Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of bluff body stabilized premixed and partially premixed combustion close to the flammability limit is carried out in this thesis. The LES algorithm has no ad-hoc adjustable model parameters and is able to respond automatically to variations in the inflow conditions. Algorithm validation is achieved by comparison with reactive and non-reactive experimental data. In the reactive flow, two scalar closure models, Eddy Break-Up (EBULES) and Linear Eddy Mixing (LEMLES), are used and compared. Over important regions, the flame lies in the Broken Reaction Zone regime. Here, the EBU model assumptions fail. The flame thickness predicted by LEMLES is smaller and the flame is faster to respond to turbulent fluctuations, resulting in a more significant wrinkling of the flame surface. As a result, LEMLES captures better the subtle effects of the flame-turbulence interaction. Three premixed (equivalence ratio = 0.6, 0.65, and 0.75) cases are simulated. For the leaner case, the flame temperature is lower, the heat release is reduced and vorticity is stronger. As a result, the flame in this case is found to be unstable. In the rich case, the flame temperature is higher, and the spreading rate of the wake is increased due to the higher amount of heat release Partially premixed combustion is simulated for cases where the transverse profile of the inflow equivalence ratio is variable. The simulations show that for mixtures leaner in the core the vortical pattern tends towards anti-symmetry and the heat release decreases, resulting also in instability of the flame. For mixtures richer in the core, the flame displays sinusoidal flapping resulting in larger wake spreading. More accurate predictions of flame stability will require the use of detailed chemistry, raising the computational cost of the simulation. To address this issue, a novel algorithm for training Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for prediction of the chemical source terms has been implemented and tested. Compared to earlier methods, the main advantages of the ANN method are in CPU time and disk space and memory reduction.

This thesis consists of analysis of three different data sets: (i) Aircraft-based eddy correlation data collected above irrigated and non-irrigated agricultural land in Southern California during the California Ozone Deposition Experiment (CODE) summer 1991; (ii) micrometeorological tower data, collected over grape and cotton canopies as part of CODE; (iii) aircraft-based eddy correlation flux data above two grid sites in the Canadian boreal forest during the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS), spring and summer of 1994 and 1996. / Results from the CODE aircraft data document composition and size of the dominant structures, which transport heat and gases (H2O, CO 2 and ozone) over water stressed and non-water stressed surfaces, and the relative frequency with which structures carrying only a single scalar, or given combinations of scalars, were encountered along the flight paths. Interpretation of results provides further evidence for the existence of a second (nonphysiological) sink for ozone. The relative preponderance of structures that carry moisture, carbon dioxide and ozone simultaneously, particularly in the gradient-up mode, reflects the importance of vegetation as co-located source/sink for these scalars. The detrending procedures described in this study may help to define a more effective separation between local and mesoscale events in biosphere-atmosphere interaction. / Results from the CODE tower data indicates a single vegetated ozone sink for the grape site, but a vegetated as well as a non-vegetated sink for the cotton site. For both sites, structures simultaneously transporting significant flux contributions of CO2, H2O, heat and ozone dominate during unstable conditions. During stable conditions, unmixed single flux structures dominated over cotton but not over grape. The results of this study contribute empirical evidence about the relationship between ozone uptake and the physical and physiological state of vegetation, as well as the limitations placed on eddy scales in simulation models. / Results from the BOREAS aircraft data shows a decoupling between the surface and the atmosphere, where the patterns of vegetation, greenness and surface temperature may be quite dissimilar to those of the fluxes of sensible heat, latent heat and---to a lesser degree---CO2. Reasons for this lie in the extraordinary boundary layer conditions, high vapour pressure deficit, moist soil and hot canopies, and the response of the vegetation to these conditions. Analysis of the coherent structure compositions to some extent permits the characterization of the different sources and sinks. Overall, this study shows the importance of understanding the various interacting components of soil, vegetation and atmosphere when attempting to design process-based models for predictions in 'micrometeorologiacally' complex ecosystems.

