2"
El_
0 2.0-- •

1.5-- • • N i6 ° o
N
°
~ b ~ I.O * b •

0.5

oLz r I I i I I - o[/" r I I A I I i
o 0.5 , ,.5 z.o z.5 3.0 0 4 8 I2 I6 20 24 28 52
E ( i d 2 ~ / s e c 3) N (IO 4 °C2//sec )
(o)
(b)
Fig. 8. Comparison of direct and indirect determinations of dissipation rates, (a) e and (b) N.

The agreement between e estimated directly from the w spectrum and indirectly
from (19) is quite good as seen in Figure 8a.
A similar expression for N i s derived from (6d), (16d), and (19),

N = 12 Ri cr2oaw/z ; 0.05 < Ri < 0.2. (20)

Figure 8(b) shows N evaluated from (20) plotted against N obtained through the
temperature variance budget. Wyngaard and Cot6 (1970) have shown that the dissipa-
tion and production rates for ½(02) are approximately in balance in the surface layer,
so we can assume N to be equal to the production rate, - wO(dO/dz). Here too, the
agreement is good.
Comparing the Fourier Transform of the correlation functions with Kolmogorov's
and Corrsin's expressions for the inertial subrange (see Appendix 4), we should get
Cv2 = 2e 2/3 , (21)
C~ = 3.2 N e - 1/3. (22)

Substituting for e and N f r o m (19) and (20)

C~ = 20 (Ri)2/aa~/z 2/3 , (23)
and C2T=12(Ri)Z/3 a~/z 2/3 . (24)

The validity of these empirical formulas in the Richardson number range 0.05-0.2
is demonstrated by the plots in Figure 9. It is obvious from the figure that a different
relationship exists for Ri between 0.05 and neutral. This relationship could be approx-
imated by a best-fit curve, if sufficient information on the behavior of the structure
parameters in unstable air is available. In Figure 10, the dimensionless forms of the
structure parameters, C~ z 2 ] 3 /aw2 and CET Z2/3/~20, are plotted against Ri. The small
scatter of the data points confirms the expectation that these dimensionless structure
parameters are functions of Richardson number on the unstable side as well. Extra-
 0.2
--T~F--T--I--T I I o.o8~ T - - I ~ - F ~ - - F - -
% o . o , ~ -
oJ5 o o,~-. / _
'E I /
E
m
~N O. I 0.04 --

0.05

o0Z -0.01
J~ _L L_~_ I
o.o5 o., o.,5 0.2 0.02 0.03 0.04
0.05 0.06 0.07 0,08
2
Cv (:2~2/5) (m4/3/ sec 2 ) 2
Cz (:3.2
N ~t/3)
(
r~Z/5oc z )
(G) (b)

Fig. 9. Comparison of direct and indirect determinations of structure

parameters, (a) C J and (b) C• 2.

8.0

7.0

1
6.0

t'u 3 5.0
b
~Z~' 213
~ 4.0 __L-
~ , ." "~20 --
N
~> 3.0
U

2,0 °•
I Z ---"
1.0 i

- 2.0 - 1.5 - 1.0 - 0.5 0 0.2 0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20

Ri Ri

6.0

5.0

oJ~ 4.0

ro
S
2, 3.0
N

2.0
- i /
/
/
/
1.0 • °

-
0
2.0 - 1.5 - 1.0 - 0.5 0
I
0.2 0 0.05
I 0.10 0.15 0,20
Ri Ri
Fig. 10. Variation of the dimensionless structure parameters for velocity
and temperature as a function of Richardson number.
304 s.C. KAIMAL

polating the curve through neutral yields values of 2.7 and 0.92, respectively, at Ri = O.
In the unstable limit, both curves level off to a constant value of about 1.5.
The influence of averaging times on the estimation of structure parameters merits
particular emphasis. The relationships in (23) and (24) hold only for time averages
of the same order required by the gradients of wind and temperature, and their
variances, to reach a stable value. In the stably stratified surface layer, the required
averaging time should be of the order of 3-4 mitt; there is no reason to expect these
formulas to hold for averaging periods much shorter than this. Quite a different
problem arises when the averaging time is too large. Long-term oscillations and
diurnal trends begin to contribute heavily to the variances (especially in temperature)
and these have to be removed by appropriate high-pass filtering. Finally, it should be
recognized that the above formulas are derived from measurements obtained under
horizontally homogeneous conditions. How well they apply to inhomogeneous
conditions cannot be established from existing data. Until this is established, (23)
and (24) should be used only as a rough guide for estimating C~z and C~ over nonuni-
form terrain.
7. Lower Limit for Isotropy

