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Interactions between the nocturnal atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and wind turbines (WTs) can be complicated due to the presence of low level jets (LLJ), a region which creates wind speeds higher than geostrophic wind speed. A study has been performed to isolate the effect of mean forcings of the ABL on turbulence energetics and structures in the wake of WT. Large eddy simulation with an actuator line model has been used as a tool to simulate a full-scale 5-MW WT under two different realistic atmospheric states of the stable ABL corresponding to low-and high-stratification. The study clearly demonstrates that the large-scale forcings of thermally stratified atmospheric boundary characterized by shear-and buoyancy-driven turbulence significantly influence the wake structure of a wind turbine. For the WT in low-stratified ABL, the jets occur above the WT resulting in a strong mixed layer behind the WT. High turbulence results in a faster wake recovery. For the WT in high-stratified ABL, the jets occur near the hub-height resulting in an asymmetric wake structure. The jets confine the mixing to hubheight resulting in a slower wake recovery. Vertical shear causes the interaction of the root-and lower-tip vortices resulting in the instability of the root vortex leading to an enhanced shear stress and turbulent kinetic energy. The tip vortices exhibit mutual inductance between adjacent vortex filaments resulting in vortex merging. LLJs are an important metric associated with mean atmospheric forcings that dictate the turbulence generated in WT wake and the wake recovery of a WT in a stable ABL. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.

Turbulence structure in the wake behind a full-scale horizontal-axis wind turbine under the influence of real-time atmospheric inflow conditions has been investigated using actuator-line-model based large-eddy-simulations. Precursor atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) simulations have been performed to obtain mean and turbulence states of the atmosphere under stable stratification subjected to two different cooling rates. Wind turbine simulations have revealed that, in addition to wind shear and ABL turbulence, height-varying wind angle and low-level jets are ABL metrics that influence the structure of the turbine wake. Increasing stability results in shallower boundary layers with stronger wind shear, steeper vertical wind angle gradients, lower turbulence, and suppressed vertical motions. A turbulent mixing layer forms downstream of the wind turbines, the strength and size of which decreases with increasing stability. Height dependent wind angle and turbulence are the ABL metrics influencing the lateral wake expansion. Further, ABL metrics strongly impact the evolution of tip and root vortices formed behind the rotor. Two factors play an important role in wake meandering: tip vortex merging due to the mutual inductance form of instability and the corresponding instability of the turbulent mixing layer.

A fundamental study has been performed to understand the effect of unsteady forcing on turbulence statistics in channel flow with rough walls using direct numerical simulation. Unsteady flows have been generated by applying an unsteady nonzero mean forcing in the form of time varying pressure gradient such that the amplitude of oscillations is between 19% and 26% of mean centerline velocity and covering a range of forcing frequencies. The analysis has revealed unsteady forcing, depending on the forcing frequency, results in enhanced roughness compared to steady channel flow. The rough-wall flow dynamics have been categorized into high-, intermediate-, and low-frequency regimes. In the regime of high-frequency forcing, unsteadiness alters the mean velocity and turbulence intensities only in the inner layer of the turbulent boundary layer. Further, the turbulence intensities are out of phase with each other and also with the external forcing. In the regime of intermediate-frequency forcing, mean velocity and turbulence intensities are altered beyond the inner layer. In the inner layer, the turbulence intensities are out of phase with each other. The Reynolds stress is in phase with the external forcing in the inner layer, but it is out of phase in the outer layer. In the regime of low-frequency forcing, the mean velocity and turbulence intensities are significantly altered throughout the turbulent boundary layer.

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