A closure to derive a three-dimensional well-mixed trajectory-model for non-Gaussian, inhomogeneous turbulence

Abstract

A three-dimensional Lagrangian stochastic (LS) model to evaluate pollutant dispersion in the atmospheric boundary layer has been developed. The model satisfies the well-mixed criterion of Thomson and allows for inhomogeneous, skew turbulence. Making use of the spherical reference frame, one of the possible solutions has been obtained. A skewed joint probability density function (PDF), which reproduces the given velocity moments (means, variances, skewness and covariances), has been built-up by a linear combination of eight Gaussian PDFs. In order to verify consistency with the well-mixed criterion, the long term results have been compared with the theoretical behaviour. A comparison between our model and Thomson's published algorithms was also carried out. By comparing wind-tunnel data and numerical predictions, a further validation of our LS model has been obtained. From an analysis of the numerical results, we can state that our model is able to evaluate dispersion in the case of complex flows where the application of previous models is unsuccessful.