Mean vertical velocities and flow tilt angles at a fetch-limited forest site in the context of carbon dioxide vertical advection

Abstract

An analysis of flow angles from a fetch-limited beech forest site with clearings is presented. Flow angles and vertical velocities from two types of sonic anemometers as well as a ground based remote sensing lidar were analysed. Instead of using rotations, where zero-flow angles were assumed for neutral flow, the data from the instruments were interpreted in relation to the terrain. Uncertainties regarding flow distortion and limited sampling time (statistical uncertainty) were evaluated and found to be significant. Especially for one of the sonic anemometers, relatively small changes in the flow distortion correction could change the sign of mean vertical velocities taken during stable atmospheric stratification relative to the neutral flow. Despite the uncertainties, it was possible to some extent to relate both positive and negative mean flow angles to features in the terrain. Conical and linear scans with a remote sensing lidar were evaluated for estimation of vertical velocities and flow angles. The results of the vertical conical scans were promising, and yielded negative flow angles for a sector where the forest is fetch-limited. However, more data and analysis is needed for a complete evaluation of the technique. The horizontal linear scans showed the variability of the mean wind speed field. A vertical velocity was calculated from different focusing distances, but this estimate yielded unrealistically high vertical velocities, due to neglect of the transversal wind component.