A large number of urban surface energy balance models now exist with different assumptions about the important features of the surface and exchange processes that need to be incorporated. To date, no comparison of these models has been conducted; in

Urban land surface schemes have been developed to model the distinct features of the urban surface and the associated energy exchange processes. These models have been developed for a range of purposes and make different assumptions related to the inclusion and representation of the relevant processes. Here, the first results of Phase 2 from an international comparison project to evaluate 32 urban land surface schemes are presented. This is the first large-scale systematic evaluation of these models. In four stages, participants were given increasingly detailed information about an urban site for which urban fluxes were directly observed. At each stage, each group returned their models' calculated surface energy balance fluxes. Wide variations are evident in the performance of the models for individual fluxes. No individual model performs best for all fluxes. Providing additional information about the surface generally results in better performance. However, there is clear evidence that poor choice of parameter values can cause a large drop in performance for models that otherwise perform well. As many models do not perform well across all fluxes, there is need for caution in their application, and users should be aware of the implications for applications and decision making.

Statistical characteristics of turbulence in the near-surface region of a steady open- channel flow are examined using new data obtained in a high-Reynolds-number large-eddy simulation using a dynamic subgrid-scale model. These data, which correspond to a Reynolds number Re* = 1280 based on the total depth and shear velocity at the bottom wall, are systematically compared with those found in available direct numerical simulations in which Re* is typically one order of magnitude smaller. Emphasis is put on terms involved in the turbulent kinetic energy budget (dominated by dissipation and turbulent transport), and on the intercomponent transfer process by which energy is exchanged between the normal velocity component and the tangential ones. It is shown that the relative magnitude of the pressure–strain correlations depends directly on the anisotropy of the turbulence near the bottom of the surface-influenced layer, and that this anisotropy is a strongly decreasing function of Re*. This comparison also reveals the Re*-scaling laws of some of the statistical moments in the near-surface region, especially those involving vorticity fluctuations. Velocity variances, length scales and one-dimensional spectra are then compared with predictions of the rapid distortion theory elaborated by Hunt & Graham (1978) to predict the effect of the sudden insertion of a flat surface on a shearless turbulence. A very good agreement is found, both qualitatively and quantitatively, outside the thin viscous sublayer attached to the surface. As the present high-Reynolds-number statistics have been obtained after a significant number of turnover periods, this agreement strongly suggests that the validity of the Hunt & Graham theory is not restricted to short times after surface insertion.

Mass transfer through the solid boundary of a turbulent channel flow is analyzed by means of large-eddy simulation (LES) for Schmidt numbers Sc=1, 100, and 200. For that purpose the subgrid stresses and fluxes are closed using the Dynamic Mixed Model proposed by Zang et al. [Phys. Fluids A 5, 3186 (1993)]. At each Schmidt number the mass transfer coefficient given by the LES is found to be in very good quantitative agreement with that measured in the experiments. At high Schmidt number this coefficient behaves like Sc−2/3, as predicted by standard theory and observed in most experiments. The main statistical characteristics of the fluctuating concentration field are analyzed in connection with the well-documented statistics of the turbulent motions. It is observed that concentration fluctuations have a significant intensity throughout the channel at Sc=1 while they are negligible out of the wall region at Sc=200. The maximum intensity of these fluctuations depends on both the Schmidt and Reynolds numbers and is especially influenced by the intensity of the velocity fluctuations present in the buffer layer of the concentration field. At Sc=1, strong similarities are observed between the various terms contributing to the turbulent kinetic energy budget and their counterpart in the budget of the variance of concentration fluctuations. At high Schmidt number, the latter budget is much more influenced by the small turbulent structures subsisting in the viscous sublayer. The instantaneous correlation between the spatial characteristics of the concentration field and those of the velocity field is clearly demonstrated by the presence of low- and high-concentration streaks close to the wall. The geometrical characteristics of these structures are found to be highly Sc dependent. In particular their spanwise wavelength is identical to that of the streamwise velocity streaks at Sc=1 while it is reduced by half at Sc=200. Analysis of the co-spectra between concentration and normal velocity fluctuations emphasizes the fact that the large-scale structures play an essential role in the turbulent mass transfer process at high Schmidt number. Overall the picture that emerges from this investigation fully confirms the conclusions of Campbell and Hanratty [AIChE J. 29, 221 (1983)]: high-Schmidt-number mass transfer at a solid wall is governed by the low-frequency part of the normal velocity fluctuation gradient at the wall, i.e., by the large-scale structures observed in planes parallel to the wall in the viscous sublayer.