Kinematics of small scale anisotropy in turbulence

A simple, empirically motivated model is proposed to explain the transfer of imposed large scale anisotropy to small scales in high-Reynolds-number turbulence. Observed power-law scalings of anisotropy metrics are interpreted as manifestations of power-law scalings governing high-gradient regions resulting from compressional eddy motions. The model is used to interpret the measured moment-order dependencies of the exponents and amplitudes of odd-order structure functions and derivative moments that vanish in the absence of anisotropy.