EPS Colloquium – Elie Bou-Zeid, Princeton University
Classification, implication, and parametrization of surface heterogeneity and its interaction with the dynamics of the lower atmosphere
Abstract: Land-atmosphere exchange and atmospheric boundary layer dynamics over heterogeneous surfaces are of significance to a wide array of geophysical and engineering applications. Yet, despite over five decades of intense efforts, numerous open research questions persist. This underlines the complexity of the physical processes that are excited by heterogeneity, the multitude of patterns and manifestations that it can display, and the importance of the implications on research in atmospheric sciences and beyond. In this talk, we propose a broad classification of surface heterogeneity into 4 categories, and a dimensional analysis framework to reduce the parameter space of the problem. We then present results from Large Eddy Simulations for flow and land-atmosphere coupling over various classes of heterogeneous surfaces. Finally, we overview the implications on how subgrid scale parametrization schemes of reasonable complexity can be formulated for Earth Systems Models.
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Elie Bou-Zeid is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University. He is also associated faculty with the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department. An expert in geophysics and atmospheric sciences, his research is broadly focused on measurement and modeling of mass, momentum, and energy transfers in the lower atmosphere, with applications to urban environmental quality, building energy efficiency, wind energy production, and polar sea ice fluctuations. He is editor of the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences and chair of the American Meteorological Society’s Boundary Layers and Turbulence Committee. He was the founding director of the Metropolis Project for urban technology at Princeton till 2022. Elie holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Environmental Engineering and Water Resources from the American University of Beirut, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University.