Experimental evidence available at the last I U C R M Colloquium in Stockholm had

indicated that turbulence in the first few meters above the ground did not satisfy the
requirements for isotropy (Kaimal et al., 1969). Measurements from roughly 2 m
over water presented at the Colloquium (Stewart, 1969) show that, although the
- ~ law is followed fairly well by the velocity spectra over a considerable range of
wave numbers, the ~ ratio between the transverse and longitudinal velocities, predicted
for isotropy in the inertia/subrange, was not observed. Nor did the stress cospectrum
show signs of vanishing any faster than the velocity spectra. Analysis of the Kansas
data has since shown that, at least in the layer between 5.66 and 22.6 m over land,
these conditions for isotropy are satisfied* at wavelengths, 2 < L/IO in stable air
(Kaimal et aL, 1972).
The strong tendency of the stable spectra to conform to a single shape implies that
the spectral ratios also have characteristic forms. Shown in Figure 11 are plots of
Sw(n)/Su(n ) and So(n)/S,(n) vs. f/(fo)~,. Sw/S~ levels off to a constant value around
-~at f/(fo)., ~ 15 and So~S,,, approximately an octave lower. In the range 0.05 < Ri < 0.2,
the limiting frequency, fi, for the isotropic relation in all three velocity components is

f, = 15 (fo)., '~ 42 Ri, (25)

which corresponds to a limiting wavelength

)~i ~ 0.024 (z/Ri). (26)

* Essentially the same findings have been reported by Niels E. Busch and Soren E. Larsen (private
communication) of the Danish Atomic Energy Commision from hot-wire measurements made at
5.66 m during the 1968 Kansas experiments.
 TURBULENCE SPECTRA, LENGTH SCALES AND STRUCTURE PARAMETERS 305

5.0

2.0

e- --% • ,,+.. :+-.~,,+,~.....'...•, •+... . .

1.0 . . . . . . -." . •
¢,0 .';. ;.; "~.': : . . . .
". , . . . . .
~" 0.5 __ . . :..(+.:':.'." • •

"~ :. ?........
_'.-..:- ...- :
0.2 --%- o,

." I I I I I [ J
2.0'

.... :..-,.,-..':.-,.... +.. .... . L+::~'.. ' ' -.-

I.O • .._.-:,;::":..
• .1-.. *

v • •
• :..---.:.'-'-
.~+" :..." .
- -I.3:
= 0 . 5 - - , .;+t, ...
o~ (M
O

c %°..
d
:'::'.. ii
.," , , - -
0.2-- • ,~., i
I
%*-".,. o i
• : • . ,

O.I "'l I I I J IL r
0.2 0.5 1.0 2.0 5.0 10 20 50 I00

f/(fo)w
Fig. 11. O n s e t o f the i s o t r o p i c +~ ratio b e t w e e n transverse a n d longitudinal
velocity c o m p o n e n t s plotted as a f u n c t i o n off/(fo)w.

From the data in Table I it is seen that 0.024 (z/Ri)~ L/IO at moderate-to-large
Richardson numbers•
In very high stabilities (run 23), S+/S, shows a tendency to level off before reaching
~. While it is possible that the flow was actually anisotropic for that run, it is also
conceivable that the smaller ratio results from uncertainties in estimating the inertial
subrange intensity in w in the presence of the spatial averaging effects introduced by
by sensor geometry (Kaimal et aL, 1968). Interestingly enough, the v spectrum (which
should be attenuated more severely by spatial averaging in the acoustic array than
the w spectrum) easily satisfies the ~ ratio, providing some measure of confidence
in the procedure used for correcting the high frequency end of the spectra• At any
rate, with run 23 excluded, the averages for the two ratios are 1.35 (for Sw/S,) and
1.31 (for Sv/S,), very close to the expected ~.
The requirement of vanishing cospectra is also satisfied by the Kansas data. The
limiting frequency fi, when translated into the (f/fo) scaling for the cospectra, cor-
responds to f/(fo) = 13, 7 and 20, respectively, for uw, wO and uO. The cospectral levels
at these frequencies are down to, respectively, 0.09, 0.18 and 0.035 times their maxi-
mum intensity (see Figure 2) and falling faster with frequency than the power spectra.
306 s.c. KAIMAL

