The research network “Basic Concepts for Convection Parameterization in Weather Forecast and Climate Models” was organized with European funding (COST Action ES0905) for the period of 2010–2014. Its extensive brainstorming suggests how the subgrid-scale parameterization problem in atmospheric modeling, especially for convection, can be examined and developed from the point of view of a robust theoretical basis. Our main cautions are current emphasis on massive observational data analyses and process studies. The closure and the entrainment–detrainment problems are identified as the two highest priorities for convection parameterization under the mass–flux formulation. The need for a drastic change of the current European research culture as concerns policies and funding in order not to further deplete the visions of the European researchers focusing on those basic issues is emphasized.

Accurate modeling of energy flows in buildings is necessary for optimization of mechanical systems, and architectural designs and components. One specific process which has been studied little is that of forced convection on the interior surfaces of window assemblies, which is present in the majority of newly constructed commercial buildings. To this end, energy flows associated with a specific Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) configuration- a floor register near a glass curtain wall with or without Venetian blinds- are analyzed experimentally and partially described with accepted theory. Natural convection at the same surface is analyzed as well, both to establish a baseline and to experimentally validate the experimental setup. A 60 cubic meter environmental chamber with precisely controlled interior conditions and electrical resistance heating panels is employed to study heat transfer at the interior surfaces of a building’s envelope. Convection heat transfer processes for various blind angles, HVAC regimes, surface temperatures, and window sizes are examined. Results show that convection at window and blind surfaces is highly dependent on blind angle, supply temperature and flow rate, moderately dependent on room-supply air temperature difference and HVAC regime, and weakly dependent on surface-supply air temperature difference. A simplified model of convection heat transfer in this particular situation is proposed for easy implementation in energy modeling software. / text

Heat exchange systems used in everything from cars to microelectronics have rapidly advanced in recent years to offer high heat transfer rates in increasingly smaller sizes. However, these systems have become essentially optimized using conventional heat transfer fluids. To test the viability of nanofluids as a new heat transfer fluid, an experimental investigation was designed using a constant pressure drop configuration to drive flow into a heated square microchannel test section. The experimental trials included seven different test fluids tested over varying concentrations and surfactant use. Two identical test sections were used to collect results on heat transfer rates, pressure drop, mass flowrate and pumping power for all fluids. These results show a heat transfer improvement for nanofluids of 8-16% over pure water, with no meaningful increase in pumping power. This result is highly desirable, as it indicates an easily obtainable heat transfer improvement without an associated pumping cost increase. Importantly, the experiment shows the potential viability of nanofluids for heat transfer applications, while acknowledging limitations such as long term nanofluid stability. / text

The current development of consumer electronics, driven by the effort to manufacture smaller products with increased performance, has amplified the chance for inducing higher thermal stresses to these systems. In an effort to devise more effective cooling methods for these systems, many scholars have studied the convective cooling of discrete heating elements. This report discusses a methodology for fabricating and testing a suitable flat plate design with discrete heating elements for both natural and forced convection cooling experiments. There were two plate design attempts: (i) an aluminum plate and (ii) a R3315 hydrostatic-resistance plastic foam plate. For the purpose of conducting experiments for the discrete heating elements, the foam plate design was found to be an appropriate design. After designing a proper foam plate, several experiments were conducted for the natural convection case. The combination of parameters such as the geometric location and power output ratio between heaters that resulted in the maximum thermal conductance were studied. / text

Reaction-diffusion-convection (R-D-C) problems are governed by wide spectrum of spatio-temporal scales associated with ranges of physical and chemical processes. Such Problems are called multiscale, multiphysics problems. The challenge associated with R-D-C problems is to bridge these scales and processes as seamlessly as possible. For this purpose, we develop a wavelet-based multiscale simulation framework that couples diverse scales and physics.In a first stage we focus on R-D models. We treat the `fine' reaction-scales stochastically, with kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC). The transport via diffusion possesses larger spatio-temporal scales which are bridged to the kMC with the Compound Wavelet Matrix (CWM) formalism. Since R-D-C problems are dynamical we extend the CWM method via the dynamic-coupling of the kMC and diffusion models. The process is approximated by sequential increments, where the CWM on each increment is used as the starting point for the next, providing better exploration of phase-space. The CWM is extended to two-dimensional diffusion with a reactive line-boundary to show that the computational gain and error depends on the scale-overlap and wavelet-filtering. We improve the homogenization by a wavelet-based scheme for the exchange of information between a reactive and diffusive field by passing information along fine to coarse (up-scaling) and coarse to fine (down-scaling) scales by retaining the fine-scale statistics (higher-order moments, correlations). Critical to the success of the scheme is the identification of dominant scales. The efficiency of the scheme is compared to the homogenization and benchmark model with scale-disparity.To incorporate transport by convection, we then couple the Lattice Boltzmann Model (LBM) and kMC operating at diverse scales for flows around reactive block. Such model explores markedly different physics due to strong interplay between these time-scales. `Small' reaction induced temperature variations are considered for multiscale coupling of the reactions with the flow, showing the discrepancies in the evolutions and yield comparing to the conventional model. The same framework is used to study the reactions induced by hydrodynamic bubble collapse which shows the similar features of the kinetics and yield comparing to conventional models.We culminate to some problems that could be solved using the developed framework and preliminary results are presented as "proof of concept."

