Revisiting Bolgiano–Obukhov scaling for moderately stably stratified turbulence

DOI10.1017/JFM.2019.529zbMATH Open1419.76338arXiv1811.12848OpenAlexW2965790912MaRDI QIDQ5229815FDOQ5229815

Authors: Shadab Alam, Anirban Guha, M. K. Verma 

Publication date: 19 August 2019

Published in: Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: According to the celebrated Bolgiano--Obukhov citep{Bolgiano_1959,Obukhov_1959} phenomenology for moderately stably stratified turbulence, the energy spectrum in the inertial range shows a dual scaling; the kinetic energy follows (i) $sim{k}^{-11/5}$ for $k<k_B$, and (ii) $sim{k}^{-5/3}$ for $k>k_B$, where $k_B$ is Bolgiano wavenumber. The $k^{-5/3}$ scaling akin to passive scalar turbulence is a direct consequence of the assumption that buoyancy is insignificant for $k>k_B$. We revisit this assumption, and using constancy of kinetic and potential energy fluxes and simple theoretical analysis, we find that $k^{-5/3}$ spectrum is absent. This is because the velocity field at small scales is too weak to establish a constant kinetic energy flux as in passive scalar turbulence. A quantitative condition for the existence of the second regime is also derived in the paper.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.12848

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zbMATH Keywords

stratified turbulence

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Hydrology, hydrography, oceanography (86A05) Stratification effects in turbulence (76F45)

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Cited In (8)

• An analytical theory of the buoyancy-Kolmogorov subrange transition in turbulent flows with stable stratification
• Universal crossover from Kolmogorov to Bolgiano-Obukhov scaling in turbulence in a stably stratified fluid
• Variable energy flux in turbulence
• Bolgiano-Obukhov scaling in two-dimensional isotropic convection
• Connections between the Ozmidov scale and mean velocity profile in stably stratified atmospheric surface layers
• Kolmogorov argument for the scaling of the energy spectrum in a stratified fluid
• Analysis of scale-dependent kinetic and potential energy in sheared, stably stratified turbulence
• Assessing the effects of atmospheric stability on the fine structure of surface layer turbulence using local and global multiscale approaches

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