8. Conclusions

The spectra and cospectra of turbulence in a stably stratified surface layer collapse
into universal curves when plotted against the modified frequency scale (fifo), where
fo is a nondimensional frequency related to the characteristic length scale of the
parameter. In the stability range, 0.05 < Ri < 0.2, fo is roughly proportional to Ri
for all observed parameters, indicating a simple relationship between length scale
and stability.
Integral length scales derived from the low-frequency behavior of the spectra are
found to be smaller than 2m (the wavelength corresponding to the logarithmic
spectral peak) by a factor of 2n, and smaller than l (the length scale formed from
standard deviations and dissipation rates) by factors ranging from 1.5-3. The ratio
of these length scales to height is inversely proportional to Ri.
Simple expressions relating dissipation rates and structure parameters to ordinary
meteorological parameters, such as standard deviations and Richardson number,
can be derived for 0.05 < Ri < 0.2. The dimensionless structure functions, C 2 z2/S/
2 and C 2 zZ/3/a 2, are functions only of Richardson number in both stable and un-
O"w
stable air.
Three of the requirements for isotropy in the inertial subrange: a - ~ power law
for velocity spectra, 4 ratio between spectral energy in the transverse and longitudinal
components, and vanishing cospectra, are satisfied at the reduced frequency f > 42 Ri.
The limiting wavelength for local isotropy is ;~= O.024(z/Ri) for Ri between 0.05
and 0.2.
Acknowledgments
The data used in this paper were gathered and analyzed through the cooperative
effort of all members of the Boundary Layer Branch of AFCRL. Particular thanks are
due to Miss S. Tourville for typing the manuscript and Mr R. Sizer for preparing
the drawings. The author is indebted to his colleagues, J. C. Wyngaard and O. R.
Cot6, for their valuable suggestions during the preparation of the manuscript.

Appendix

1. E V A L U A T I O N OF I N T E G R A L SCALES F R O M S P E C T R A

The turbulent energy in the frequency band between n and n + dn can be expressed in the
form (Taylor, 1938),

s, (n)/a 2 = 4 ~ ~ (t) cos 2~nt at, (27)

0

where Q(t) is the autocorrelation function. Since integral time scale, z, is defined as
O0

= i" e (t) dr,

it/
0
 TURBULENCE SPECTRA, LENGTH SCALESAND STRUCTURE PARAMETERS 307

we have at n = 0

S,, ( O ) / G 2 = 4 r . (28)

If the + 1 slope of the logarithmic spectrum (Figure 1) extends to n = 0, the spectral

behavior in this region has the form
nS (n)/~r 2 = 4 r n . (29)

2. KOLMOGOROV'S LAW FOR THE INERTIAL SUBRANGE

The one-dimensional form for the inertial subrange u-spectrum is

F, (tq) = elez/3tc~-5/3 , (30)

where ~:~ is the wave number in the longitudinal direction (by Taylor's hypothesis,
tq = 2~n/U), e is the dissipation rate for turbulent energy and ea is a universal constant
estimated to be 0.5 from the Kansas data.
In actual practice we measure frequency spectra, not wave-number spectra, and
conversion from one to the other is made through Taylor's hypothesis. Using different
symbols to represent the two types of spectra,
O9 O0

0 0

If x 1 = 2~n/U, we have

(2 /c0 = S. (n), (31)

= .s.(.).

It is traditional in atmospheric work to plot nS(n) against the reduced frequencyf = nz/
U, so (30) can be written in the form
nS,, (n) = [oq/(2~z) z/3] az/3 ( n / U ) - 2/a
= 0.147 ( e z ) 2 / 3 f - 2 / 3 . (32)

If local isotropy exists in the inertial subrange, the universal constants for v and w
are 4~1/3. Also
nS,, (n) = nS~, (n) = 0.196 03-7)2/3 f - 2/3 (33)

3. CORRSIN'S INERTIAL SUBRANGE FORM FOR TEMPERATURE

The one-dimensional inertial subrange temperature spectrum has the form

Fo (~:1) = fla N e - 1/3K 1 5 / 3 , (34)

where fl~ is a constant estimated to be 0.8 from the Kansas data and N is the dissipa-
tion rate for }(02). An alternate definition for temperature dissipation rate exists
in the literature. Some workers use X, the rate of destruction of 02; this leads to a
308 J.C. KAIMAL

factor o f 2 difference in fl values. A s in (32)

.So (.) = 2'3] 1/3) (./v)-2/3
= 0.235 ( N z 2 / 3 / e l / 3 ) f -2/3 . (35)

4. EVALUATION OF C 2 AND C 2
I n the inertial subrange, the velocity structure function takes on a characteristic 32-
p o w e r law (Tatarski, 1961). T h e structure function Du(r) for the u c o m p o n e n t has
the form,
D u(r) = [u (x) - - u (x + r ) ] 2 = (-'v, 2' 2 / 3 , (36)

where r is the s e p a r a t i o n in the l o n g i t u d i n a l direction, o f the same o r d e r as the inertial

subrange e d d y scales. F o u r i e r t r a n s f o r m o f the c o r r e l a t i o n function leads to the inertial
s u b r a n g e spectral f o r m ;

F,,(~q) = 0.25 ~.~v,Vlr2'r-5/3 . (37)

C o m p a r i n g with (30) a n d t a k i n g ~1 to be 0.5, we have

C 2 = 282/3 . (38)

T h e a n a l o g o u s r e l a t i o n s h i p between the o n e - d i m e n s i o n a l t e m p e r a t u r e s p e c t r u m
a n d C r2 is
F o (~Cl) = 0.25 C2rc~- 5/3. (39)

C o m p a r i n g with (34) a n d assuming 81 = 0.8,

C~ = 3.2 N e - 1/3. (40)

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