Eddy-flux measurements at the Dresden cooling pond

Investigations of the fluxes of heat and momentum above the Dresden nuclear power plant cooling pond made using fast-response sensors employing hot wire aneometers were used to derive improved bulk aerodynamic formulae, similar to the relationships commonly used in engineering studies of cooling pond design and performance. The flux parameterization formulations that resulted from the field studies are based upon micrometeorological flux-gradient relationships that properly account for the effects of such fundamental factors as the wind-driven surface drift, the velocity-dependent roughness of the water surface, and the instability of the lower atmosphere. The last quantity is of considerable importance in the case of industrial cooling ponds, since the surface temperature is sometimes much greater than that of the air, and accordingly, the atmosphere is very unstably stratified. In recognition of the seasonal variation of cooling pond thermal performance, efforts were made to investigate the heat transfer properties of the Dresden pond complex over a large range of surface temperatures from about 15 C to as high as 42 C. The analysis performed using the flux data resulted in a set of equations suitable for evaluating the heat flux from a cooling pond by use of bulk data obtained in a relatively simple manner. The 1975 series of measurements verified 1974 findings and also showed that the relationships developed do indeed apply in the case of the latent heat flux