title: Bottlenecks in turbulent kinetic energy spectra predicted from structure function inflections using the Von Kármán-Howarth equation.
abstract: The compensated three-dimensional turbulent kinetic energy spectrum exhibits a peculiar bump at wave numbers in the vicinity of the crossover from inertial to viscous regimes due to pile up in turbulent kinetic energy, a phenomenon referred to as the bottleneck effect. The origin of this bump is linked to an inflection point in the second-order structure function in physical space caused by competition between vortex stretching and viscous diffusion mechanisms. The bump location and magnitude are reasonably predicted from a novel analytical solution to the Von Kármán-Howarth equation reflecting the competition between these two mechanisms and accounting for variable structure skewness with decreasing scale.
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Box 80328, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.|Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriel G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Katul
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO171BJ, UK.
authors.forename: Costantino
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Manes
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Box 80328, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.|Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Amilcare
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Porporato
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Elie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bou-Zeid
authors.affiliation: Department of Meteorology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chamecki