The intermittent small-scale structure of turbulence: data-processing hazards

Abstract

Velocity derivatives in turbulence at large Reynolds numbers exhibit probability densities with a large kurtosis. If the value of the kurtosis is about 40, as in many measurements of atmospheric turbulence, careful attention to the processing of such signals is required in order to obtain an acceptable level of accuracy. Signal-to-noise and integration-time limitations make measurements of moments higher than the fourth nearly impossible for signals of this kind.