An Energy Budget for Intermittent Turbulence in the Free Atmosphere

Abstract

In order to study the physical aspects of intermittent turbulence in the free atmosphere, it is suggested that terms of an ?instantaneous? turbulent energy budget be computed from data collected by aircraft. This can be accomplished through the application of numerical filters to specify mean and turbulence parameters as a function of distance along the aircraft track. The proposed analysis is illustrated with data from a highly intermittent turbulence record derived from a flight through a rotor. Results are compatible with the known characteristics of the rotor, thus suggesting the feasibility of the technique. Some difficulties are encountered in the satisfaction of the Reynolds averaging rules because of the requirement for a gap in the velocity spectrum and the existence of a finite cutoff interval for a practical numerical filter.