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V.K. Parimi, R.P. LeBeau (U. Kentucky), T.E. Dowling (CPL/U. Louisville)
The planetary boundary layer (PBL) is critical to the atmospheric behavior of any terrestrial planet---as such, there is a plethora of numerical models designed to capture the dynamics of this region. However, many of these models are highly parameterized, relying on data measurements of the planet's atmosphere, typically Earth; such models cannot be reliably applied to other planets without recalibrating for the new environment. This is a challenging task where atmospheric PBL data is rare or non-existent, such as on Venus, Titan, and Triton. In order to reduce the dependence of the PBL model on in situ data, our approach is to draw on recent advances in engineering turbulence research by employing the detached-eddy simulation (DES) concept [Spalart, et. al., 1997]. Our attraction to DES is threefold: it is able to reproduce a variety of benchmark and practical engineering turbulent flows with a high degree of success, it readily fits into eddy viscosity models for turbulence closure, and it transits smoothly from a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model in the PBL to a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model aloft, thus providing turbulence closure for the entire atmosphere. We are developing a multi-planet, DES-based PBL model using the EPIC atmospheric model as the platform. The EPIC model is designed to be applicable to all the planetary atmospheres, and therefore requires an accurate, universal boundary layer formulation. We will describe the formulation of a DES-based PBL model within EPIC and present first results obtained for benchmark flows resembling geophysical topography.
This work is sponsored by the NASA EPSCoR and Planetary Atmospheres Programs
Spalart, P.R., W-H Jou, M. Strelets, and S.R. Allmaras, 1997. ``Comments on the Feasibility of LES for Wings, and on a Hybrid RANS/LES approach'', 1st AFOSR Int. Conference on DNS/LES, in Advances in DNS/LES, C. Liu and Z. Liu (eds), Greyden Press, Columbus, OH.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35 #4
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.