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Studying the microclimate of plant canopies has long motivated scientists in various research fields such as agronomy, ecology or silviculture, and almost a century has passed since the first measurements of wind speed in a forest stand were published in the scientific literature. The behaviour of wind in canopies is an essential component of their microclimate, which largely conditions the rate of exchange of heat, water vapour, and other gases and particles of interest with the atmosphere. This review examines the evolution of our understanding of turbulent flow in plant canopies, focussing on the period that covers the last fifty years (1970-2020). We first describe how our knowledge and ideas have evolved since canopy flow became a topic of interest, and show how the 1970s was a pivotal decade in this field. Until then, canopy turbulence was considered to result from the superposition of standard surface-layer turbulence and small-scale turbulence generated in the wakes of plant elements. However, it was progressively found that the flow in plant canopies is dominated by large coherent structures, giving canopy turbulence unique characteristics. We thus describe the particular nature and structure of canopy flows, based on experimental observations accumulated over several decades. We show how canopy turbulence was reconsidered on the basis of a now widely-accepted analogy with a plane mixing layer, and we examine the significance of a key parameter, the "canopy-shear length scale". Investigating the effects of canopy density and atmospheric stability, we then discuss the extent of the mixing-layer analogy and the limits of our current understanding of canopy turbulence. Finally, we review the modelling tools used in this field and show how their development has evolved to date to meet our needs. In conclusion, we present a historical summary of the evolution of this research field and suggest future directions.

Landscape discontinuities such as forest edges play an important role in determining the characteristics of the atmospheric flow by generating increased turbulence and triggering the formation of coherent tree-scale structures. In a fragmented landscape, consisting of surfaces of different heights and roughness, the multiplicity of edges may lead to complex patterns of flow and turbulence that are potentially difficult to predict. Here, we investigate the effects of different levels of forest fragmentation on the airflow. Five gap spacings (of length approximately 5h, 10h, 15h, 20h, 30h, where h is the canopy height) between forest blocks of length 8.7h, as well as a reference case consisting of a continuous forest after a single edge, were investigated in a wind tunnel. The results reveal a consistent pattern downstream from the first edge of each simulated case, with the streamwise velocity component at tree top increasing and turbulent kinetic energy decreasing as gap size increases, but with overshoots in shear stress and turbulent kinetic energy observed at the forest edges. As the gap spacing increases, the flow appears to change monotonically from a flow over a single edge to a flow over isolated forest blocks. The apparent roughness of the different fragmented configurations also decreases with increasing gap size. No overall enhancement of turbulence is observed at any particular level of fragmentation.

International audience; Forested landscapes often exhibit large spatial variability in vertical and horizontal foliage distributions. This variability may impact canopy-atmosphere ex- changes through its action on the development of turbulent structures. Here we inves- tigate in neutral stratification the turbulent structures encountered in a maritime pine forest characterised by a high, dense foliated layer associated with a deep and sparse trunk space. Both stand and edge regions are considered. In situ measurements and the outputs of large-eddy simulations are used and analysed together. In stand conditions, far from the edge, canopy-top structures appear stronlgy damped by the dense crown layer. Turbulent wind fluctuations within the trunk space, where the momentum flux vanishes, are closely related to these canopy-top structures through pressure diffusion. Consequently, auto-correlation and spectral analyses are not quite appropriate to characterise the vertical scale of coherent structures in this type of canopy, as pressure diffusion enhances the actual scale of structures. At frequencies higher than those associated with canopy-top structures, wind fluctuations related to wake structures developing behind tree stems are observed within the trunk space. They manifest themselves in wind velocity spectra as secondary peaks in the inertial subrange re- gion, confirming the hypothesis of spectral short-cuts in vegetation canopies. In the edge region specific turbulent structures develop just below the crown layer, in addi- tion to canopy-top structures. They are generated by the wind shear induced by the sub-canopy wind jet that forms at the edge. These structures provide a momentum exchange mechanism similar to that observed at the canopy top but in the opposite di- rection and with a lower magnitude. They may develop as in plane mixing-layer flows, with some perturbations induced by canopy-top structures. Wake structures are also observed within the trunk space in the edge region.

The Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) has been modified so as to simulate turbulent flow at very fine scale within and above vegetation canopies using a large-eddy simulation (LES) approach. It is first shown that this new version of ARPS is able to reproduce accurately all essential features of turbulent flow over homogeneous canopies. A sensitivity study of the flow to the morphology of the canopy, i.e. the density and vertical leaf-area (LAI) distribution, is then performed numerically over three types of canopies with five levels of leaf-area index, from 1 to 5. This study confirms the universal characteristics of turbulent flow over vegetation canopies, as previously observed from wind-tunnel and in situ experiments. It shows that the typical features of canopy flow become more pronounced as canopy density increases, and quantifies the extent to which differences in canopy morphology can explain the experimental variability observed between canopies. This variability in turbulent characteristics is mostly visible in the subcanopy space, and depends significantly on the density of the upper foliated layers. The mean longitudinal separation Λ w between adjacent coherent structures has also been computed for each canopy using the wavelet transform and approximating the convection velocity of coherent structures as 1.8 times the average wind velocity at canopy top. Except for the sparsest canopies, the analogy between the atmospheric flow near the top of a vegetation canopy and a plane mixing layer is well verified: Λ w is directly related to the shear length scale L s = U ( h ) / U ′ ( h ) , where h is canopy height, U mean velocity and U ′ is the vertical gradient d U / d z , in a way close to the prediction Λ w / h = 8.1 L s / h .

International audience; As forest edges are often associated with wind damage, it may be of interest to modify the edge region in order to reduce wind-induced risks. To this purpose, this study investigates tree vulnerability to wind load downwind from leading edges designed with various treatments: sharp, tapered, sparse, dense, tall and small edges. Using a large-eddy simulation flow model, instantaneous wind and turbulence fields are simulated on either side of each edge. These fields are then used to compute mean and extreme tree bending moments as well as their ratio, the gust factor. The behaviour of these variables downwind from the edge agrees well with previous wind tunnel measurements. The gust factor increases at some distance behind the edge, due to the development of coherent eddy structures generated at the canopy-air interface. Unlike wind gusts in the vicinity of the edge, these structures penetrate deep within the canopy through sweep motions. Tree vulnerability is slightly reduced downwind from tapered, sparse and small edges and enhanced downwind from dense ones. Behind tall edges, the gust factor is reduced in the edge region but enhanced further downstream due to the interaction of the canopy with the wake of the edge treatment.

International audience; Sharp heterogeneities in forest structure, such as edges, are often responsible for wind damage. In order to better understand the behaviour of turbulent flow through canopy edges, large-eddy simulations (LES) have been performed at very fine scale (2 m) within and above heterogeneous vegetation canopies. A modified version of the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS), previously validated in homogeneous conditions against field and wind-tunnel measurements, has been used for this purpose. Here it is validated in a simple forest-clearing-forest configuration. The model is shown to be able to reproduce accurately the main features observed in turbulent edge flow, especially the "enhanced gust zone" (EGZ) present around the canopy top at a few canopy heights downwind from the edge, and the turbulent region that develops further downstream. The EGZ is characterized by a peak in streamwise velocity skewness, which reflects the presence of intense intermittent wind gusts. A sensitivity study of the edge flow to the forest morphology shows that with increasing canopy density the flow adjusts faster and turbulent features such as the EGZ become more marked. When the canopy is characterized by a sparse trunk space the length of the adjustment region increases significantly due to the formation of a sub-canopy wind jet from the leading edge. It is shown that the position and magnitude of the EGZ are related to the mean upward motion formed around canopy top behind the leading edge, caused by the deceleration in the sub-canopy. Indeed, this mean upward motion advects low turbulence levels from the bottom of the canopy; this emphasises the passage of sudden strong wind gusts from the clearing, thereby increasing the skewness in streamwise velocity as compared with locations further downstream where ambient turbulence is stronger.

