Experimental investigation of free (downward) convection near horizontal cold spots

To explain the conditions for dew and pollutant precipitation during still-weather radiative cooling of the Earth’s surface, attention is paid to the role of surface temperature inhomogeneities and convective air flows appearing near them. To understand how convection forms near cold spots, schematic cylinders with adiabatic walls and a cold bottom are considered. The results of this consideration agree with the results obtained in previous calculations and experimental studies, namely, the Nusselt number depends on the Rayleigh number to the power 1/5 with the proportionality coefficient γ. The quantitative characteristics were experimentally investigated by measuring the vertical temperature profiles and observing tracer motion near circular cold water surfaces about 30 cm and 10 m in size. As a result, it is found that, for isolated planar spots, the temperature difference between the spot surface and the environment decreases in accordance with the exponential law and air motions from the center of the spot toward its edges are of a laminar character. For the Rayleigh numbers that use the ratio of the area of the spot to the half of its perimeter as the characteristic size, the mean values of the coefficient γ are 1.1 for an isolated spot with Ra = 10 6 and 0.7–0.8 for spots with Ra = 10 6 −5 × 10 10 located at one level with the surrounding surface. For deepened spots, the processes of heat exchange significantly slow down and the character of temperature profiles changes depending on the material of the surrounding walls. The process of establishing the equilibrium temperature of an isolated spot that is caused by radiative cooling and the convective inflow of heat and moisture is considered in the Appendix. A method for preventing radiation fog by air drying during convection near the surrounding cold surfaces is proposed, and the principles of the intensification of the condensed-moisture collection are formulated.