An approximate analytical model for footprint estimation of scalar fluxes in thermally stratified atmospheric flows

An approximate analytical model was developed to estimate scalar flux footprint in thermally stratified atmospheric surface layer flows. The proposed model was based on a combination of Lagrangian stochastic dispersion model results and dimensional analysis. The main advantage of this model is its ability to analytically relate atmospheric stability, measurement height, and surface roughness length to flux and footprint. Flux estimation by the proposed model was in good agreement with those calculated by detailed Eulerian and Lagrangian models. Measured water vapor fluxes collected along a downwind transect of a transition from a desert to an irrigated potato site were also used to assess the proposed model performance in the field. It was found that the model well reproduced the measured flux evolution with downwind distance. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Duke Scholars

Author Gabriel G. Katul Civil and Environmental Engineering