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Intermittent momentum transport in a geophysical boundary layer

Abstract

THE development of flow visualisation techniques1,2 has prompted a renewal of interest in investigating the dynamics of turbulent boundary layers. The discovery that turbulence is generated intermittently, in “bursts”3, near the wall, is of particular significance. It has also been found that the ejections and inrushes of fluid that accompany the bursts of turbulence generation are dominant contributors to the Reynolds stress4–6. These ejections and inrushes extend well into the flow. It follows that momentum transport in turbulent boundary layers is an intermittent process and that the intermittency is not confined to the region near the wall where most of the turbulence production takes place.

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GORDON, C. Intermittent momentum transport in a geophysical boundary layer. Nature 248, 392–394 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/248392a0

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