RETRIEVAL OF TURBULENT PRESSURE-FLUCTUATIONS AT THE GROUND SURFACE BENEATH A FOREST

The relationship between surface pressure fluctuations and the velocity field associated with turbulent coherent structures is examined for flow within and above a deciduous forest. Measurements were taken with tower-mounted sonic anemometer/thermometers at six heights, Lyman-alpha humidiometers at three heights, and a pressure sensor at the forest floor. We find a strong, near-linear relationship between the mean square turbulent velocity and the standard deviation of the high-pass-filtered pressure fluctuations. Lagged cross-correlations between vertical velocity fluctuations and those of pressure show maximum correlations of ± 0.5 but with a phase offset. Examination of surface pressure during the passage of coherent structures, which are characterized by a transition from ejection to sweep, reveals a period of overpressure about 20 s in duration roughly centered on the time of passage of the scalar microfront at the top of the canopy. Pressure patterns associated with coherent structures appear to be largely responsible for the form of the correlations stated above. Pressure patterns calculated from an integrated Poisson equation, using observed velocity and temperature signals during coherent structures, match the main features of the observed pressure. Retrieval of the pressure fluctuations in this manner reveals that the mean wind shear/turbulence interaction term is dominant, but that important contributions arise from two other terms in the equation. Buoyancy effects are negligible. We show that the surface pressure signal is mainly created by the velocity field near the top of the forest, and present evidence to suggest that features of the sub-crown air movement result directly from this pressure field. © 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers.