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Vineyards are agricultural surfaces that present a unique structural perturbation to the mean wind flow. As part of the Grape Remote Sensing Atmospheric Profiling and Evapotranspiration Experiment (GRAPEX) a 10-m profile tower of three sonic anemometers at 2, 3.75 and 8 m above ground level in in a mature vineyard having was deployed to measure high frequency diurnal variations of 3-dimensional velocity components (u, v, w) and temperature (T) throughout the growing season. Previous work has been published involving eddy covariance measurements in vineyards but these mostly represented convective daytime unstable conditions. Significantly less has been published about turbulence in vineyards during stable nocturnal periods. Hence, in this study we focused on the nocturnal stable periods under clear skies and relatively light winds typical of the northern portion of California's Central Valley. Our objective was to characterize and evaluate turbulent exchange processes in the layer near the top of a vine canopy during nocturnal periods which are often characterized by weak and intermittent turbulence. Spectra, cospectra and coherence plots were evaluated for nocturnal periods. The spectra suggest there are periods of intermittent turbulence with features indicative of local and regional scale processes. Additionally the impact of the vine structure and spacing on slow meandering flows enhance the decomposition of organized turbulent eddies resulting in intricate mechanical turbulence generated by intermittent eddies that are rapidly decomposed as eddies interact with the vine structure and spacing. Preliminary results will be discussed that provide insight into turbulence characteristics at several heights above a canopy vineyard as affected by vine structure and spacing, wind speed, direction and stable conditions.
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