A multi-purpose model for small-scale atmospheric flows over heterogeneous landscapes is being developed. The aim of this research is to build a tool able to predict the dynamical (wind, turbulence) and diffusive (gases, particles) fields over landscapes characterised by heterogeneous plant cover. In its present stage of development the model is based on the numerical integration of neutral atmospheric flow equations, using an energy-dissipation closure scheme and over a domain that may include vegetation layers. Three validation cases of the model are presented: (i) response of the airflow to a change in surface roughness; (ii) airflow within and above a horizontally homogeneous plant canopy; (iii) airflow over two complex forest-to-clearing and clearing-to-forest transitions. All simulations provide results in good agreement with the experimental data, except for turbulent kinetic energy just after a clearing-to-forest transition. This result is not surprising for a statistical k−e model in a flow region characterised by strong distorsion and intermittent turbulence. However the overall good performance of the model is promising for environmental research at fine scales over heterogeneous landscapes.

Wind-flow dynamics has been extensively studied over horizontally uniform canopies, but agricultural plantations structured in rows such as vineyards have received less attention. Here, the wind flow over a vineyard is studied in neutral stratification from both large-eddy simulation (LES) and in situ measurements. The impact of row structure on the wind dynamics is investigated over a range of wind directions from cross-row to down-row, and a typical range of row aspect ratio (row separation/height ratio). It is shown that the mean flow over a vineyard is similar to that observed in uniform canopies, especially for wind directions from cross-row to diagonal. For down-row winds, the mean flow exhibits noticeable spatial variability across each elementary row-gap pattern, as the wind is channeled in the inter-row. This spatial variability increases with the aspect ratio. With down-row winds the turbulent structures are also more intermittent and generate larger turbulent kinetic energy and momentum flux. The displacement height and roughness length of the vineyard vary with the aspect ratio in a way similar to their variation with canopy density in uniform canopies. Both parameters take smaller values in down-row wind flow, for which the canopy appears more open. The analysis of velocity spectra and autocorrelation functions shows that vineyard canopies share similar features to uniform canopies in terms of turbulent coherent structures, with only minor changes with wind direction.

A simple tree swaying model, valid for windstorm conditions, has been developed for the purpose of simulating the effect of strong wind on the vulnerability of heterogeneous forest canopies. In this model the tree is represented as a flexible cantilever beam whose motion, induced by turbulent winds, is solved through a modal analysis. The geometric nonlinearities related to the tree curvature are accounted for through the formulation of the wind drag force. Furthermore, a breakage condition is considered at very large deflections. A variety of case studies is used to evaluate the present model. As compared to field data collected on three different tree species, and to the outputs of mechanistic models of wind damage, it appears to be able to predict accurately large tree deflections as well as tree breakage, using wind velocity at tree top as a forcing function. The instantaneous response of the modelled tree to a turbulent wind load shows very good agreement with a more complex tree model. The simplicity of the present model and its low computational time make it well adapted to future use in large-eddy simulation airflow models, aimed at simulating the complete interaction between turbulent wind fields and tree motion in fragmented forests.

International audience; Two-point, space-time correlations of streamwise and vertical velocity were obtained from a wind tunnel simulation of an atmospheric surface layer with an underlying model wheat canopy constructed of flexible nylon stalks. Velocity data extend from 1/6 canopy height to several canopy heights, with in excess of 2000 three-dimensional vector separations of the two x-wire probes. Isocorrelation contours over anx, z slice show the streamwise velocity autocorrelation to be roughly circular, such that vertical velocities at the same horizontal position but different heights are closely in phase. Cross-correlations between the two velocity components reflect this difference to some extent. Lateral displacements of the probes revealed side lobes with correlations of reversed sign but we cannot positively link this pattern to particular vorticular structures. Integral length scales obtained directly from the spatial correlations match similar scales deduced from single-point time series with Taylor's hypothesis at 2 to 3 times the canopy height but greatly exceed such scales at lower levels, particularly within the wheat. We conclude that the reversed sign lateral lobes are important components of the correlation field and that an integral length scale for the lateral direction must be defined such that they are included. Convective velocities obtained from the time lag to optimally restore correlation lost by physical separation of the probes change only slowly with height and greatly exceed the mean wind velocity within and immediately above the canopy. Thus, mean wind velocity is not a suitable proxy for convective velocity in the application of Taylor's hypothesis in this situation. The ratio of vertical to longitudinal convective velocity for the streawise velocity signal yields a downwind tilt angle of about 39° which is probably a better estimate of the slope of the dominant fluid motions than the tilt of the major axis of the isocorrellation contours mentioned previously.

