Effects of the Coriolis force on the coherent structures in conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers
Phys. Rev. Fluids 11, 093801 – Published 21 September, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/9bgb-bmdh
Abstract
It is well known that the Coriolis force due to Earth's rotation can induce wind veer in the mean flow velocity of an atmospheric boundary layer, but much less is known about its effects on turbulent coherent structures. In this work, large-eddy simulation is employed to investigate the effects of the Coriolis force on the characteristics of turbulent coherent structures in the conventionally neutral atmospheric boundary layers. Variation of the Coriolis force is realized by changing latitude or geostrophic wind speed. We found that the Coriolis force causes distinct deflection of coherent velocity structures to the geostrophic wind direction, which is not aligned with the direction of either the mean wind or the mean shear. When a relative structure deflection angle is plotted against a relative local wind veer angle, a universal relationship between them can be established regardless of latitude or geostrophic wind speed. Moreover, we also studied the effect of the Coriolis force on the inclination of large-scale turbulent structures. It is found that the inclination angle in the surface layer varies under different conditions, which is probably due to the deflection of turbulent structures caused by the Coriolis force.
