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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Simultaneous Measurement of Turbulence and Particle Kinematics Using Flow Imaging Techniques
Published on: March 12, 2019
Searching chaos and coherent structures in the atmospheric turbulence above the Amazon forest
A S L O Campanharo1, F M Ramos, E E N Macau
1Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), 12227-010 São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil. andriana@lac.inpe.br
Abstract:
In this work, the possible chaotic nature of the atmospheric turbulence above a densely forested area in the Amazon region is investigated. To this end, we use high-resolution temperature data obtained during a micrometeorological measurement campaign in the Brazilian Amazonia. Estimates of the correlation dimension (D(2)=3.50+/-0.05) and of the largest Lyapunov exponent (lambda(1)=0.050+/-0.002) suggest the existence of chaos in the atmospheric boundary layer. Our findings indicate that this low-dimensional chaotic dynamics is associated with the presence of the coherent structures within the boundary layer right above the canopy top and not with the atmospheric turbulence per se, as previously claimed.
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