Addressing the Grid-Size Sensitivity Issue in Large-Eddy Simulations of Stable Boundary Layers

Abstract

We have identified certain fundamental limitations of a mixing-length parametrization used in a popular turbulent kinetic energy-based subgrid-scale model. Replacing this parametrization with a more physically realistic one significantly improves the overall quality of the large-eddy simulation (LES) of stable boundary layers. For the range of grid sizes considered here (specifically, 1 m–12.5 m), the revision dramatically reduces the grid-size sensitivity of the simulations. Most importantly, the revised scheme allows us to reliably estimate the first- and second-order statistics of a well-known LES intercomparison case, even with a coarse grid size of O(10 m).