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This thesis examines the development and validation of Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS) for various wetland landscapes individually, along with an evaluation of modelled results over a heterogeneous surface with airborne observations. A further statistical analysis of the effects of land surface classification procedures over the study area and their influence on modelled results is performed. CLASS is tested over individual wetland types: bog, fen and marsh in a stand-alone (non-GCM coupled) mode. Atmospheric conditions are provided for the eight site locations from tower measured data, while each surface is parameterized within the model from site specific measurements. Resulting model turbulent and radiative flux output is then statistically evaluated against observed tower data. Findings show that while CLASS models vascular dominated wetland areas (fen and marsh) quite well, non-vascular wetlands (bogs) are poorly represented, even with improved soil descriptions. At times when the water table is close to the surface, evaporation is greatly overestimated, whereas lowered water tables generate a vastly underestimated latent heat flux. Because CLASS does not include a moisture transfer scheme applicable for non-vascular vegetation, the description of this vegetation type as either a vascular plant or bare soil appears inappropriate. / CLASS was then tuned for a specific bog location found in the Hudson Bay Lowland (HBL) during the Northern Wetlands Study (NOWES). With bog surfaces better described within the model, testing of CLASS over a highly heterogeneous 169 km2 HBL region is then undertaken. The model is first modified for lake and pond surfaces and then separate runs for bog, fen, lake and tree/shrub categories is undertaken. Using a GIS, the test region under which airborne flux measurements are available is divided into 104 grid cells and proportions of each surface type are calculated within each cell. Findings indicate that although the modelled grid average radiation and flux values are reasonably well reproduced (4% error for net radiation, 10% for latent heat flux and 30% for sensible heat flux), spatial agreement between modelled and observed grid cells is disappointing. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The landscape of the boreal forest in north-central Canada is characterised by mosaics of broad-leaved deciduous trees (aspen, Populus; birch, Betula), evergreen conifers (black spruce, Picea mariana; jack pine, Pinus banksiana; and larch, Larix), fens and lakes. The forest has been cited as the possible location of a global carbon sink, and its likely response in the event of global climate change remains unclear. To improve our current understanding of the links between the boreal forest ecosystem and the lower atmosphere, the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) was executed in a series of field experiments in 1994 and 1996. This thesis documents the efforts made to characterise and map temporal and spatial distributions of the fluxes of heat, water vapour and CO2 over two 16 km x 16 km heterogeneous sites at the BOREAS study sites. / Most of the data in this thesis were obtained from the airborne observations by the Canadian Twin Otter Aircraft, operated by the Institute for Aerospace Research of the Canadian National Research Council, at the BOREAS Northern Study Area (NSA), and Southern Study Area (SSA). The research aircraft was flown at a fixed altitude of about 30 m agl. The data acquired in 1994 were primarily used to develop an objective deterending scheme in eddy-correlation flux estimates, that took into consideration the physical nature of turbulent transport during convective daytime conditions, and to map the spatial distribution of sensible heat, latent heat and CO2 fluxes over three intensive field campaigns. Maps of spatial patterns of the surface characteristics, such as the surface temperature excess over air temperature (Ts-T a) and Greenness index (GI), were also constructed. The mapping procedure involved generation of an array of grid points by block averaging the parameter of interests along the flight lines, spaced 2 km apart, over 2 km windows, with 1 km overlap between adjacent windows. The (Ts-Ta) maps showed, not surprisingly, that surface temperatures were relatively cooler over the mature forests than over the disturbed, regenerating and burn areas. However, they also showed a decoupling between sensible heat flux and T s-Ta not seen in less complex terrain. By contrast, close correspondence was observed between maps of CO2 flux and greenness, suggesting that the potential to infer CO2 exchange from remote sensing observations of the surface is higher than that for energy exchange. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

No description available.