LARGE EDDY SIMULATION

Chin-Hoh Moeng
NCAR
OUTLINE
WHAT IS LES?
APPLICATIONS TO PBL
FUTURE DIRECTION

WHAT IS LES?
A NUMERI CAL TOOL
FOR
TURBULENT FLOWS
Turbulent Flows
governing equations, known
nonlinear term >> dissipation term
no analytical solution
highly diffusive
smallest eddies ~ mm
largest eddies --- depend on Re-
number (U; L; )
u
Numerical methods of
studying turbulence
Reynolds-averaged modeling (RAN)
model just ensemble statistics
Direct numerical simulation (DNS)
resolve for all eddies
Large eddy simulation (LES)
intermediate approach
LES
turbulent flow
Resolved large eddies
Subfilter scale, small
(not so important)
(important eddies)
FIRST NEED TO SEPARATE THE
FLOW FIELD
Select a filter function G
Define the resolved-scale (large-eddy):


Find the unresolved-scale (SGS or SFS):

}
' ' '
x d x x G x f x f ) , ( ) ( ) (
~
) (
~
) ( ) ( x f x f x f =
' '
Examples of filter functions
Top-hat
Gaussian
Example: An 1-D flow field
) ( ) (
~
) ( x f x f x f
' '
+
f
large eddies
Reynolds averaged model (RAN)
) ( ' ) ( ) ( x f x f x f +
f
non-turbulent
LES EQUATIONS
2
2
0
1
j
i
i
i
j
i
j
i
x
u
x
p
T
g
x
u
u
t
u
c
c
+
c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
u

u
dxdydz G u u
i i
}}}
=
~
2
2
0
~
)
~ ~
(
~
1 ~
~
~
~
j
i
j
j i j i
i
i
j
i
j
i
x
u
x
u u u u
x
p
T
g
x
u
u
t
u
c
c
+
c
c

c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
u

u
~
SFS
Different Reynolds number
turbulent flows
Small Re flows: laboratory (tea cup) turbulence;
largest eddies ~ O(m); RAN or DNS

Medium Re flows: engineering flows;
largest eddies ~ O(10 m); RAN or DNS or LES

Large Re flows: geophysical turbulence;
largest eddies > km; RAN or LES
Geophysical turbulence
PBL (pollution layer)
boundary layer in the ocean
turbulence inside forest
deep convection
convection in the Sun
..
LES of PBL
km m
mm
resolved eddies SFS eddies
dissipation energy input
f
A
L
>>
inertial range,
3 / 5
k
Major difference between
engineer and geophysical
flows: near the wall
Engineering flow: viscous layer
Geophysical flow: inertial-subrange
layer; need to use surface-layer theory
The premise of LES
Large eddies, most energy and fluxes,
explicitly calculated
Small eddies, little energy and fluxes,
parameterized, SFS model


The premise of LES
Large eddies, most energy and fluxes,
explicitly calculated
Small eddies, little energy and fluxes,
parameterized, SFS model

LES solution is supposed to be
insensitive to SFS model
Caution
near walls, eddies small, unresolved
very stable region, eddies
intermittent
cloud physics, chemical reaction
more uncertainties
A typical setup of PBL-LES
100 x 100 x 100 points
grid sizes < tens of meters
time step < seconds
higher-order schemes, not too diffusive
spin-up time ~ 30 min, no use
simulation time ~ hours
massive parallel computers
Different PBL Flow Regimes
numerical setup
large-scale forcing
flow characteristics
Clear-air convective PBL
O
g
U
z
km 5 ~
-
Q
Convective updrafts
Horizontal homogeneous CBL
Local Time
LIDAR Observation
Oceanic boundary layer
t
O
z
m 300 ~
Add vortex force for Langmuir flows
McWilliam et al 1997
Oceanic boundary layer
t
O
z
m 300 ~
Add vortex force for Langmuir flows McWilliams et al 1997
Canopy turbulence
0
U
m 200 ~
z
Add drag force---leaf area index
Patton et al 1997
<

1
0
0

m

observation
LES
Comparison with observation
Shallow cumulus clouds
g
U
O
z
-
Q
layer cloud
Add phase change---condensation/evaporation
~ 6 km
~ 12 hr
COUPLED with SURFACE
turbulence heterogeneous land
turbulence ocean surface wave
Coupled with heterogeneous soil
Surface model
z
Wet soil
Dry soil
km 30
the ground
LES model
Land model
Coupled with heterogeneous soil
wet soil dry soil
(Patton et al 2003)
Coupled with wavy surface
stably stratified
U-field
flat surface stationary wave
moving wave
So far, idealized PBLs
Flat surface
Periodic in x & y
Shallow clouds
Future Direction of LES
for PBL Research
Realistic surface
complex terrain, land use, waves
PBL under severe weather
500 km
50 km
LES domain
mesoscale model domain
Computational challenge


Massive parallel machines
Resolve turbulent motion in Taipei basin
~ 1000 x 1000 x 100 grid points
Technical issues
Inflow boundary condition
SFS effect near irregular surfaces
Proper scaling; representations of
ensemble mean
??
?
How to describe a turbulent inflow?
What do we do with LES
solutions?
Understand turbulence behavior
& diffusion property
Develop/calibrate PBL models
i.e. Reynolds average models
CLASSIC EXAMPLES
Deardorff (1972; JAS)
- mixed layer scaling
Lamb (1978; atmos env)
- plume dispersion
FUTURE GOAL
Understand PBL in complex environment
and improve its parameterization
for regional and climate models
turbulent fluxes
air quality
cloud
chemical transport/reaction