Determination of the heat transfer coefficients for natural and mixed convection in horizontal annuli is important for designing double pipe heat exchangers and for energy storage systems. In part one and two of this study, the 2D numerical solution of the laminar natural convection of water in six internally finned horizontal annuli has been obtained. The fins are attached to the external surface of the inner cylinder. Only the symmetrical half of the horizontal annulus with three equally spaced longitudinal divergent solid and porous fins are considered. The parameters of the problem are Rayleigh number, fin height, permeability and porosity of the porous fin, etc. The above parameters are suitably varied to ascertain their effects on fluid flow and heat transfer. The results show that traditional solid fins provide much higher heat transfer rates compared to the porous fins. Part three of this work deals with mixed convective heat transfer (laminar natural and forced convections) of water in a vented annulus. The forced flow conditions are imposed by providing an inlet at the top and an outlet at the bottom. For various parameters of the problem, the average and local Nusselt numbers along the inner cylinder are calculated for water for both aiding and opposing flows. The fourth part of this study deals with numerical modeling of natural convection of nanofluids in a horizontal cylindrical annulus. Simulations are carried out for Cu-water nanofluids. The results, in general, show that nanoparticles systematically decrease the natural convective heat transfer coefficient on the inner cylinder. Practical and useful correlations are provided for calculating average heat transfer rates from the inner cylinder in the form of average equivalent thermal conductivity and average Nusselt number for all of the four cases discussed above. These correlations are new and will be helpful in designing heat exchangers.

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Thunderstorms have been identified as an important component of the hydrological cycle on the Canadian Prairies, a region that is postulated to have the potential to exert a detectable influence on convective precipitation in the summer. However, very little work has been undertaken exploring and elucidating those aspects of biophysical forcing on the Canadian Prairies that affect lightning activity during the summer months, the constraints under which any linkages operate, and the mechanisms by which surface anomalies modify the structure and moisture content of the convective boundary layer (CBL) so as to modulate lightning activity. Evapotranspiration (ET) from the soil and vegetation canopy is known to be important for modulating the moisture content in the CBL, and this in turn has important implications for the initiation and intensity of deep, moist convection. The Second Generation Prairie Agrometeorological Model (PAMII) of Raddatz (1993) has been used extensively for the purpose of quantifying the evolution of soil moisture and ET in response to atmospheric drivers on the Canadian Prairies. However, the ability of PAMII to simulate the evolution of root-zone soil moisture and ET during the growing season has yet to be verified against a comprehensive set of in-situ observations. In this thesis, we address the above knowledge gaps using unique datasets comprising observed lightning flash data, satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, observed atmospheric soundings, in-situ soil moisture observations and estimates of daily ET from eddy-covariance systems. A thorough quantitative validation of simulations of root-zone soil moisture and ET from PAMII was undertaken against in-situ soil moisture measurements and ET from eddy-covariance systems at sites on the Canadian Prairies. Our analysis demonstrates that PAMII shows skill in simulating the evolution of bulk root-zone soil moisture content and ET during the growing season, and for contrasting summer conditions (i.e., wet versus dry). As part of the soil moisture validation, a novel multi-model pedotransfer function ensemble technique was developed to quantify the uncertainty in soil moisture simulations arising from errors in the specified soil texture and associated soil hydraulic properties. An innovative approach was used to explore linkages between the terrestrial surface and deep, moist convection on the Canadian Prairies, using datasets which avoid many of the problems encountered when studying linkages between soil moisture and thunderstorm activity. This was achieved using lightning flash data in unison with remotely sensed NDVI data. Specifically, statistical analysis of the data over 38 Census Agricultural Regions (CARs) on the Canadian Prairies for 10 summers from 1999 to 2008 provided evidence for a surface-convection feedback on the Canadian Prairies, in which drought tends to perpetuate drought with respect to deep, moist convection. The constraints in which such a feedback operates (e.g., areal extent and magnitude of the NDVI anomalies) were also identified. For example, our data suggest that NDVI anomalies and lightning duration are asymmetric, with the relationship between NDVI and lightning duration strengthening as the area and amplitude of the negative NDVI anomaly (less vegetation vigour) increases. Finally, we focused on how surface anomalies over the Canadian Prairies can condition the CBL so as to inhibit or facilitate thunderstorm activity, while also considering the role of synoptic-scale forcing on modulating summer thunderstorm activity. We focused on a CAR located over central Alberta for which observed lightning flash data, NDVI data, and in-situ sounding data were available for 11 summers from 1999 to 2009. Our analysis suggests that storms over this region are more likely to develop and are longer-lived or more widespread when they develop in an environment in which the surface and upper-air synoptic-scale forcings are synchronized. On days when a surface or upper-air feature is present, storms are more likely to be triggered when NDVI is much above average, compared to when NDVI is much below average. We propose a conceptual model, based almost entirely on observations, which integrates our findings to describe how a reduction in vegetation vigour modulates the partitioning of available energy into sensible and latent heat fluxes at the surface, thereby modulating the lifting condensation level heights, which in turn affect lightning duration.

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