INTERMITTENCY OF ENERGY-CONTAINING SCALES IN ATMOSPHERIC SURFACE LAYER

The velocity components of the wind in the surface layer of the atmospheric boundary layer exhibit, in general, the typical random characteristics of turbulence. Developing a description and understanding of these characteristics is important in a wide variety of problems. Examples include windloading on buildings, bridges, and other structures; wind effects on transmission lines; performance of wind turbines; and dispersion of pollutants. Orthonormal wavelets are applied to quantify the level of intermittency of energy-containing scales in the surface layer of the atmospheric boundary layer. These scales contain most of the kinetic energy, arise through instabilities, and usually exhibit nonstationary characteristics. The results show that the energy of each of these scales varies significantly with time. Some of these scales have a significant contribution to the total energy over short periods of time. Moreover, from the wavelet coefficients, several quantities are determined. These include the level of contribution of energy by each scale to the total signal, the percentage of time of high-energy events, and the percentage of energy in these events. These quantities allow the authors to characterize the level of energetic events and intermittency of the energy-containing scales in the surface layer.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07339399
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number CMS 9412905.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  1801 Alexander Bell Drive
  Reston, VA  United States  20191-4400
• Authors:
  • Hajj, M R
• Publication Date: 1999-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 797-803
• Serial:
  • Journal of Engineering Mechanics
  • Volume: 125
  • Issue Number: 7
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0733-9399
  • EISSN: 1943-7889
  • Serial URL: http://ascelibrary.org/journal/jenmdt

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Atmospheric layers; Atmospheric turbulence; Bridges; Energy; Kinetic energy; Loads; Structural analysis; Wind
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Energy; Highways; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00766182
• Record Type: Publication
• Contract Numbers: CTS-9210211, DACW39-94-K-0010, PICT97 No. 07-00000-01005
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 12 1999 12:00AM