International audience; A new method for estimating scalar fluxes, called surface renewal analysis, was developed and successfully tested with air temperature data from a maize crop, an orchard, and a forest canopy. The method employs the scalar trace and is based on the concept of turbulent coherent structures causing most of the scalar fluxes. It was generally more accurate than other scalar based methods such as the Tillman variance method, and can be applied to data gathered under stable stability conditions. Filtering the temperature trace, based on the wind speed at the canopy height, resulted in more accurate surface renewal estimates than when raw 10 Hz data were used.

As forest edges are a major source of heterogeneity in fragmented landscapes, the atmospheric flow over forested areas is often under their influence. Understanding how far the upstream edge has an impact on the turbulent wind flow in a forest canopy is important, in particular for scalar flux measurement. In this study, edge and stand flows over a maritime pine forest characterized by a dense crown layer located above a deep and sparse trunk space are analysed in detail from in situ measurements and large-eddy simulations (LES). The LES model used here appears to simulate remarkably well most characteristics of the turbulent wind flow for this particular canopy structure. It is shown that the main characteristics of the edge flow in this case differ from those usually observed in forests with a more uniform vertical foliage distribution. The main differences are (i) the development of turbulence above the canopy occurring closer to the edge, (ii) the absence of a well-defined enhanced gust zone around the top of the canopy, (iii) the presence of a large secondary wind maximum within the trunk space, and (iv) the development of a positive momentum flux layer below the crown layer. Most of these differences are related to the presence of a substantial sub-canopy wind jet induced by the wind flow through the trunk space at the edge. The secondary velocity maximum induced by this wind jet differs from that observed in homogeneous stand conditions, where it seems to be related to the mesoscale pressure gradient. The wind jet appears to decrease very slowly with distance from the edge, so that edge effects are still significant at 9 h from the edge (where h is the mean canopy height). The length of the adjustment region is shown to be greater than 10–15 h , and to depend on the depth of the trunk space. In very fragmented forested areas with deep and sparse trunk space, within-canopy flow may always be under the influence of edges.

Large coherent structures over vegetation canopies are responsible for a substantial part of the turbulent transfer of momentum, heat and mass between the canopy and the atmosphere. As forested landscapes are often fragmented, edge regions may be of importance in turbulent transfer. The development of coherent structures from the leading edge of a forest is investigated here for the first time. For this purpose, the turbulent flow over a clearing–forest pattern is simulated using the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS). In previous studies the code has been modified so as to simulate turbulent flows at very fine scale (0.1h, where h is the mean canopy height) within and above heterogeneous vegetation canopies, using a large-eddy simulation (LES) approach. Validations have also been performed over homogeneous forest canopies and over a simple forest–clearing–forest pattern, against field and wind-tunnel measurements. Here, a schematic picture of the development of coherent eddies downstream from the leading edge of a forest is extracted from the mean vorticity components, the Q-criterion field, the cross-correlation of the wind velocity components and the length and separation length scales of coherent structures, determined by using a wavelet transform. This schematic picture shows strong similarities with the development of coherent structures observed in a mixing layer, with four different regions: (i) close to the edge, Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities develop when a strong wind gust hits the canopy; (ii) these instabilities roll over to form transverse vortices from around 3h downstream from the edge, characterized by a length scale close to the depth of the internal boundary layer that develops from the canopy edge; (iii) secondary instabilities destabilize these rollers and increase the vertical and streamwise vorticity components from around 6h, and two counter-rotating streamwise vortices appear; (iv) at about 9h the initial rollers have become complex three-dimensional coherent structures, with spatially constant mean length and separation length scales. These four stages of development occur closer to the edge with increasing canopy density. While this average picture of the development of coherent structures is similar to that observed in a mixing layer, the analysis of instantaneous fields shows that coherent structures behind the leading edge appear as resulting from the ‘branching’ of tubes localized in regions of low pressure, where their cores are characterized by high values of enstrophy and Q-criterion.

International audience; This study presents a predictive dynamic model developed to analyse the mechanical response of trees submitted to a turbulent airflow. This finite-element model integrates a three-dimensional description of tree architecture and is driven by fluctuating drag forces applied on all parts. For validation purposes, instantaneous wind velocities and wind-induced stem displacements of two trees were recorded in a mature Maritime pine stand (Pinus pinaster) at several heights. The tree geometrical and physical characteristics were measured to describe their architecture. No model parameter was adjusted. Tree motions appear to be driven by wind pulses reflecting turbulence intermittency. No evidence is found for resonant behaviour. In the mean wind direction, the simulated oscillations agree well with the measured time series. The underestimation of tree movement in the cross-stream direction outlines the importance of torque behaviour on the predictive accuracy of the model. The mechanical transfer functions of the modelled trees show vibration peak frequencies very similar to the measured ones. At higher frequencies, the simulated damping appears overestimated, with the set of parameters used. The model provides a sound basis to further investigate the influence of tree aerial architecture and turbulence structure on tree stability to wind.

Modelling turbulent flow at a very fine scale within and above vegetation canopies over complex terrain is of great interest for many environmental applications. Over the last decade, it has been demonstrated that the large-eddy simulation (LES) technique is able to reproduce in detail many observed features of turbulent flow over homogeneous and heterogeneous vegetation canopies on flat terrain. For the first time, a nested LES of turbulent flow within and above a forested canopy on an isolated two-dimensional hill is analysed and validated against pressure and velocity data from a wind-tunnel experiment. The model is shown to be able to reproduce accurately the main features observed over a forested hill. The results also confirm recent observations on the intermittency of the recirculation region behind the hill, and on the domination of sweep motions in momentum transfer at the canopy top all along the hill. The main characteristics of turbulent structures have also been investigated from the analysis of vorticity fields and two-point velocity correlations across the hill. It is shown that the streamwise wind velocity upwind from the summit is not correlated with the flow within the wake region but only with the flow above it, while in the wake region the streamwise wind velocity at the canopy top is only correlated with the flow within the wake region. This result suggests that turbulence within the wake region results from the superposition of various turbulent structures: large turbulent structures induced by the elevated shear layer that may result from the rolling over of Kelvin-Helmotz instabilities, structures induced at the lee-side foot of the hill by an adverse pressure gradient and structures induced by the presence of the canopy. Implications of hilly terrain on canopy-atmosphere exchanges and tree vulnerability to windload are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society

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Land-use practices such as deforestation or agricultural management may affect regional climate, ecosystems and water resources. The present study investigates the impact of surface heterogeneity on the behaviour of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), at a typical spatial scale of 1 km. Large-eddy simulations, using an interactive soil–vegetation–atmosphere surface scheme, are performed to document the structure of the three-dimensional flow, as driven by buoyancy forces, over patchy terrain with different surface characteristics (roughness, soil moisture, temperature) on each individual patch. The patchy terrain consists of striped and chessboard patterns. The results show that the ABL strongly responds to the spatial configuration of surface heterogeneities. The stripe configuration made of two patches with different soil moisture contents generates the development of a quasi- two-dimensional inland breeze, whereas a three-dimensional divergent flow is induced by chessboard patterns. The feedback of such small-scale atmospheric circulations on the surface fluxes appears to be highly non-linear. The surface sensible and latent heat fluxes averaged over the 25-km2 domain may vary by 5% with respect to the patch arrangement.

International audience; With the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops, predictive tools modelling wind velocity and pollen concentration fields as well as pollen deposition rate over heterogeneous canopies are required to assess the cross-pollination rates between GM and conventional crops. Over the last decade several numerical flow models have been developed to simulate dynamic mean and turbulent fields within and above the vegetation layer. In this paper, an Eulerian advection–diffusion conservation equation for pollen particles has been incorporated into one of these flow models, Aquilon. The relative velocity between air parcels and particles is simply represented through the addition of a particle settling velocity, i.e. the particle fall velocity in still fluid. The dynamic part of this model has been previously validated in two-dimensional heterogeneous cases (roughness change, forest edge flow) and tested in a more complex three-dimensional heterogeneous case (urban forested park). In order to test the ability of this Eulerian approach to simulate accurately airborne pollen concentration and pollen deposition rate within and above heterogeneous vegetation canopies, the model is validated against two field experiments where the airborne concentration and the deposition rate of maize pollen (Zea mays) were measured downwind from source plots.We also compare the outputs of Aquilon with those of a Lagrangian model previously tested against the same dataset. Generally speaking the model performs well, with a similar accuracy to the Lagrangian model. However, both models underestimate the measured maximum in ground pollen deposition just downwind from the maize plot. It is shown that this discrepancy may be due to an underestimation of the pollen settling velocity in this region. As the Stokes number, defined as the ratio between the maize pollen response time and the characteristic time of the turbulent structures at dissipation-range scale, is about 1 in the wake region behind the source plot, it is likely that turbulence leads to an increase in the apparent settling velocity there.

International audience; The damage caused by windstorms to forest ecosystems is often very heterogeneous. In order to improve the stability of forested landscapes, it is of great importance to identify the factors responsible for this spatial variability. The structure of the landscape itself may play a role, through possible influences of canopy heterogeneities on the development of turbulence. For the purpose of investigating the role of landscape fragmentation on turbulence development, we used a numerical flow model with a k–ε turbulence scheme model, previously validated in simple cases with well-defined surface changes (roughness change and forest edge flow). A series of two- and three-dimensional simulations were performed over a heterogeneous urban forested park in Europe, which was severely damaged in various places by the Lothar windstorm in December 1999. The model shows the development of a region of strong turbulence, resulting from the generation of large wind shear at the top of the canopy. A sensitivity study shows how the location, extension and intensity of the region depend on canopy characteristics such as the leaf density, the nature of the edge or the presence of gaps and clearings. Simulations performed in conditions representative of the windstorm show that the location of the damaged areas corresponds very closely to the regions where the turbulent kinetic energy was above a certain threshold.

International audience; Townsend's hypothesis states that turbulence near a wall can be divided into an active part that transports momentum, and an inactive part that does not, and that these two kinds of turbulence do not interact. Active turbulence is generated by wind shear and has properties that scale on local parameters of the flow, while inactive turbulence is the product of energetic processes remote from the surface and scales on outer-layer parameters. Both kinds of motion can be observed in the atmospheric surface layer, so Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, which is framed in terms of local parameters only, can apply only to active motions. If Townsend's hypothesis were wrong, so that active and inactive motions do interact in some significant way, then transport processes near the ground would be sensitive to outer-layer parameters such as boundary-layer depth, and Monin-Obukhov theory would fail. Experimental results have shown that heat transport near the ground does depend on processes in the outer layer. We propose a mechanism for this whereby inactive motions initiate active, coherent ejection/sweep structures that carry much of the momentum and heat. We give evidence that the inactive motions take the form of streak patterns of faster and slower air, and argue that these are induced by the pressure effects of large eddies passing overhead. The streak pattern includes regions where faster streams of air overtake and engulf slower-moving streaks. Transverse vortices form across the spines of the streaks at these places and some of them develop into horseshoe vortices. These horseshoe vortices grow rapidly and are rotated forward in the sheared flow so they soon contact the ground, squirting the air confined between the legs of the horseshoe vortex outwards as a forceful ejection. This model is consistent with a wide range of results from the field and laboratory experiments. Heat transport is significantly affected, so undermining the dimensional assumptions of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory.

Measurements of turbulent exchange in the understorey of a forest canopy are necessary to understand and model both the functioning of the lower stratum and its contribution to turbulent exchange at the whole canopy scale. Eddy covariance measurements of eddy fluxes just above the floor of a forest canopy must be thoroughly validated, given the particular conditions prevailing there. Our objective is two-fold: (i) check the overall quality of such eddy flux measurements through the analysis of the understorey energy balance closure and (ii) define quality criteria for each half-hourly sample, based on the residual term of the energy balance. A subset of the EUROFLUX data base, collected within a pine forest canopy in south-west France, was used for this purpose. During this experiment, all heat storage terms were carefully measured, which allowed the closure of the understorey energy balance to be rigorously tested. As in most experiments storage term measurements are not available, we also developed a method to estimate them, in order to apply the above-mentioned data selection method. The energy balance closure was found to be quite satisfactory (the slope of the sum of eddy fluxes and storage terms versus transmitted net radiation is 0.99, the intercept is less than 1 W m 2 , r 2 is 0.94, there is no deviation from a linear trend). The data selection procedure allows a fair description of the daily and day-to-day variation of turbulent fluxes while rejecting the most dubious data, whether experimental or estimated storage terms are used. This analysis proves the validity of eddy flux measurements in the lower part of the forest and offers tools for flux data selection, depending on the type of studies such data are intended for. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

International audience; An analogy has been established between a plane mixing layer and the atmospheric flow near the top of a vegetation canopy. It is based on a common feature, a strong inflection in the mean velocity profile, responsible for hydrodynamical instabilities that set the pattern for the coherent eddies and determine the turbulence length scales. In an earlier study, this analogy was tested using a small data set from thirteen experiments, all in near-neutral conditions. It provided a good prediction of the streamwise spacing Λw of the dominant canopy eddies (evaluated from time series of vertical velocity) that appears to depend on a shear length scale Ls = U(h)/U'(h), where h is canopy height, U is mean velocity and U' the vertical gradient dU/dz. The present analysis utilizes an extensive data set of approximately 700 thirty-minute runs, from six experiments on two forest sites and a maize crop, with a large range of stability conditions. Λw was estimated for each run using the wavelet transform as an objective, automated detection method. First, the variations of Λw and Ls with atmospheric stability are discussed. Neutral and unstable values exhibit a large scatter whereas in stable conditions both variables decrease with increasing stability. It is subsequently found that Λw is directly related to Ls, in a way close to the neutral prediction Λw /h = 8.1Ls/h.The Strouhal number Str = Ls /Λw is then shown to vary with atmospheric stability, weakly in unstable conditions, more significantly in stable conditions. Altogether these results suggest that, to some extent, the plane mixing-layer analogy can be extended to non-neutral conditions. It is argued that the primary effect of atmospheric stability, at least in stable conditions, is to modify the shear length scale Ls through changes in U(h) and U'(h), which in turn determines the streamwise spacing of the active, coherent motions.

International audience; Turbulence data collected within the roughness sublayer, from a number of sites with varying canopy structure and atmospheric conditions, has been used to investigate coherent structures. An extensive data set of approximately 700 thirty minute runs has been analysed using the wavelet transform as an objective, automated detection method. Spatial separation of coherent structures was evaluated from vertical velocity time series. The variations of the resulting values with atmospheric stability were investigated. Mean eddy separation was shown to be primarily controlled by a canopy shear scale based on the recognition that canopy flows share common features with a plane mixing layer flow.

A set of daytime and nighttime turbulence data acquired above a maize crop is analyzed, using various properties of the wavelet transform. Wavelet variances and covariances provide characteristic duration scales for the turbulent motions contributing most to the signal energy. Subsequent detection of their signatures in the raw time series allows a characteristic gust frequency to be determined. Once normalized with friction velocity and canopy height, this frequency appears to be similar to that observed above a pine forest, which supports the postulate that transfer processes over plant canopies are dominated by populations of canopy-scale eddies, with universal characteristics. Conditional averaging of the corresponding patterns provides a clear picture of the ejection-sweep processes. Around the inversion time of the mean vertical temperature gradient, two scales of motions are inferred from the observation of wavelet variances and covariances. A technique based on the inverse wavelet transform is then developed for partitioning the original signals into small- and large-scale components, using a cut-off scale deduced from wavelet variances and covariances. Despite their wavelike aspect, the extracted large-scale components are not gravity waves. Their nature is unclear but the proposed methodology has potential applications for studying wave-turbulence interactions.

International audience; The existence of ramp structures in scalar fields such as air temperature has been reported in laboratory flows over smooth and rough walls, in the atmospheric boundary layer and in flows in and above forests. They have been recognized as the signature of coherent turbulent structures. The aim of this paper is to present some observations and analyses of these features in the agricultural environment. Evidence is given from samples of time traces recorded during experiments conducted in maize crops and orchards. Ramps of air temperature, surface temperature, humidity and CO2 concentrations are shown to occur under stable, neutral and unstable conditions. Ramp structures are more apparent above short canopies than within them, in contrast to taller tree canopies where ramps are seen most clearly near the canopy top. Under stable conditions, they are sometimes found in association with trapped gravity waves. It is demonstrated that the frequency of occurrence of the coherent structures is related to a wind shear scale characteristic of the canopy flow.

To know how trees behave under windload is important to understand the impact of a windstorm on a forest and identify strategies for limiting wind damage. In order to improve our understanding of wind-tree interaction at the landscape scale, mathematical and mechanical modelling of this interaction is essential, as performing numerous specific measurements in a heterogeneous environment is not feasible.Thus, this thesis first presents the development of an original and innovative tree motion model able to simulate large deflections occurring during storms. This model allows trees to break and has sufficient simplicity to allow simulations of forest motion containing a large number of trees. This model was then coupled to an atmospheric flow model in order to represent wind storm conditions. It has been used to simulate wind-forest interaction at landscape scale. For the first time, the dynamic creation and propagation of gaps in a forest have been simulated realistically, along with the resulting wind flow modifications. Finally, further studies have demonstrated the efficiency of our model for studying the impact of forest management practices on forest vulnerability to storms.In conclusion, this new model has allowed significant advances in forest motion modelling and in the understanding of the phenomena involved during a windstorm. This knowledge should be a good basis for defining best practices in forestry management., La connaissance de la réponse au vent des arbres est importante pour mieux comprendre l'impact d'une tempête sur un massif forestier et identifier des stratégies visant à limiter les dégâts. Pour améliorer notre compréhension de l'interaction vent-plantes à l'échelle du paysage, la modélisation mathématique et mécanique de cette interaction est indispensable, la multiplication de mesures ponctuelles dans un environnement hétérogène étant difficilement réalisable. Ainsi, cette thèse présente d'abord le développement d'un modèle original et novateur du mouvement de l'arbre permettant de simuler les grandes déflexions se produisant lors de tempêtes, et ce jusqu'à la rupture, le tout avec suffisamment de simplicité dans la simulation du mouvement de forêts contenant un grand nombre d'arbres. Ensuite, ce modèle a été couplé à un modèle d'écoulement atmosphérique pour représenter les conditions de tempêtes et a permis de simuler l'interaction vent-forêt à l'échelle du paysage. Pour la première fois, la création dynamique et l'expansion de trouées dans une forêt, avec la modification de l'écoulement du vent qui en résulte, ont été simulées de manière réaliste.La suite de ce travail a montré le potentiel de notre modèle pour étudier l'impact des pratiques de gestion forestière sur la vulnérabilité des forêts face aux tempêtes.En conclusion, ce nouveau modèle apporte des avancées significatives dans la modélisation du mouvement de forêt et dans la compréhension des phénomènes en jeu lors d'une tempête. Cette connaissance devrait être une bonne base pour la définition de meilleures pratiques de gestion des forêts.