P. Frenzen et Ca. Vogel, ON THE MAGNITUDE AND APPARENT RANGE OF VARIATION OF THE VON KARMAN CONSTANT IN THE ATMOSPHERIC SURFACE-LAYER, Boundary - layer meteorology, 72(4), 1995, pp. 371-392
The half-century history of the experimental evaluation of the von Kar
man ''constant'' in the atmospheric surface layer is reviewed, and evi
dence indicating that this well-known scaling factor, k, is actually a
weak variable that decreases with increasing Reynolds number is discu
ssed. A combined average of k = 0.390 with a standard error of +/-0.01
0 is found from two field studies, a result which indicates that there
is only one chance in 40 that the true value of the scaling factor in
the population from which the experimental sample was drawn could hav
e been as large as the laboratory value of 0.40. Based on experimental
and theoretical results given by others, it is suggested that Ic vari
es from a maximum of 0.41 in light winds over open water and smooth la
nd surfaces, to a minimum near 0.37 in stronger winds over forests and
cities. This range is shown to imply that a working value of Ic = 0.3
9 +/- 1% is appropriate for flows over surfaces characterized by 0.7 <
z(0) < 8.7 cm, a roughness subrange which corresponds to a wide varie
ty of terrain types from sparsely vegetated level plains to mixed crop
lands with occasional hedges and trees.